A Hollywood actor who starred alongside Jude Law has made a desperate plea for a crime crackdown in London being commended in parliament for his brave actions
A London-based Hollywood actor has urged the government to do more to fight crime in England’s capital. Alexander Johnson, who recently starred alongside Jude Law, has pleaded with the leaders of the UK to “do more” – revealing exactly what he thinks needs done.
The rising star, 38, insists the “injustice of attacks get under my skin” as he revealed how he had to take matters into his own hands several times. Speaking exclusively to the Mirror, he said you “quickly learn what, what type of person you are in those in those situations”.
It comes as BBC Breakfast presenter Ben Thompson revealed he was left scarred by an attack in which thieves stole his £7k watch as well as he friend’s £150k diamond-encrusted Patek Philippe.
Tom Cruise also recently decided to flee the UK, leaving his £35m Knightsbridge flat after an armed raid on a Rolex store left him feeling unsafe in London. A gang raid on a Bucherer store below his building saw six armed robbers make off with thousands of pounds worth of watches.
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Now, Alexander has urged the UK government to act quick to avoid things getting further out of hand. “It’s a very significant problem that has to be properly addressed,” he told us.
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“[Initiatives in schools] need more funding, more support. I think it’s easier to control the problem the sooner that you address it. And I think we need to stop. There needs to be a significantly more measured response when tragedies happen than what I’m seeing from my perspective.”
His comments come around 15 years after he first found himself taking on the role as a real-life superhero. He explained how he was walking home through Mayfair when he witnessed a woman have her bag snatched. Thankfully, his quick thinking helped the victim get her property back after helping to hold the robber until the police came after a foot chase.
He revealed police told him it is “very rare” for the public to intervene like he did, but he admits he realises things could have ended very differently. He later found himself the victim of a mugging, suffering a black eye, two broken ribs and other injuries after he was targeted for his £80,000 Patek Philippe Aquanaut watch – a similar style attack to that suffered by BBC’s Thompson.
He told how he was “pulled off my bike by a group of guys in a fast and very coordinated robbery”. He said he ended up fighting with some of the gang, but was struck at how quickly and deliberately they moved it between each other.
“You couldn’t track the watch,” he said. “You’d see it on one guy for a moment, and then it was gone.”
However, it was a third incident that he said was potentially the most dangerous as he stepped in to help a woman who had her phone stolen in front of him. Explaining the harrowing situation, he said: “I knocked him off the bike to the ground. I was trying to restrain him and keep him down, and another one of the group pulled out these machetes. I think it’s called a Zombie blade.”
He said that while he was able to fend off the attackers and the woman got her phone back, he is very aware at how the story could have had a much more tragic ending. His bravery was later commended in parliament. Labour (Co-op)’s Rachel Blake praised the star and reiterated the importance of Operation Echosteep, which was set up in 2024 to crack down on phone theft gangs.
In 2024/25, London’s crime rate reached 106.4 crimes per 1,000 people, compared with a crime rate of 105.8 in the previous year, according to Statista. Since the mid-2010s London’s crime rate had steadily increased, with over 951,800 crimes recorded by the the police in 2024/25.
This year, the overall crime rate in London’s is said have dropped slightly and stand at approximately 85 per 1,000 people, according to Crime Rate. However, theft from the person in London, such as those Alexander dealt with, remains 4.69 times higher than the national average.
While Blake, who is an MP for Cities of London and Westminster praised his bravery, she urged more to be done to cut crime levels in the UK. And it’s a message Alexander is keen to reinforce, too, by candidly speaking out on his own experiences.
Away from fighting crime, Alexander is forging a successful career in front of the camera. He recently starred in The Wizard of the Kremlin alongside Jude Law, who portrayed Russian president Vladimir Putin. The film was showcased at the Venice Film Festival.
Alexander labelled his fellow actor as “one of the greats” saying he was shocked at how humble he was. “He is an absolute professional. And he was – and it was – lovely to be part of that film.”
He admitted that just watching the star at work has helped him “subliminally pick up tips from your exposure, and you see their preparation. You just pick up a lot of these micro nuances, which you can take forward and use for yourself.”
And it’s those tips that Alexander will hope see him continue to grow as an actor, with big projects on the horizon. “I’ve got a very exciting project that I’m working on now that I’m not allowed to say a lot about,” he told us.
“So that’s where all my attention and focus is going right now. I’m putting in the hours right now in every way, including hours in the gym every day. So I’m hoping to deliver something quite special for that.”
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