Law says it's Penn's year

2004-02-12 08:13

Berlin - Jude Law's performance in Cold Mountain has earned him an Oscar nomination, but the British actor said on Wednesday that rival Sean Penn deserves the best actor honours this year.

Law plays Inman, a Confederate deserter on an odyssey from the front to his beloved Ada (Nicole Kidman).

Also nominated for the lead actor Oscar were Penn's appearance as a vengeful father in Mystic River, Bill Murray's washed-up actor in Lost in Translation, Johnny Depp's buccaneer in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl and Ben Kingsley as an Iranian immigrant in House of Sand and Fog.

"I'm immensely proud to be in the category I'm in," Law told reporters at the Berlin International Film Festival. "There are actors in that category who I have been inspired by from a very, very young age - and to be amongst them is extraordinary."

"I've always loved Sean Penn's work," he added. "He's someone I've respected and looked up to and admired for years and years and years, and I think it should be his year."

Cold Mountain is up for seven Academy Awards but is not competing for prizes at the Berlin festival. Law was making a belated appearance to promote the movie, which opened the festival on February 5 without appearances from its main stars.

Law's arrival was delayed by shooting commitments for Mike Nichols' Closer. Renee Zellweger, who was busy revisiting her role as the sharp-tongued, romantically challenged Bridget Jones, showed up in the German capital on Sunday for a quick photo op.

Zellweger has been nominated up for an Oscar for her supporting role as Ruby, the tough mountain woman who saves Ada and her farm from ruin.

- AP