The Harry Potter films have been graced by some of the top luminaries of the British acting world--Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman, Maggie Smith, and the incomparably versatile Gary Oldman. In the Potter films he plays Harry's godfather Sirius Black, but outside the potterverse he has portrayed characters as different as alleged Kennedy-assassin Lee Harvey Oswald and the great composer Ludwig van Beethoven.

What are some of your favourite Oldman roles/films? He also does videogame voicing and both filmed and print advertising, as his face seems to capture that quintessential not-really-bad Bad Boy look. Are there any of his ads you particularly like, as well? In this thread we will look at this complex Man of a thousand faces for the 21st century, and enjoy an actor that the camera really loves!

Hehe, you finally got your wish, Jamie!

Unlike many people, I do like him as Sirius. Yeah, he's older than the character's supposed to be, but so is all the other actors in the films!

I also love him in Air Force One, The Fifth Element, and The Scarlett Letter. Well, those are really the only films I remember him in; sadly I haven't seen more of his stuff.

I haven't seen State of Grace yet, but I find that he looks the hottest there:


He's a fabulous actor, very funny I think. Its kinda sad that OotP will be his last HP film, unless of course, we get Sirius in the seventh book. We'll wait and see.

Well I have to even up the balance here.

Jean-Baptiste Emmanuel Zorg

What Gary Oldman appreciation fest would be complete without Sirius Black? From the wallpapers on the WB OotP website --

Here in the Galleries.

They have made a real change in his appearance in this film, which is as Jo says, that Sirius had been a handsome man, wasted by his years in Azkaban.

Recovered nicely here, I think! Yummy!

I love Gary Oldman, I think he is a brilliant actor and he *is* Sirius in the movies. He plays Sirius wonderfully and I think his excellent 'real life' relationship with Dan shines through the screen as well.

I must confess that i didn't like him in the previous movies. He seemed to old, and just not Sirius. While he is still not my Sirius, i really like his performance in OOTP. Other than HP, I really like him as an actor. I really like him as Gordon in Batman Begins. I also liked him in most of the other films that have already been mentioned.

He's the one that played Sid Vicius?? I had no idea.

I liked him in PoA and can't wait to see him here. Now if I only do girl talk here, I'd say that after seeing that collage from the first post I only like the way he looks as Sirius, not in his other roles.

yup. and he was also that evil guy with the southern american accent and the wierd hair-do in "the fifth element", he was the bad guy with the brooklyn accent in "the professional", and quite possibly his hottest role ever, he was the reverand in "the scarlet letter"... any oldman lovers should DEFINATLY see that movie.. hehehe

point being he's one of those really really REALLY good actors.. if you can play that many different types of rolls perfectly where people dont even know its you at first, your damn good.

I love Gary Oldman. He's an amazing actor and he does a wonderful job in Harry Potter.

Until I rewatched the interview that he and David Thewliss did on one of the movie discs, I'd remembered him best from the role he did in The Fifth Element. I really couldn't help but laugh at that character's end and his reaction to it. He showed himself quite the interesting gentleman in the interview.

he comes off as a blank slate really.. which i guess is better for acting because you dont have too much of your own personality getting in the way of your charicter, but some would precieve him as a boreing person.. jonny depp, vigo mortisin, and alan rickman have the same issue.. but needless to say, their godly acting skills are undeniable

I seriously think that these men come off as being intense and intensely private. They are very good at what they do as actors. Its a great talent to be able to come across as someone that is not you. But I think that perhaps the part of themselves that is MOST like the character they are playing is what makes the characters live.

That is beautifully put, Hedgeward! Oldman is walking in the footsteps of such great chameleon actors as Lon Chaney and Kenneth Branagh. Every different character has a diffrent look, voice, walk and attitude. Just fantastic!


As sTiTch mentioned, one of the bright spots of the 1995 film The Scarlet Letter was his performance as Reverend Dimmsdale to Demi Moore's Hester Prynne --

Here in the Galleries.

Just a bit of Sirius there, I think.

Thank you.

For the most part the actors who are over 40 are the ones I watch most intensely to see how they inhabit the characters they play. The ones who are under 40 usually are still growing and resolving who they are themselves so that they may be great but they are still rather like an inconstant fitful light-they occasionally don't inhabit the characters as much as they hide behind them. If that makes sense.

Possibly my favourite actor of all time. Dynamic, enigmatic, hypnotic, and just damn talented!

I've seen far too many of his films to list, but I am always totally blown away by the performances he puts in. And completely convinced, whether he's playing Beethoven or Dracula or even Sirius.

I always find that I can't tear my eyes from the screen when he's on. I suppose thats a mark of a fine actor - that you can't help but take notice of them when they're on screen. He definitely has these qualities. And I find him rather attractive as well, so that helps when watching him!

I'm gonna have to find out more about his movies, but from the pictures posted in this post I'll definitely stick to his Sirius image.

He wasn't how i pictured him as i read the books. But i really do think he is, sorry wasm Sirius Black.
And i strangely found myself thinking how hot he looked. Hmm,

He was a great Dracula and he was so cool in that scene where he was walking down the atreet w/ those blue shades.

State of Grace....see it, great movie.

Never pictured Oldman as Sirius, still have a better looking one in my mind, but he is just so talented he really made me warm up to him in OOTP

I heard he's naked in Scarlet Lettter, think I'll be heading over to my Netflix account now.....

oh is that the one he gets nakes for??? good to know....

I am woefully late to this thread but I must add my own admiration for this wonderful actor. Gary Oldman truly does such a wonderful job in all his various roles, but I admit my all time favorite is still his role as Sirius Black. What an excellent casting job there! He just IS Sirius to me, perfect. Not hard on the eyes either of course!

I still and always love him best as Rosencrantz in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead ... fantastic movie and fantastic acting. He plays the sweet, slightly bumbling, fairly dumb, but creative genius who is unappreciated by his friend ... he's great!!

Not sure how to find a pic or post a link to it, but Mmmmmm he looked good in that too ... and he has a bath scene too!!

Well, we just happen to have several screen'caps from Rosenkrantz and Guildenstern are Dead here in the TLC Galleries!

Did you say "bath scene"?

Here in the Galleries.

Aha!! Well, now I know where I'll be spending a lot of time the next wee while ....

He's a great actor and all but I think he looks more like a Jesus character than Sirius Black. I imagined Sirius like the Chapter illistrations in book five...long dark hair (not frizzy) and cleanly shaven.
...Also, I can't really imagine oldman as what they describe Sirius when Harry is in Snape's thoughts and Harry sees Sirius.
I could imagine him there and when he grew up, and they didnt look anything like oldman...
i just didnt like him as Sirius.

I didn't like him much in POA, but then again, I didn't like anyone in that film.
His scene in Gof was too short to change my mind but in Ootp I really think he was a great Sirius!
The twitchy thing he had going in poa was gone and my only complaint would be that he wasn't bitter enough but I guess that wasn't really relevant to the plot.

Also, since Sirius did sort of return in DH they better film it or ELSE!

It must be time to post some more yummy, I mean nice pictures of Gary Oldman!

This is an early publicity still of Gary . . . with that "come hither" look.

And this is one of my absolute favourites, an ad, for DK I believe--

You can find these and bunches more of GO, here in the Galleries.

A year and half or so on my blog, I did a series called "Saturday Hotness" wherein I took submissions (and added some myself) of hot guys, and posted a picture and a blurb. One of my readers sent me this picture of Gary Oldman, and I used it that Saturday. I never found him attractive until I saw this picture...I think he's scrumptious in it! That stubble! Oh my goodness...

As can be seen in the Alan Rickman Appreciation thread, there were four HP actors that made Empire Magazine's 100 Sexiest Move Stars list--including the most amazing Gary Oldman!

Here in the Galleries

This is only fitting since not only is Gary an amazingly versatile actor--he is really easy on the eyes, if you get my drift . . .

State of Grace is a great film, Gary looks gorgeous!!! I always imagined Sirius Black a little bit younger, but it´s okay.

Wow he really doesn't look like himself in those pictures!! But I love him as Sirius!!! Too bad Sirius............ That bottom picture of Gary is abosolutley beautiful

Awwwwwww Rosencrantz Gary! Still my very favourite Gary movie ever. Those are wonderful pictures and as a Birthday celebration I think I just may have to have a Gary movie watching day today. Starting with good ol Rosencrantz there Thanks for reminding me of such a great movie

He is very beautiful
Love the first picture!

I was watching Air Force One with Harrison Ford(serious Harrison Ford fan here, too hehehe), and low and behold, who should I also see starring in the movie? Gary Oldman! As a terrorist, no less...Russian. He made a pretty convincing terrorist, too.

Ooh, I love Air Force One! Pretty much only because Gary Oldman's in it though.
You're right, CryptMistress, he does make a very convincing Russian terrorist! Still looked HOT though!

lol I also have Air Force One. Pretty much the only reason that I watch it is for Gary Oldman, he's real cool in that movie (well, apart from the fact he's the bad guy)

In honor of his birthday, (the other day) I watched The Fifth Element. I think I should have gone with Batman Begins because in my opinion he looks a lot like Sirius in that movie, both physically and in the paternal manner in which he cares for young-Bruce Wayne but, I've seen it so many times just recently that I decided to watch Fifth Element which I hadnt seen in a whiles. But, he just doesnt *look* like himself in that movie (and he plays the bad guy in that, too)

I always liked Gary Oldman as an excellent actor and a handsome man. He doesn't fit my imagination of Sirius Black with straight black hair, and a bit prettier But I love the way Gary played Sirius in the movies – with that exact passion I saw in Sirius. All in all, I am very glad that they cast such a great actor, though they could characterize him slightly different (why stick to the mustache and beard?). Gary doesn't look like Sirius but he is Sirius! I hope to see him again in DH too.

I love Gary Oldman as Sirius Black!



I am also happy that the pleiade of the finest British actors agreed to play in the Harry Potter movies – years ago when they decided on making the movies I was afraid that those actors would say that they are too big for HP. And I am grateful to JKR that she demanded all the actors to be British. I dread to think what would Hollywood do with Harry Potter (lots of beautiful faces, little acting skills...). I'm not an enemy of Hollywood movies in general but they are responsible for some of my major cinematic disappointments.

This thread has convinced me that it's time to watch Batman Begins again! I haven't seen it for quite a while anyway, but after reading through this thread again and looking at the scrummy pics I think I need to go find that DVD...

I just watched the 1993 neo-noir film Romeo Is Bleeding again, and thought I should post up a few images from it. Oldman is an American cop (again) playing both sides for his own gain--and then gets caught in the middle between a Russian-born hit-woman (the incredibly sexy and scary Lena Olin) and a mafia boss. It's rated R and strong stuff for some, but I highly recommend it. Gary is in nearly every scene and turns in a real tour-de-force performance!

Yum!

Arguably THE most-anticipated film of this summer season is the new Batman sequel, The Dark Knight which marks the late Heath Ledger's final film, and features Gary Oldman reprising his role as Lt. James Gordon --

I know I am looking forward to seeing Gary again on the big screen!

Oooh, thank you for posting those pics, Hagiographer13! I haven't seen any new pics of Gary for a while, so this was a pleasant surprise! Why do I love that moustache so much?

More new Gary love! Here are a couple pix from the Dark Knight premiere --

You can find more pictures from the DK premiere here in the TLC Galleries.

OK so I just caught Batman Begins on TV for the first time the other night (the year it came out was a bad year, I am behind! ) and while I enjoyed the entire movie I thought Gary Oldman was just adorable as James Gordon! I have to agree with you Snapesister I love that mustache! I loved how different the character was from Sirius, what an excellent actor he is. Now I really want to go watch The Dark Knight!

Hagiographer thanks for those premiere pics! I remember reading an interview with Gary over a year ago where it was mentioned he does not usually go to premieres. He wasn't at the Ootp one, so I am wondering if he went to The Dark Knight one out of respect for Heath Ledger. I read a quote from him recently where he said he really enjoyed working with him and respected his acting process, so it wouldn't surprise me. Well that just makes me like him even more!

I am going to see DK this weekend, and I have to say that from the trailer and stills I have seen of Gary in this sequel, he looks younger and (dare I say) SEXIER than he did in the first one.

Ok, so how about another GO pic from the DK red carpet?

I love his geeky glasses! I'm definitely going to see The Dark Knight when it comes out, if not just to see Gary in it..... He does look pretty hot in the trailer! *fans self*

Gary oldman is without doubt one of the best actors in the world today. His versatility knows no limits. Its almost hard to separate one Oldman character from the other. One of my favorite movies of Gary's is leon the professional. His performance is electrifying and he simply steals every scene he is in. Of course his delectable looks makes it a lot easier to stare at the screen for hours. I especially adore the cute handlebar moustache he has been adorning in the batman movies. Ive always preferred him with facial hair. the best with a stubble. Simply delicious!

Well I'm looking forward to TDK for all sorts of reasons, and Mr Oldman is just one of them ... but a very good one

I do still have a soft spot for him in the very first role I saw him in: Rosencrantz ... I just love the sweet bumbling side he brought to that character. While I like his bad guys, I prefer his 'good guys' like Sirius, Rosencrantz and even his tortured Dracula

Well, I just saw The Dark Knight (along with around 10 million others making TDK the biggest opening boffo of all time to date) and Gary Oldman was utterly fantastic! Some real hair-rasing moments, big surprises, and maybe a nomination for best supporting actor in the offing?

Plus (BONUS) he looked REALLY good! I'd see TDK again just for the Gary aspect!

I really have to go see that film when it's released here!! All the shots I've seen of him from TDK look fantastic, and I heard say on the 'Dark Knight' thread that he's in it way more than he was in Batman Begins. That's got to be a good thing!!!