Gary Oldman described his performance in the ‘Harry Potter’ franchise as ‘mediocre’ last year. He explained his comments at a Cannes press conference for his new movie ‘Parthenope’ after his comments led to discussions among fans:
“What I meant by that is, as any artist or any actor or painter, you are always hypercritical of your own work. If you’re not, and you’re satisfied with what you’re doing, that would be death to me. If I watched a performance of myself and thought, ‘My God, I’m fantastic in this,’ that would be a sad day.”
The actor mentioned in the 2023 chat that he would have played Sirius Black differently if he had read the books like Alan Rickman. He detailed that point:
“So, when I started ‘Harry Potter,’ all I had was the book, ‘The Prisoner of Azkaban,’ and that one representation of that man. One book in the library of Sirius Black. And that’s kind of what I meant by it. It’s not me looking at the movie and saying it’s a terrible film or I’m terrible, I just wish it had been under different circumstances.”
‘Harry Potter’ Saved The Actor
Still, Gary Oldman said he was grateful to appear in the ‘Harry Potter’ films and ‘The Dark Knight’ franchise. These roles ‘saved him’ after his divorce from Donya Florentino.
The actor shared with Drew Barrymore earlier this year:
“The two ‘Batman’s and ‘Harry Potter’ really saved me because it meant that I could do the least amount of work for the most amount of money and then be home with the kids. Actually, it was when we did the first Batman, London doubled for Gotham, and I did 27 round trips of flying back from LA. I’d fly in for a day; I’d do a shoot a day. I said [to Christopher Nolan], ‘Look, I’m in the car going back to the airport. If there’s anything wrong, then I’ll turn the car around, but you know where I’m going. I’m in the car to the airport.’”
Oldman was a single father of two at the time. He continued:
“To his credit, he stayed on schedule, and I would go home for three days, come back for two, go home for a weekend, come back for one day, go home for a week, and come back for four days. Otherwise, I’d just felt they were being brought up by a nanny.”
The ‘Harry Potter’ star’s latest film, ‘Parthenope,’ debuted on May 21 at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival. You can watch the trailer below.
