Law was keen to play 'edgy' Watson

Jude Law was intrigued to be given the chance to play an “edgy” Watson.

The 36-year-old British actor - who portrays the title character's sidekick Watson alongside Robert Downey Jr. in the Guy Ritchie blockbuster 'Sherlock Holmes' – said he hoped he'd bought something a little different to the new adaptation.

He said: "When I was asked to get involved, Robert was already set as Sherlock and Guy was directing and I knew from then that it was going to be a different take on the older films of Sherlock Holmes. And it fascinated me.

"Obviously they were coming to me to ask me to play Watson with a bit more edge. What was intriguing, because I hadn’t read the books since I was a boy, was to go back to the books and realise how much of this new rediscovery, if you like, was also in the source material."

Jude said he wanted to be as accurate as possible yet also "look to the future" with the movie.

He said: "It was a kind of juggle between going back to the books written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and relishing in all the accuracy that perhaps at times in the part had been overlooked, and also adding a new energy to an audience that we hope will discover ‘Sherlock Holmes’ for the first time."