Gary Oldman has been up and about his colourful acting streak throughout his career and is currently playing his part in the AppleTV+ series Slow Horses, set to make its second comeback soon. The veteran has, however decided to hang up his acting coat soon.
Over the years, he’s bagged numerous accolades like British Academy Film Awards, an Academy Award and even the Golden Globes Award, thus crediting his flawless attempts at holding himself into his onscreen avatar. To the younger audience, he’s primarily known for being involved in two mainstream blockbuster franchises – Harry Potter and The Dark Knight series; however, he has delivered endless hits since the beginning of his filmography chronology.
The actor turns 65 next year and has announced his plans for his possible future retirement to give in to other interests in his life. He claimed he’d be “privileged to go out as (his Slow Horses character) Jackson Lamb”. Therefore, we’ve come through with this short list of performances delivered by the versatile actor for whom even the sky isn’t the limit.
Top 5 Gary Oldman Movies Displaying His Range
Darkest Hour (2017)
Playing the old World War II UK Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, got Oldman his Oscar in 2018. The actor is deemed almost unrecognisable as himself when adopting Churchill’s real and large-than-life visage with a makeup and prosthetic look that took almost five hours to complete. He even said at the time that putting it on “was fascinating to people. It was like being the prime minister for a few months”. It’s a no-brainer that performance in Jo Wright’s film was one of his most physically taxing roles till now.
The Dark Knight Trilogy (2005, 2008, 2012)
Donning the morally centred countenance of the Gotham detective Commissioner Gordon, Oldman shined a light out for the Caped Crusader whose personality was in stark contrast with the former. Appearing in all three movies – Batman Begins, The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises. Ever since his villainous role in The Fifth Element (1997), his image as the archetype stuck, but with this DC trilogy, Oldman cleared his name as the quintessential good guy.
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He almost went on to play the part of one of the most infamous antagonists against Batman – Scarecrow, due to his adoption of the ‘Scary Gary’ image. Taking up the role of the incorruptible good force in the city was a challenge for the actor, but he headed into it without turning back, and Dark Knight preserves its title as one of the most-loved trilogies.
Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)
Though Dracula may be considered a flop per box-office standards and one of the most underrated renditions of the classic novel, this movie still brings out the best of the worst in Oldman’s character. Once again transforming into the chilling titular character, his delivery is astounding and one of the major takeaways from the movie. After all, who can forget that maniacal devious laugh of the actor who spent most of his “time sleeping in the coffin”? How fitting.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
Through the third movie in the most beloved franchise of all time, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, most of us millennials and Gen-Z counterparts found Gary Oldman in the first place as the supposed ‘murderous’ Sirius Black. His character appears in the later movies of the series as well but watching Black for the first time in this movie was quite a conflicting mess for us all when we couldn’t figure out if he were truly the devil as the world had labelled him. Oldman easily portrayed the layered role and eventually made us all reserve a safe place in Harry’s Godfather.
Sid and Nancy (1986)
Turning up as the Sex Pistols bass guitarist Sid Vicious took a toll on Oldman’s health to the point that he almost collapsed. Though the actor isn’t fond of this performance, no one can deny his committed stance for the role.
It’s a shame that we couldn’t add more titles to this list considering the actor’s ‘chameleon’ contribution to the film industry can’t be captured in words. Nevertheless, we picked these specific performances to highlight that Oldman is fit as a fiddle when it comes to taking on characters who may otherwise be out of one’s comfort zone.
Which of these movies starring Gary Oldman is your favourite? Would you like to add any other titles we may have missed? Let us know in the comments section below.
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