NEW YORK – Actor Jude Law, who’s playing the bounder Alfie in the film of the same name, admits he had his “bounding” days himself.

“I think my late teens. You know, those years when suddenly you’re legally allowed into bars. And you’re allowed into clubs. And the world, you suddenly realize, is offering itself to you. But I guess – if you look at my life – I was someone who always looked for commitment. I don’t know, that’s in my makeup. And I guess I had my moment on the Brooklyn Bridge at 21, rather than at 31,” says Law, who made his first big U.S. splash in “The Talented Mr. Ripley.”

“And that’s why I got married and had children. But I think the beautiful thing about this film, is that it’s not just about a guy who likes to screw around. It’s about relationships. And we can all identify with having either been dumped, or been the dumper, or the cheat or the cheater – at some point in our lives,” says the London-born actor.

Law, who has costarred in productions like “A.I.,” “I (Heart) Huckabees” and “Cold Mountain,” plays the latter-day, womanizing Alfie, based on the film character originated by Michael Caine 38 years ago. The eternal battle between the roaming male and the nesting female has changed, says Law.

“I think we found ourselves in a very interesting, and very confusing time, generally. And I think as a culture, the West has found itself in a sort of strange – not battle of the genders – but almost battle in one’s own gender,” he says.

“I think there’s been so much equalizing, that we’ve all kind of lost a little sense of who and what we’re about. And certain amounts of definition of who and what being a woman and being a man is about. There’s almost a kind of murky middle ground now. Which sometimes diffuses the definition. And out of that, I think, has indeed spawned in certain areas, misogyny, in England, certainly.”

It’s not just the guy who takes advantage, either, says Law.

“I know a lot of “Alfie’ women … women who think power is wielding their sexuality. So I think there’s misogyny in men and in women. It’s a confusing time. Especially when women are being told that power is being on the cover of a magazine in a bikini, and being paid a lot of money. So I do agree that there’s a new kind of misogyny. And I think it applies to both genders.”

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