Law: 'Marriage break up was worse than death'

Jude Law has told how the bitter break up of his six-year marriage to Sadie Frost was more painful than a death in the family.

The film idol said the couple's very public split 18 months ago was one of the hardest experiences of his life.

Comparing the breakdown of the relationship to the stress of bereavement or moving home, Law insisted: "I've done all three, and I have to tell you, divorce is the hardest."

It is the first time that Law has spoken of his trauma over the break up - but this belated admission of his grief is unlikely to impress his estranged wife.

Actress and fashion designer Frost has often talked publicly about her pain over the divorce. She also had to deal with her father's death and moving house at the same time. "The last two years have been pretty hard," she admitted recently. "I have had a baby, got divorced, moved house and seen my father die of cancer. And on top of that, I have been looking after the children. I think, in the end, it has made me stronger."

Meanwhile Law says that he has learned to relish his newfound freedom.

The 32-year-old has racked up performances in an impressive six new films, all of which will premiere between now and December.

"There have been things in the past which I probably could have squeezed in but thought, because of where my head was back then, it was too close to something else," he told US glossy magazine Vanity Fair.

"And then I suddenly thought, 'No, actually, I want to be greedy. I want to be greedy for a little while'."

Law, whose upcoming movies include Alfie, Lemony Snicket's A Series Of Unfortunate Events, and The Aviator, now plans a luxurious holiday to recover from his punishing film schedule.

But he will not be taking new love Sienna Miller, 22.

Instead, he has invited his parents, former schoolteachers Maggie and Peter, on a holiday to Mexico.

"It's the first time on my own in a long time," he said. "No kids, just me."

The full interview with Jude Law appears in the October issue of Vanity Fair, out on 10 September.