Jude Law.

Defies Hollywood convention by playing gay often--and passionately--without tarnishing his matinee idol image

Truly gorgeous male actors in America tend to be touchy about their beauty, as though it throws their manhood into question. Divinely handsome and deliciously British, Jude Law suffers from no such self-doubt. The straight and married star has never--repeat, never--been nervous about acknowledging his attractiveness to both sexes on film.

"If you can play a gay role and be believable, then play a heterosexual and be believable, then you've achieved something as an actor," Low recently told Premiere magazine. "You've carried your audience into the world of believing."

On screen, he has a way with hustlers. In 1997 he slid into jeans and a muscle shirt to play Billy Carl Hanson, the sullen, slicked-down "ward" of Kevin Spacey's wealthy Jim Williams in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Law also got inside one of gay history's most callow hustlers --Lord Alfred "Bosie" Douglas, whose rich, blond allure turned poor, grandiose Oscar Wilde into gaol-bait. Stephen Fry, Law's openly gay costar in Wilde, remembers being grateful that Law had no qualms about getting naked for their several sex scenes. "Being virtually the only gay man on the set, I was naturally incredibly embarrassed," Fry told The Advocate in April 1998. "But Jude found no problem whatsoever, and he made it very easy for me."

Even when his character is straight, Law's not averse to throwing a curve. As the object of Tom Ripley's affection in 1999's The Talented Mr. Ripley, Law's veiled come-hithers bewitched Matt Damon and the gay audience as well. Hollywood lore dictates that a leading ma, can't play gay this often--or this passionately --without planting a creepy little seed of homophobia in the minds of the moviegoing public. Law knows better.

So, obviously, does Steven Spielberg: In his current blockbuster, A.I, Spielberg presents Law as the very emblem of heterosexuality --a love robot created solely to pleasure the ladies. Law, to no one's surprise, is marvelously convincing as technology's gift to women. Which leaves us with just one small question: Does this model come in lavender, Mr. Spielberg?