Actor Gary Oldman sat down with The Hollywood Reporter’s Scott Roxborough to discuss his experiences in the industry, from almost being typecast to nearly playing Edward Scissorhands, while also opening up about his relationship with David Bowie and his sobriety.
Oldman got his start in theater before finding his “breakout” in the film scene with roles as Sid Vicious in 1986’s Sid and Nancy and Joe Orton in 1987’s Pick Up Your Ears. Along with playing “feral” and “unhinged roles” in early 90s films, including True Romance and Léon: The Professional, made Oldman “Hollywood’s go-to psycho.” In the early 2000s, Oldman began to feel that he was being typecast in the industry. He then “made a conscious decision that I can’t do this anymore. I put myself out of work to wait for something to come along that was as far away from the sort of villainous world I was in.” He was able to find “a late-career reinvention” in part due to major franchise roles like Sirius Black in Harry Potter and Jim Gordon in Christopher Nolan’s Batman series.
There was a popular role that could have changed Oldman’s early career in the late ‘80s, with the actor admitting that he “was on Tim Burton’s list for the role of Edward Scissorhands.” When he was prompted to read through the script, Oldman did so and told them that he didn’t “get it.” But when Edward Scissorhands came out and Oldman went to the theaters to see the feature, he said, “With that opening shot — all those brightly colored houses, and then the camera pans up to the castle-like thing on the hill — within two minutes I went, “I get it!” But it seems Oldman knows how to pick his roles as he has gotten three Academy Award nominations in his portrayals of George Smiley in 2011’s Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill in 2017’s Darkest Hour, and screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz in 2020’s Mank. Oldman named Smiley as the role that “gave [him] the most anxiety” because of how internal it is. He elaborated, “His wonderful mind is the motor running inside, but externally, it’s all still. Plus the fact that I was in the shadow of Alec Guinness, who had incredible success with the role — Sir Alec Guinness, this great, revered and loved British actor…I found it overwhelming.”
Oldman then reminisced about what he learned from his friendship with the late singer and icon David Bowie, commenting that, “ he was always pushing the envelope. He reinvented himself and his music many times. He was inspiring because he was a great innovator and not afraid to try things. It’s nothing conscious, but that rubs off.” He also spoke on how his sobriety has “an influence on everything.” Further explaining, “I’m in a very good place at the moment, and a lot of that is to do with sobriety. It’s been 28 years. There was a point when I didn’t think I could’ve gone 28 seconds without a drink.”
Currently, Oldman plays Jackson Lamb in the Apple TV+ series Slow Horses. The fourth series is set to premiere on September 24th, 2025.
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