Jude Law Mistaken for a Car Thief?

By Jo Cavallo

07/15/2002 at 01:00 PM EDT

As a star, Jude Law is no doubt accustomed to being approached by strangers. But he was unprepared for a run-in with a politician at Bucharest's Otopeni Airport Thursday, reports the Associated Press. The British actor, 29, came to Romania to begin filming "Cold Mountain" (also starring Nicole Kidman), and was approached at the airport by an irate Dinu Patriciu, a leading member of the opposition Liberal Party, when Law and a friend were getting into their rented Land Rover. Apparently Patriciu thought the men were trying to steal the vehicle, which he had recently left with a mechanic with instructions to sell it. The Land Rover had been leased to Castel Films, a producer of "Cold Mountain." According to Patriciu, who claims he was embarrassed once he realized his mistake, Law's reaction made the situation worse. "I was very unhappy because he started swearing," he told the news service. "I am not a native English speaker but I understood what he was saying. He kept telling me that he had come to bring money to the country. Later, I was told he was a Hollywood star." Larry Kaplan, a publicist for "Cold Mountain," said Law did not want to comment on the incident.