Gary Leonard Oldman is an English actor, who plays Sirius Black in the film adaptations of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. He also voiced Sirius in the video-game adaption of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.
Acting career[]
Oldman made his first significant impact upon Hollywood when he was cast as Sid Vicious, the bassist of the Sex Pistols, in Alex Cox's Sid and Nancy (1986). He gained critical acclaim for the role, as did his next significant role – playwright Joe Orton in Prick Up Your Ears (1987).
In 1990, he appeared with Tim Roth and Richard Dreyfuss in the Tom Stoppard comedy Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead. He also played Lee Harvey Oswald, the suspected assassin of John F. Kennedy, in Oliver Stone's 1991 drama JFK.
Oldman is best known portraying villains. Throughout the 1990s, he made appearances as villains in several blockbusters including Dracula (1992) with Anthony Hopkins; Leon (1994) with Jean Reno; Air Force One (1997) with Harrison Ford; The Fifth Element (1997) with Bruce Willis; and Lost in Space (1998) with William Hurt.
Having become acquainted with Matt LeBlanc on the set of Lost in Space, Oldman agreed to appear in a 2001 episode of the sitcom "Friends". The memorable two-part episode "The One with Monica and Chandler's Wedding" featured a much talked-about spitting scene between Oldman and LeBlanc, after Oldman's character claimed that "real" actors spat on each other when they enunciated. For his role, Oldman earned an Emmy Award nomination.
In 2003, he was cast as Sirius Black in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban; he reprised the role in the following two films. And in 2005, he co-starred in Christopher Nolan's "Batman" reboot Batman Begins as Gotham City's Detective-Sergeant James Gordon. He played Gordon twice more, in 2008's Oscar-winning The Dark Knight as a lieutenant turned commissioner and 2012's The Dark Knight Rises.
In 2009, Oldman played the roles of Jacob Marley, Bob Cratchit, and Tiny Tim in A Christmas Carol, and in 2010, he played the role of Carnegie in The Book of Eli with Denzel Washington.
In 2011, Oldman reprised the role of Sirius Black in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.[2] He also played George Smiley in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (with John Hurt, Toby Jones, Ciarán Hinds, Simon McBurney, and Roger Lloyd-Pack), for which he earned the first Academy Award nomination of his career.
Personal life[]
- Oldman has been married five times, first to British actress Lesley Manville (who co-starred with Jim Broadbent, Shirley Henderson, and Timothy Spall in the film Topsy-Turvy) and most famously to Oscar-nominated actress Uma Thurman—who co-starred with Ralph Fiennes in The Avengers—from 1990 to 1992. In 2008 he married Alexandra Edenborough, however she filed for a divorce in 2015, blaming it on the 20 year age gap. Since 2017, he has been married to Gisele Schmidt, an art curator, after proposing to her in costume as Winston Churchill.
- He has three sons from two other marriages: Alfie (b. 1988) from his marriage to Lesley Manville, and Gulliver (b. 1997) and Charlie (b. 1999) from his marriage to Donya Fiorentino.
Behind the scenes[]
- Gary gave Daniel Radcliffe a bass guitar as a gift when they first met.
- In late 2023, he told Happy Sad Confused podcast host Josh Horowitz that he thought his work as Sirius Black was mediocre. Later on at a press conference for his new film Parthenope at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, he was asked about the comments. At the time, he had said "Maybe if I had read the books like Alan [Rickman], if I had got ahead of the curve, if I had known what's coming, I honestly think I would have played it differently". In response, he replied he meant no harm and had no intent to "disparage anyone out there who are fans of Harry Potter and the films and the character who I think is much beloved".[3]
- In an interview with Indie Wire at the Emmy Awards on 15 September 2024, he was asked if he would appear in the upcoming Harry Potter television series. He replied saying “no one's approached me” (regarding the role of Sirius Black), but that maybe in a few years, he "could do Dumbledore".[4]
Filmography[]
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Darkest Hour | Winston Churchill | Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role |
| 2014 | Dawn of the Planet of the Apes | ||
| RoboCop | Dr Dennett Norton | ||
| 2012 | The Dark Knight Rises | Jim Gordon | |
| 2011 | Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy | George Smiley | Academy Award nomination for Best Leading Actor BAFTA Award nomination for Best Leading Actor |
| Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 | Sirius Black | ||
| Kung Fu Panda 2: The Kaboom of Doom | Voice of Lord Shen | ||
| Red Riding Hood | Father Solomon | ||
| Guns, Girls and Gambling | Elvis | ||
| 2010 | Criminal Empire for Dummy's | Unknown | |
| Call of Duty: Black Ops | Voice of Sgt. Reznov Voice of Dr Clarke |
Video game | |
| The Book of Eli | Carnegie | ||
| 2009 | Planet 51 | Voice of General Grawl | Animated |
| A Christmas Carol | Bob Cratchit/Marley/Tiny Tim | A 3-D film that was produced through the process of performance capture. | |
| Rain Fall | William Holtzer | ||
| The Unborn | Rabbi Sendak | ||
| 2008 | Call of Duty: World at War | Voice of Sgt. Reznov | Video game |
| The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon | Voice of Ignitus | ||
| The Dark Knight | Jim Gordon | ||
| 2007 | The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night | Voice of Ignitus | Video game |
| Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix | Sirius Black | ||
| 2006 | The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning | Voice of Ignitus | Video game |
| The Backwoods | Paul | ||
| 2005 | Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire | Sirius Black | |
| Batman Begins | Jim Gordon | ||
| 2004 | Who's Kyle? | Scouse | Short film |
| Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban | Sirius Black | ||
| Dead Fish | Lynch | ||
| 2003 | Sin | Charlie Strom | |
| True Crime: Streets of LA | Voice of Rocky, Agent Masterson | Video game | |
| Tiptoes | Rolfe | ||
| Medal of Honor: Allied Assault - Spearhead | Voice of Sgt. Jack Barnes | Video game | |
| 2002 | Beat the Devil | Devil | Short film |
| Interstate 60: Episodes of the Road | O.W. Grant | ||
| 2001 | Friends (TV series) | Richard Crosby | 2 episodes The One with Monica and Chandler's Wedding: Part 1 The One with Monica and Chandler's Wedding: Part 2 Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series |
| Hannibal | Mason Verger | ||
| Nobody's Baby | Buford Bill | ||
| 2000 | The Contender | Shelly Runyon | |
| 1999 | Jesus | Pontius Pilate | TV movie |
| Tracey Takes On... (TV series) | Hairdresser | 1 episode Hair | |
| 1998 | The fifth Element (Video game) | Voice of Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg | |
| Quest for Camelot | Voice of Ruber | Animated | |
| Lost in Space | Dr Zachary Smith/Spider Smith | ||
| 1997 | Air Force One | Ivan Korshunov | |
| The Fifth Element | Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg | ||
| Nil by Mouth | Writer/director/producer | BAFTA Award for Best British Film BAFTA Award for Best Screenplay - Original | |
| 1996 | Basquiat | Albert Milo | |
| 1995 | The Scarlet Letter | Rev. Arthur Dimmesdale | |
| Murder in the First | Milton Glenn | ||
| 1994 | Immortal Beloved | Ludwig van Beethoven | |
| Léon | Stansfield | ||
| 1993 | Romeo Is Bleeding | Jack Grimaldi | |
| True Romance | Drexl Spivey | ||
| Fallen Angels (TV series) | Pat Keiley | 1 episode Dead End for Delia | |
| 1992 | Bram Stoker's Dracula | Count Dracula / Vlad III Draculea | |
| 1991 | JFK | Lee Harvey Oswald | |
| 1990 | Henry & June | Pop | |
| State of Grace | Jackie Flannery | ||
| Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead | Rosencrantz | ||
| 1989 | Knots Landing (TV series) | Don Ross | 1 episode Close Call |
| Chattahoochee | Emmett Foley | ||
| Criminal Law | Ben Chase | ||
| 1988 | We Think the World of You | Johnny | |
| Track 29 | Martin | ||
| 1987 | Prick Up Your Ears | Joe Orton | BAFTA Award nomination for Best Actor |
| 1986-1991 | Screen Two (TV series) | Bex Bissell / Derek Bates / Ian Tyson | 3 episodes Heading Home (1991) - Ian Tyson The Firm (1989) - Bex Bissell Honest, Decent and True (1986) - Derek Bates |
| 1986 | Sid and Nancy | Sid Vicious | |
| 1985 | Summer Season | Gary | 1 episode Rachel and the Roarettes |
| 1984 | Morgan's Boy (TV series) | Collin | Unknown episodes |
| Dramarama (TV series) | Ben | 1 episode On Your Tod | |
| Meantime | Coxy | TV movie | |
| 1982 | Remembrance | Daniel |