Gary Oldman is the man of a thousand faces. He’s made a career off of being one of the best character actors in the business, able to shed his skin and adapt to new surroundings like a chameleon .
He’s a treasure who’s helped make some of the most memorable and important films of the past 30 years.
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Let’s get to know the man behind the mask with these 10+ random facts about Gary Oldman that fans didn’t know.
Gary knows not to take himself too seriously.
Without a doubt, one of the best Late Night TV bits on any show is Jimmy Kimmel’s “Celebrities Read Mean Tweets.”
Did Gary get angry? Did he shy away hurt or offended — of course not! He started laughing so hard that he nearly fell out of his chair.
He’s beloved by his peers in Hollywood.
Whenever an actor is asked in an interview who they aspire to be or to whom they look up to the most, there’s only one name that ever gets mentioned — Gary Oldman.
Daniel Radcliffe referred to him as the very best actor in all of England.
Gary is an Oscar winner!
The first time that Gary was nominated for an Academy Award came in 2012 when he appeared in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy .
He took home the gold in 2018 when he won Best Actor for Darkest Hour .
He’s a director as well!
Gary isn’t just a wiz in front of the camera, he’s also a pretty formidable director as well. He made his debut with a film called Nil By Mouth .
A film that Gary dedicated to his father.
Gary is against professional athletes becoming actors.
Just because your famous, doesn’t mean you can act. Sometimes the best thing for professional athletes to do is to know their place and stay in their lane.
At least, according to Gary Oldman.
Music has helped shape his life.
Gary Oldman’s big break came when he appeared in the film Sid and Nancy . He was portraying the infamous punk-rock legend, Sid Vicious.
Sid was a founding member of The Sex Pistols , one of the most influential bands in the history of punk music.
Gary can really play.
That’s right, Gary really can slap-a-da-bass in real life! While he was working on the set of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban , he taught Daniel Radcliffe how to play!
They rocked out to “Come Together” by The Beatles.
He’s a master of voices and accents.
Jennifer Lawrence once said that it would be impossible for Gary Oldman to be famous because no one really knows what he looks like. I’m inclined to agree.
He’s played a Russian terrorist, a Transylvanian vampire , Gotham police commissioner, and a British Prime Minister — and that’s barely scratching the surface.
Gary is quite the impressionist.
It’s not surprising that arguably the world’s greatest character actor is adept at doing impressions .
My personal favorite is Gary’s “Robert De Niro at Home Depot.” Although, his “Christopher Walken wake-up call” isn’t bad either.
He has become famous for his death scenes.
The characters that Gary Oldman portrays typically don’t have happy endings. He’s developed a reputation for it.
According to Brad Pitt, he believes Gary is the best in the business. Brad freely admits that his death scenes are nothing more than Gary Oldman impersonations.
He only agreed to star in *The Fifth Element* as a favor to Luc Besson.
Luc had helped Gary co-finance his directorial debut, so he knew that Luc’s call was coming eventually. Gary agreed to star in the film before he’d even read the script.
He appreciates that The Fifth Element is a fan-favorite, although Gary admits he doesn’t understand why.
He’s a recovering alcoholic.
Over the years, Gary has had come to terms with his alcoholism. Now, he embraces his sobriety to the fullest.
At his lowest point, Gary was drinking upwards of two bottles of vodka — in a single day.
His most-famous role will probably surprise you.
Unless your a console gamer and a fan of first-person shooters, that is. Gary appears in the groundbreaking video game series Call Of Duty .
He appears in Call Of Duty: Black Ops as General Viktor Reznov.
Christopher Nolan originally wanted to cast him as The Scarecrow in *Batman Begins*.
Gary has spent a large chunk of his career playing the villain , so it’s understandable that Nolan had a hard time seeing him as the hero — at least at first.
In the end, Gary positively shone as Jim Gordon.
Gary is a huge fan of David Bowie.
The passing of David Bowie rocked the entire world and Gary took the news especially hard. Bowie’s music was incredibly influential to him, and he felt that he needed to do something to honor the fallen legend.
Gary, alongside some of the best musicians in LA, performed a David Bowie tribute set.
