GARY OLDMAN
Photo from GoogleImages
STATISTICS: Age 54 (March 21, 1958) — 5'11'
Gary Oldman, the son of a welder and a homemaker, was born on March 21, 1958 in London, England. For most of his career he was best-known for playing over-the-top antagonists, though he has recently reached a new audience with heroic roles in the Harry Potter and Dark Knight franchises.
Oldman won a scholarship to Britain's Rose Bruford Drama College, in Sidcup, Kent, where he received a B.A. in theatre arts in 1979. He subsequently studied with the Greenwich Young People's Theatre and went on to appear in a number of plays throughout the early '80s, including "The Pope's Wedding," for which he received Time Out's Fringe Award for Best Newcomer of 1985-1986 and the British Theatre Association's Drama Magazine Award as Best Actor for 1985.
His film debut was Remembrance (1982), though his most-memorable early role came when he played Sex Pistol Sid Vicious in the biopic Sid and Nancy (1986) picking up the Evening Standard Film Award as Best Newcomer. He then received a Best Actor nomination from BAFTA for his portrayal of '60s playwright Joe Orton in Prick Up Your Ears (1987).
In the 1990s, Oldman brought to life a series of iconic real-world and fictional villains including Lee Harvey Oswald in JFK (1991), the title character in Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992), Drexl Spivey in True Romance (1993), Stansfield in Léon: The Professional (1994), Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg in The Fifth Element (1997) and Ivan Korshunov in Air Force One (1997). That decade also saw Oldman portraying Ludwig van Beethoven in biopic Immortal Beloved (1994).
Oldman scored the coveted role of Sirius Black in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), giving him a key part in one of the highest-grossing franchises ever. He reprised that role in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005) and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007). Oldman also took on the iconic role of Detective James Gordon in writer-director Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins (2005), a role he played again in The Dark Knight (2008) and The Dark Knight Rises (2012).
In 2011, Oldman portrayed master spy George Smiley in the adaptation of John le Carré's Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011), and the role scored Oldman his first Academy Award nomination.
Aside from acting, Oldman tried his hand at writing and directing for Nil by Mouth (1997). The movie opened the Cannes Film Festival in 1997, and won Kathy Burke a Best Actress prize at the festival.
Oldman has three children - one with first wife Lesley Manville, and two with third wife Donya Fiorentino. He is currently married to Alexandra Edenborough.
TRVIA
Has used a
different speaking voice (i.e., accent) in practically every movie he's ever
been in.
He and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005) co-star Timothy Spall have both played the character of Rosencrantz; Spall in Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet (1996), Oldman in Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead (1990).
Submitted a recorded voice audition for General Grievous in Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005). George Lucas later chose the anonymous audition of Matthew Wood for the role instead.
Henry & June (1990) is the only film in which he's been credited as "Maurice Escargot".
Appears in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005) and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007) with Ralph Fiennes. Both of them have played villains in the Hannibal Lecter series: Fiennes played Francis Dolarhyde in Red Dragon (2002), and Oldman played Mason Verger in Hannibal (2001).
Like Ian McKellen, he has taken on popular characters in screen adaptations of cult favorite fantasy novels and comic books. He appeared as James Gordon in Batman Begins (2005) and The Dark Knight (2008) and as Sirius Black in the middle three Harry Potter films: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005), and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007).
He and his ex-wife, Uma Thurman, have both appeared in Batman films. Thurman played Poison Ivy in Batman & Robin (1997), and Oldman played James Gordon in Batman Begins (2005), The Dark Knight (2008) and The Dark Knight Rises (2012).
Uncle of Gerry Bromfield and Tracy Bromfield.
His performance as Sid Vicious in Sid and Nancy (1986) is ranked #62 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Performances of All Time (2006).
Performed a vocal duet with David Bowie for the song "You've Been Around" on the 1995 album "The Sacred Squall of Now" by longtime Bowie guitarist Reeves Gabrels. He is also featured on the song "Stamford Hill" on the same album.
Is very close to actor and co-star in the Harry Potter franchise Daniel Radcliffe.
His sister Laila Morse plays the character "Big Mo" in the British soap opera "EastEnders" (1985).
In 2011, he named his five favorite films as Apocalypse Now (1979), The Conversation (1974), The Godfather: Part II (1974), Badlands (1973) and Ratcatcher (1999) and cites his director from Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992), Francis Ford Coppola, as his favorite filmmaker.
Is the second actor to be nominated for a Best Actor Oscar for playing a lead character in a John le Carré novel adaptation. This first was Richard Burton for "The Spy Who Came in from the Cold," which featured George Smiley.
Received the scar below his right eye during a rehearsal for Meantime (1984) (TV), where Tim Roth threw a bottle that hit a light and fell on Oldman.
Before his nod for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011), he was considered one of the greatest actors never nominated for an Oscar.
PERSONAL QUOTES
We're given a code to live our lives by. We don't always follow it but it's still there.
[on portraying famous people]: It's a double-edged sword because, in one sense, you have a lot of material to work with, but in a strange kind of way, that puts up a framework that you have to keep within. You can't play Beethoven with pink hair but, to an extent, because no-one has ever met him, who's going to tell me that's not Beethoven?
I had this idea of myself as a shy, kind, sweet chap. I was working with Winona Ryder and she turned to me and said, "Fuck, man, you're really intense!" I was so shocked, I went, "What do you mean? I'm not intense, I'm sweet!" My passion and energy get mistaken for anger.
I guess what I'm trying to say is, it's not Dracula crying, it's Gary Oldman, but using the technique of the character. The emotion is mine, because I don't know what it's like to be undead and live 300 years.
To be able to do this job in the first place you've got to have a bit of an ego.
[2008] There are roles that you play. I've played roles that it happens easier than others, it doesn't feel like you're working, it's as easy as breathing. And there are other ones that you really have to work hard for. It's often because of the writing.
[1998] I loved America when I first came in '81. I moved to New York and I said, "I'm home. This is my town." I'm not one of those Brits that goes to the English pub and plays cricket under the Hollywood sign. I really immersed myself in the culture. And I work in the industry as an American. I have a fantastic ear, and I'm a great people watcher.
He and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005) co-star Timothy Spall have both played the character of Rosencrantz; Spall in Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet (1996), Oldman in Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead (1990).
Submitted a recorded voice audition for General Grievous in Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005). George Lucas later chose the anonymous audition of Matthew Wood for the role instead.
Henry & June (1990) is the only film in which he's been credited as "Maurice Escargot".
Appears in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005) and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007) with Ralph Fiennes. Both of them have played villains in the Hannibal Lecter series: Fiennes played Francis Dolarhyde in Red Dragon (2002), and Oldman played Mason Verger in Hannibal (2001).
Like Ian McKellen, he has taken on popular characters in screen adaptations of cult favorite fantasy novels and comic books. He appeared as James Gordon in Batman Begins (2005) and The Dark Knight (2008) and as Sirius Black in the middle three Harry Potter films: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005), and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007).
He and his ex-wife, Uma Thurman, have both appeared in Batman films. Thurman played Poison Ivy in Batman & Robin (1997), and Oldman played James Gordon in Batman Begins (2005), The Dark Knight (2008) and The Dark Knight Rises (2012).
Uncle of Gerry Bromfield and Tracy Bromfield.
His performance as Sid Vicious in Sid and Nancy (1986) is ranked #62 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Performances of All Time (2006).
Performed a vocal duet with David Bowie for the song "You've Been Around" on the 1995 album "The Sacred Squall of Now" by longtime Bowie guitarist Reeves Gabrels. He is also featured on the song "Stamford Hill" on the same album.
Is very close to actor and co-star in the Harry Potter franchise Daniel Radcliffe.
His sister Laila Morse plays the character "Big Mo" in the British soap opera "EastEnders" (1985).
In 2011, he named his five favorite films as Apocalypse Now (1979), The Conversation (1974), The Godfather: Part II (1974), Badlands (1973) and Ratcatcher (1999) and cites his director from Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992), Francis Ford Coppola, as his favorite filmmaker.
Is the second actor to be nominated for a Best Actor Oscar for playing a lead character in a John le Carré novel adaptation. This first was Richard Burton for "The Spy Who Came in from the Cold," which featured George Smiley.
Received the scar below his right eye during a rehearsal for Meantime (1984) (TV), where Tim Roth threw a bottle that hit a light and fell on Oldman.
Before his nod for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011), he was considered one of the greatest actors never nominated for an Oscar.
PERSONAL QUOTES
We're given a code to live our lives by. We don't always follow it but it's still there.
[on portraying famous people]: It's a double-edged sword because, in one sense, you have a lot of material to work with, but in a strange kind of way, that puts up a framework that you have to keep within. You can't play Beethoven with pink hair but, to an extent, because no-one has ever met him, who's going to tell me that's not Beethoven?
I had this idea of myself as a shy, kind, sweet chap. I was working with Winona Ryder and she turned to me and said, "Fuck, man, you're really intense!" I was so shocked, I went, "What do you mean? I'm not intense, I'm sweet!" My passion and energy get mistaken for anger.
I guess what I'm trying to say is, it's not Dracula crying, it's Gary Oldman, but using the technique of the character. The emotion is mine, because I don't know what it's like to be undead and live 300 years.
To be able to do this job in the first place you've got to have a bit of an ego.
[2008] There are roles that you play. I've played roles that it happens easier than others, it doesn't feel like you're working, it's as easy as breathing. And there are other ones that you really have to work hard for. It's often because of the writing.
[1998] I loved America when I first came in '81. I moved to New York and I said, "I'm home. This is my town." I'm not one of those Brits that goes to the English pub and plays cricket under the Hollywood sign. I really immersed myself in the culture. And I work in the industry as an American. I have a fantastic ear, and I'm a great people watcher.
[2001, on his gift with accents] I can do a rough approximation of virtually any accent. I've always done them; as a kid I used to do the Beatles as a party piece. When I was with the Royal Court Theatre we used to piss around and people would say, "I bet you can't do Zimbabwe," so I did it. The accent on The Contender - Illinois - was the hardest I ever had to do, because there's no melody to catch on to. Most accents have a music to them, but Illinois is a very flat, unimaginative thing.
[1990] I made the decision not to always play the token Englishman. I think the real juicy roles in my generation are going to go to the American actors.
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