Gary Oldman, star of 'Dawn of the Planet of the Apes,' discusses his past roles
In his thirty two year acting career, Gary Oldman has played madmen of many makes and models, literature鈥檚聽most famous vampire, punk rock royalty, the man who shot JFK, beleaguered spies and policemen, and falsely accused wizards; he鈥檚 worked with the likes of聽Christopher Nolan, Oliver Stone, Alex Cox, Tony Scott, Luc Besson, and Alfonso Cuar贸n.聽Even taking into account the misses that come part and parcel with his (far more numerous) successes, describing the man鈥檚 filmography聽as 鈥渄istinguished鈥� feels like a massive understatement.
Unless, of course, you鈥檙e Gary Oldman, in which case the compliment elicits a roll of the eyes. Turns out that Oldman is his own number one detractor; he鈥檚 the counterpoint for every聽聽fan who considers聽his casting as Sirius Black pitch perfect, and for everyone who can鈥檛 bring up聽True Romance聽without talking about his meager (but well-used) ten minutes of screen time. Here鈥檚 a modern thespian who has contributed boatloads of quotable material to the cinematic lexicon, but can鈥檛聽stand the sight of his acting.
Oldman was on the press circuit to promote聽, in which he plays, of sorts, a vengeful man bent on repaying the apes for the deaths of countless humans following the events of 2011鈥瞫聽Rise of the Planet of the Apes. In making the rounds, he took the time to sit down with聽聽to discuss the part, but the conversation wound up zigging, zagging, and generally meandering all over the map. The juiciest bits of the聽tete a tete聽have stirred up a measure of controversy over the web, and in that hubbub, everyone has come to overlook the most personal part of the interview: Oldman鈥檚 take on his time spent in front of the camera.
It鈥檚 arresting stuff, though it comprises only a very small portion of the otherwise scattershot dialogue. Here鈥檚 arguably the most important quote from Oldman about how his attitude toward his work has evolved:
"It鈥檚 all so subjective, you know? I guess I shouldn鈥檛 complain. I鈥檝e learned over the years that people get upset when they tell you something is their favorite movie and you go, 'Really? You liked that?' That鈥檚 the sort of thing Sean Penn would say. So I now tell people, 'Thank you, that鈥檚 great,' and move on. But you know, I remember John Lennon saying that if he could, he鈥檇 go back and burn most of the work the Beatles did. He said he鈥檇 rerecord all the songs, and I get that. Most of my work I would just stomp into the ground and start over again."
Oldman鈥檚 not completely dismissive of his efforts; he鈥檚 willing to concede the quality of a role聽there, the efficacy of a specific scene from a specific movie there. But he鈥檚 a perfectionist, and like all perfectionists he sees all of the pockmarks in his accomplishments where everyone else just sees great turns in films like聽JFK听补苍诲听聽(the only two of his movies that he speaks of with pure fondness).
He鈥檚 also a professional, in the sense that he sees acting as a job,聽something that he does for a living first and foremost. To read his words in the article, one聽would almost assume he鈥檚 talking about a profession that鈥檚 more mundane than walking onto a bustling聽Hollywood set and stepping in front of the camera; it鈥檚 not that he聽颈蝉苍鈥檛聽enamored of his career, but that he sees it in a different light now than he did back when he was a young up and comer. (One has to wonder what the Gary Oldman of 1982 might have thought of the Gary Oldman of today.)
The self-scrutiny and humility Oldman displays is refreshing, if not surprising. Try naming as many modern actors with the same humble attitude as you have聽digits on your hands. That said, we鈥檒l just have to agree to disagree with Oldman on the quality of (some) his work.
Andy Crump blogs at .
