Gary Oldman: “There’s always room for a white Jamaican pimp. No matter who you are, everyone should do it at least once”

Once best known for villainous roles in films like Leon: The Professional, Air Force One, and The Fifth Element, Gary Oldman has more recently become recognized for his “good guy” supporting roles in Christopher Nolan’s Batman films and the Harry Potter series. 

Oldman continues his transformation into heroic roles in Tinker, Tailor, Solider, Spy as MI6 spy George Smiley, and, in an interview with The Daily Beast, Oldman talks about how his career has followed a unique trajectory.

Oldman’s gradual turn to less villainous roles mostly came from the desire to do something different with his villainous career path.  He explains, “I just got tired of being the villain, or the go-to guy when you wanted someone who was an extrovert or an eccentric. There’s a villain role that came in for me recently, and I just said, ‘This is how much I want.’ [Laugh]  You have to pay me this much to even get me at the table, because I’m more expensive if I play a villain!”

Yes even though Oldman has taken on more heroic roles, he still maintains his reputation of never acting in the same way twice.  Although he does this by looking for what he calls, “the key to open the door to a character,” the process can be difficult.  For example, for his role as Irish mobster Jackie Flannery in the 1990 film State of Grace, Oldman confesses, “I found real trouble finding that character. I went to a costume fitting at literally 5 to midnight and we were starting shooting in two days, and I didn’t have the character. I put on this leather jacket, and I had this long hair, and I flicked my hair. But I didn’t flick it sideways. I flicked it up. And I got him! I thought, ‘That’s it. This is the guy.’”  Read more