Jude Law thinks “Alfie” was a 'bad move' following his Oscar nom, calls the film 'too cheesy'

"I think it was made for too much money, and I was probably paid too much money," he says of the 2004 box office bomb.

Hindsight is 20/20, and Jude Law knows that all too well.

The two-time Oscar-nominated actor got candid about about his thoughts on his 2004 blockbuster bomb, Alfie, while speaking with GQ for the magazine's Men of the Year issue. His "first major flop," the outlet notes, the film was a remake of the 1966 film of the same name starring Michael Caine and only managed to earn back just over half of its $60 million budget. It was not received well by critics either. Twenty years later, Law said he feels making the film was "a bad move."

“I was in a really strong position [at that time] because I’d just had another [Oscar] nomination on the back of Cold Mountain,” Law explained to the outlet, adding, “and for Alfie to be the film I chose to do quite soon after that, I think was a bad move.”

The English star saw an early screening of the film — which follows the titular womanizer who learns the hard way about the consequences of his actions — "and his heart sank" because he'd imagined something grittier. “I just felt it hadn’t elevated [the material] and felt a little light, a little too cheesy,” he told the magazine. “I think it was made for too much money, and I was probably paid too much money, which I underestimated at the time. I kicked myself that I’d done something that was leaning into the heartthrob and the charismatic lead and it hadn’t worked.”

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Alfie is the first time Law went against his instincts in taking on a role, according to GQ, and when asked if the reception to the film therefore affected his confidence as an actor, Law replied that he thought it probably did. “Everyone has hits, everyone has flops," he added. "But yes, I think it did. It also made me aware that, when you are fresh out of the gate, everyone is intrigued and everyone wants a piece of you. And then as soon as you have a couple of misfires, their attention goes elsewhere. And so there’s a part of you also thinking, 'Oh, OK, how do I get that attention back?'”

Over the long term, grabbing attention has not been an issue for Law, who since Alfie has done everything from critical darlings (Hugo, The Grand Budapest Hotel) to major franchise fare (Fantastic Beasts, Sherlock Holmes, Captain Marvel).

Related: Star Wars meets The Goonies in new Skeleton Crew trailer: 'I found something buried in the woods'

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Next up, Law is traveling to a galaxy far, far away in the Star Wars universe-set Disney+ series Skeleton Crew. That show, which also stars Kerry Condon, Ryan Kiera Armstrong, and Robert Timothy Smith, starts streaming Dec. 3.