Jude Law has signed up to star in 'Anna Christie' on London's West End.

The 'Sherlock Holmes' actor - who won plaudits for his role as Hamlet on stage in the British theatre district and on Broadway in New York - will take on the role of Mat, the love interest of the main character, to be played by Laurence Olivier Award winner Ruth Wilson.

Michael Grandage - artistic director of the Donmar Theatre, which will stage the play from August this year - said the casting of Jude and Ruth "just seemed to be perfect" and revealed the actor had cleared his busy schedule to allow him to take part in the production.

He told the Daily Mail newspaper: "Jude said he wanted to work here while I was still there, so we got him together with Rob [Ashford, director] and this project.

"Jude told me he spent a lot of his young life coming to see plays at the Donmar and had a desire to lay this stage. He has deliberately carved out time so he can work here."

'Anna Christie' tells the story of a woman who is raped by her cousin as a teenager and becomes a prostitute before finding redemption with a canal barge stoker.

Jude is currently filming Guy Ritchie's 'Sherlock Holmes' sequel alongside Robert Downey Jr. in London