Jude Law Photo: CFP

With an extra 20 pounds, an impressive paunch and bad teeth, actor Jude Law, best known for his golden boy roles, transforms himself into a sleazy, ranting southeast London safecracker in the film Dom Hemingway.

It is Law, Oscar nominated for The Talented Mr. Ripley and Cold Mountain, as he hasn't been seen before - unfit, unkempt and with a penchant for delivering expletive-filled speeches.

In the film, which opens in select US theaters on Wednesday, Law plays Dom Hemingway, a damaged, hot-headed crook released from prison after a 12-year stint for not ratting on his crime boss.

He paid a high price for his loyalty in lost years, missed opportunities and estrangement from his daughter and is hell-bent on collecting his money and making up for lost time.

The role enabled Law, 41, to mine the southeast London streets of his childhood for the character and to discard any lingering remnants of his matinee idol image.

"The golden boy thing was never a mantle I went out looking for. That was something I was told I was," said Law, adding that for him it was always about the work.

From the opening scene when he pontificates about his manhood, through drinking binges and brawls, Law holds nothing back as Hemingway, who is the complete opposite of the tightly coiled Russian aristocrat Karenin he played in the 2012 drama Anna Karenina, based on Leo Tolstoy's 1877 novel.

"The joy of the job is getting to mine these different characters," he said.

The website film.com called Law's Hemingway "a career-best performance," and Scotland's Daily Record said he "fills the screen with a gloriously over-the-top character."

"Dom Hemingway gives (Law) a chance to sink his teeth into one of the meatiest personalities in a genre know for larger-than-life types," said the trade magazine Variety.

"The energy of this man was what drew, in a way, drew me to him, the opportunity to unleash,"Law said.