Jude Law talks about the story, Stephen Fry and Jared Harris in Sherlock Holmes 2
Jude Law: It chops and changes from being a sort of... it goes from being a flee, we fleeing for out lives. It turns into a race against time. And then into a very complicated mystery, which involves working out who a assassin may be. Along the way Holmes is collecting and deciphering information that will hopefully capture his nemesis. The nemesis his overall plan along the way needs to be deciphered. I mean, it's a real combination of all of those. And also still very true to the period and very true we hope to Conan Doyle.
Stephen is a one in a million. He's a fine actor, he's a brilliant writer. He's an exceptional bon vivant and one of the most generously intelligent and elegant and charming men I've ever met. And you're right in that this country, Great Britain, is very much in love with him. Because of his generous wisdom I think more than anything. And there's a lot of him in my craft, oddly. So that's why it's such a brilliant piece of casting.
Moriarty is in a way the first arch-villain in literature. The first, you know, Fanadi. A super hero, sort of anti-hero. He I feel isn't in Conan Doyle's writing, the most rounded of characters. Because so much is inferred upon him. That there's a wonderful mystery to just how awful this man is. And what makes him fascinating to me, is that he's also a genius. He's brilliant if not more brilliant than Holmes. So obviously Watson takes him very, very seriously indeed. If Holmes says that a man is brilliant and a man is wicked, then Watson tends to believe him. I wasn't really obviously a part of the casting process, but as soon as they mentioned that Jared was gonna do it I was delighted. I've been a huge fan of Jared for many years and seen him in various disguises and various characters, which he's always been compelling in. And he has a fantastic ability to be both charming, seductive and frighting. All at the same time.
Jude Law interview for Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.
