"Gregarious" he isn't. Law lives not far from his childhood home, in a placid, hippie-rich London neighborhood called Primrose Hill, where mothers and their prams roll down the sidewalk on their way to the organic bakery. Law is at home here in a tidy three-story rowhouse. It is not unusual to see him dropping off his kids at school. He likes long late-night strolls in New York. He smokes Marlboro Lights and enjoys quiet evenings at home with a glass of wine. On holidays, he pursues his love of the great outdoors by camping in the mountains of France, near his parents' home. Despite being a major star, the British actor has remained a private man, little known outside a small, protective circle of friends, mostly artists and writers.

Last year, Law spent seven months on location for "Cold Mountain," a Civil War saga, based on the best-selling novel by Charles Frazier, that opens Christmas Day. Much of the movie, set in the American South and co-starring Nicole Kidman and Renée Zellweger, was filmed in the mountains of Romania. Law stayed in a little farmhouse surrounded by poppy-filled meadows. Faxes didn't work. There was little television. "There was a sense of detachment," Law explains. "It was comfortable."

That isolation helped him get into character. Law plays Inman, a wounded Confederate soldier who deserts the battlefield and walks 300 miles to reunite with his true love, Ada (Kidman). The movie is both a graphic depiction of a nation at war with itself and, as Law puts it, an "achingly romantic" love story -- involving a steamy nude love scene.

Law is proud of "Cold Mountain." "It's a piece about the reaffirming of life and love in a time of death and war, which is why it resonates now," he says. The movie "had a way of confirming how you already feel about war. There was a sense of not really knowing what was going on, like in Iraq, and the carnage there; it was so familiar. They say it's righteous because we're freeing these people, but really, nothing has changed."

When he was preparing for the role, Law broadened his horizons by reading a college syllabus' worth of historic literature: "Pilgrim's Progress," "The Red Badge of Courage," D.H. Lawrence. To saturate himself in the times, he listened to 19th-century music and sounds and watched "all those 20-part documentaries." He got into shape, too, waking up every morning at 5 to chop wood, shift sand and lift logs.

"This is a story about privation," says director Anthony Minghella. "The actor has to go through some of the attritions the character experiences. Jude was wading through swampland, enduring extreme temperatures; he was buried in the ground, beaten and dragged, thrown in the air, and he was also supposed to passionately pursue this love story. There was a whole telephone book of requirements."

Miramax, which financed the $83 million movie, is betting heavily that Law will be a hit at the box office and with Oscar voters. Law has been here before, nominated (but not winning) in 1999 for his performance as a pampered American playboy in Minghella's thrilling adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's "The Talented Mr. Ripley." As a result of that film, Law was stamped as the Next Big Thing.

But then, in a move that must have raised Botoxed brows across Hollywood, Law flew home to be with his kids and appear in "'Tis Pity She's a Whore" on the London stage. Unlike most of his peers, who are jonesing for "Maxim" covers and front-row seats at "The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show," Law has refused to cooperate with the Hollywood starmaking machine. "I'm kind of ashamed to be a celebrity," says Law, who turns 31 next week. "I don't understand wanting to read about other people's dirty laundry. I think celebrity is the biggest red herring society has ever pulled on itself."

When he says this, his legs pulled up to his chest, his iPod blaring the croaky voice of Neil Young, you kind of believe him -- even if he does have a personal assistant and chauffeur.

Law is taking a break between scenes at London's legendary Pinewood Studios, where he has been filming a loose remake of the 1966 classic "Alfie," about a womanizer who changes his ways. His dressing room is a cozy conglomeration of sofas, a vanity with pictures of his children, and a bed, where he says he tries to catch a few winks when he has a spare moment. He's been keeping a breakneck pace, shooting film after film, including the upcoming "I Heart Huckabee's" and Martin Scorsese's "The Aviator."

His path to the top has been indirect. Law frequently refers to his ordinary middle-class upbringing. His parents, both teachers, supported him in his decision to drop out of school at 16 for a role on a British soap. Initial success came onstage in London. In 1995, he traveled to Broadway and was nominated for a Tony for his supporting role in "Indiscretions." Film offers ensued, and Law began making "low-budget movies for first-time directors"; he has since starred in more than a dozen pictures, including "Gattaca," "Wilde," "A.I." and "Road to Perdition." Each threatened to be his breakout role.

Astounding as it seems, Law, with his spectacular looks and boundless charisma, is only now playing a romantic lead. He was cast in "Cold Mountain" after Tom Cruise dropped out.

Most agree Law probably would be "huge" if he would just play the Hollywood game. You know, date Demi Moore, do some cellphone commercials, maybe star in one of those epic hero movies, one where he wears a breastplate. But heartthrobs and matinee idols are not exactly his cup of tea.

"It's more challenging to think about persuading someone to let me do something they've never seen me do," he says. It's why he allegedly turned down "Shakespeare in Love." "Perhaps, yeah, there is a part of me that doesn't play the game," Law admits.

Although his career is humming along now, his personal life has been rocky: Our meeting happens to take place the day before the official dissolution of his marriage to actress Sadie Frost, 35. The two met in 1994 on the set of a British flop, and they have three children: Rafferty, 7, Iris, 3, and Rudy, 1. Most recently, Law has been linked to his "Alfie" co-star, Sienna Miller, 20.

It has been an emotional year for Law. But if he's dispirited, you can't see it in his bouncy step or his exuberant gestures, the result, probably, of his extensive theater work.

Law appears to have little patience for discussing his personal life. He has said his breakup happened "for all the usual reasons," not because of Frost's depression after the birth of Rudy, as some tabloids have reported. Others said the cause was co-star Kidman, 36, who eventually won a libel lawsuit against two British papers that alleged an affair. The two were photographed dancing at a cast party.

When Kidman's name comes up, Law's body language instantly changes. He breaks eye contact and looks off into the distance, uncomfortable. (Here's some of that dirty laundry he despises.) After a long pause, Law says he and Kidman purposely avoided each other until they shot their scenes together. The idea was to re-create the dramatic tension of two long-separated lovers.

"We wanted to get into character, to soak it up," Law says. "We both looked so different that when we were on the set, we walked by each other because we didn't recognize each other."

Some might have been amused in retelling this little anecdote. Not Law. During our hour-long conversation, he was polite but unvaryingly serious. A one-liner is not likely to pry him open. In fact, Law did not laugh once during the entire interview, and the only time he cracked a smile was when he talked about his children.

Early on, it became clear Law could be dodgy. A few times, he went on autopilot, throwing me a recycled version of a quote that's been attributed to him at least twice before (something about his desire to "keep people guessing").

One can hardly blame him. He's annoyed that so many newspaper stories about him include exclamation points -- Jude and Sadie split! -- and that more attention is paid to his eye color -- some say blue-green; others, sea green, maybe azure (Let us stop the debate right here: They're cerulean) -- than to his acting.

"You don't really think you're going to know who I am by figuring out my eye color, do you?" asks Law, scoffing at the media's obsession with the superficial and the celebrities who play along.

Most stars are presenting a packaged version of themselves to the media, anyway, he says. "The best way to learn about an artist is to see their work. You can find at least a small piece of them," he says. "Like, if you watch me in Ripley, you might learn something about my relationship with my father."

Law wouldn't explain exactly what he meant. He would say only that "the stuff I sort of delved into earlier has provoked self-analysis, so I know I don't want to get into it again."

We might add "charming and dignified, but distant," to the list of Law's qualities at the top of this story. And maybe that very unattainability is what keeps us coming back. Then again, it could just be those cerulean eyes.

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The five best war movies ever

Hollywood loves a good war (picture, that is). Visit any DVD aisle and you'll face a phalanx of them. So how do you know where to strike? Here's USA WEEKEND's guide to five-star war movies you've just gotta see.

"Saving Private Ryan" (1998). Lauded for its unsparing depiction of battle, Steven Spielberg's World War II epic has been underappreciated for the complexity of its theme: the sacrifices soldiers make for one another and for their countrymen.

"Braveheart" (1995). Seldom is there something completely new on film; a horde of furry, blue-faced Scots in full attack was a thrillingly original sight. Mel Gibson frequently plays emotionally wounded, dangerous men, but his charismatic William Wallace stands out.

"Glory" (1989). The neglected story of black soldiers in the Civil War received a stirring production here, reminding audiences of the tragedy of a people who bought equality with their blood.

"Patton" (1970). The film captured the great general in all his passion, vanity and brutishness. Released in the midst of the Vietnam War, it appealed to both supporters and protesters.

"Paths of Glory" (1957). In WWI, a French general orders a suicidal assault on the enemy's position. No film has better captured war's shocking senselessness and inhumanity -- yet this Stanley Kubrick masterpiece wasn't nominated for a single Oscar.
--Jamie Malanowski

Photographs by Michael O'Neill for USA WEEKEND

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