Law School: Diaz Shows Jude A Trick Or Two

Jude Law has been called the sexiest man alive and Hollywood's busiest actor. Now the two-time Oscar nominee is starring in his first romantic comedy with Kate Winslet, Cameron Diaz and Jack Black.

In the movie "The Holiday," Diaz and Winslet play women who swap houses for two weeks over Christmas to escape their man troubles. Law plays Graham, Winslet's brother who falls in love with seasoned romantic comedy veteran Diaz, who plays Amanda Woods.

Law has said that acting in a comedy was much harder than he thought, but he learned from Diaz.

"She sure makes it look easy," he told The Early Show co-anchor Rene Syler. "She's obviously done it before, and is just brilliantly skilled at keeping that kind of energy, that sparkle alive. But I was — you know what, I sat back and I learned a lot."

Diaz taught him, he said, to come to work with a "sense of spirit" and "character." Law, who is used to playing dramatic roles, said he had to force himself to hold back and not reveal too much about his character because Graham "has got a great twist," he said.

"You think he's one thing and in fact he's another. And so I'm not going to reveal anything," he said.

To prepare, director Nancy Meyers told Law to watch Cary Grant films for inspiration.

"We both agree that the best period pulling this romantic comedy off was the late '40s and '50s and Cary Grant's performances in 'The Awful Truth' and others. We just discussed the quality that he had, this ability… to be generous."

Meanwhile, Law is also working with director Anthony Minghella in the upcoming film, "Breaking and Entering." Both men have been receiving Oscar buzz, and Law has worked with Minghella twice before on "Cold Mountain" and "The Talented Mr. Ripley."

"It was a very different type of film to the last two; much smaller budget, smaller scale, contemporary, and we shot it in and around London, in fact, the area where we both lived," Law said. "My children were able to come down and visit occasionally, yeah, and I was finishing time, run home and pick them up for school."

Law said he is going to be spending Christmas with his children in South Africa.