The most painful role of Gary Oldman’s career: “Fuck me, I can’t do this”
Gary Oldman is one of cinema’s great chameleons. Across his lengthy and accomplished career, he’s seamlessly slipped into all sorts of wildly different characters to the point where even long-term fans have trouble recognising him. Drexl Spivey from True Romance looks nothing like Harry S. Truman from Oppenheimer. Mason Verger from Hannibal looks nothing like Sirius Black from the ‘Harry Potter’ series. Oldman is a master of disguise and this incredible talent has brought him fame, fortune, and global admiration.
Playing so many varied roles brings with it a unique set of challenges. When no two characters are the same, no two problems are the same, as Oldman found out when he took on the gargantuan part of George Smiley in Thomas Alfredson’s 2011 version of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.
“The most stressful role, the most painful to do, was Smiley in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,” the veteran star told Playboy. “There’s no mask. It’s very exposed. You have to play boring in an interesting way. Not that Smiley is a boring character, but he’s plain. Everything is dialed way down. I understand why Alec Guinness had a kind of nervous breakdown leading up to the shooting of the original Tinker Tailor and wanted out. I had a breakdown too, briefly.”
Guinness played John le Carré’s most famous creation in a 1979 BBC miniseries. The Star Wars icon panicked that he wasn’t up to the task of bringing the bespectacled spy to the screen and wanted to quit the show. He even tried to source his own replacement, a list that included Dad’s Army star Arthur Lowe. Eventually, he overcame his fears, got into character, and was very good at it. He won ‘Best Actor’ at the 1980 BAFTAs and returned to the role in the 1982 follow-up series, Smiley’s People.
Unfortunately, Guinness doing such a great job only piled further pressure on his successor’s shoulders. “Once I signed on,” Oldman continued. “I thought, ‘Fuck me! I can’t do this. I can’t pull this off. Everybody’s going to see what a fake I am. This is the moment I get found out. Who does he think he his? He thinks he’s Alec Guinness.’” Oldman was chosen for the part by Afredson himself, beating out the likes of David Thewlis to join a cast that also included Tom Hardy, Benedict Cumberbatch, Colin Firth, and John Hurt. However, even this vote of confidence couldn’t steady his nerves.
In the end, Oldman needn’t have worried, as both the film and his performance went down a treat. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy made over $81million on a $21million budget; not bad at all for something based on a concept many people considered old hat. At the Oscars, it was up for three prizes; ‘Best Adapted Screenplay’; ‘Best Original Score’; and ‘Best Actor’ for Oldman’s turn as the Cold War hero. At the BAFTAS, the movie won the award for ‘Outstanding British Film’.
It’s quite reassuring to know that even somebody as talented as Oldman has reservations about playing certain characters. He clearly wanted to do Smiley justice and to honour the work of those who had come before him. Thanks to his dedication and respect for the part, he is now just as big a part of Smiley’s legacy as Guinness or even le Carré himself.
