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If you’re looking for an actor to be the moral center of your movie, Gary Oldman may not be the first name that comes to mind.
Yet the actor, once cast as a default Hollywood villain in action flicks including “Air Force One” and “The Fifth Element,” has recently used his impressive range and ability to transform his looks to fit diverse but decent-hearted characters such as Harry Potter’s godfather Sirius Black and Batman’s trusted police department collaborator Jim Gordon.
Metromix chatted briefly with Oldman about reprising his Bat-role and why he still loves his job.
What’s it like being part of a franchise like this, or “Harry Potter”?
It’s interesting looking back at something and picking it up again. I mean obviously, one of the reasons why I wanted to come back [for “Dark Knight”] was Chris [Nolan]. His skills as a director aside, he’s a very nice man. If the role had been less or smaller, then so be it. As it happens, he wrote me a very nice role. It’s great, emotional, it’s a great character arc.
Do you think of “The Dark Knight” as a political movie?
If you want it to be. I think take away the cape and it could be a political thriller. It could play as a drama. It’s not a superhero movie. It’s not even a Batman movie. I think it would hold its own on another level.
Have you had any funny encounters with fans from your recurring roles?
I was working on “A Christmas Carol” [a motion capture animation project directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring Jim Carrey] and a little kid coming up to me, and he said, “Can you tell me…You played Sirius, yeah?” And I said, “Yeah, Sirius Black.” And he said, “Wow, can I ask you a question? What’s on the other side of the curtain?” And I said, “Christmas Carol.” [laughs]
Poor kid. Who do you play in that?
I play Jacob Marley, Tiny Tim and Bob Cratchit. It’s two years away [from release].
You’ve made a lot of films now, do you still enjoy it?
It’s still great. [On this movie] you look to your left and there are a hundred and fifty people in the crew and there’s Heath [Ledger] winding himself up to get in the scene. And someone brings you a cup of coffee, and you’re like, “Oh, thank you very much!” And you look to your right, and there’s Chris Nolan setting up his shot and there’s an eighteen wheeler flipped upside down. And it’s like four in the morning. And certain streets have all been curtained off and there are lights as far as you can see. And you really do just say, “Wow, what a really cool job.” [laughs]
