The one movie Gary Oldman simply “can’t bear” to watch himself in
For any aspiring actor, there’s an intrinsic desire to give maximum effort to everything on the screen. Even if the script is one of the flimsiest plots ever committed to paper, it’s up to the actor to rework it into something salvageable, even if that means looking like a bit of an idiot in the process. Although plenty of actors have had a few regrettable films on their resumes, there is only one film that Gary Oldman won’t ever return to.
As the 1990s were taking off, Oldman became one of his generation’s most in-demand actors, and since that moment, his domination of the craft has seen him be routinely cited as one of the finest performers Britain has ever produced. It seems to be a national agreement that Oldman is one of the greats, so much so that he has even been granted a knighthood owing to his many contributions to the art.
From his work in movies such as Sid and Nancy, JFK and Leon, Oldman was not only heralded as a brilliant character actor but also as a powerhouse working with some of the most operatic scripts imaginable. Since he was already working in some of the most high-energy situations, Oldman seemed to test his theory for being over-the-top with his role in The Fifth Element.
Playing the role of the villainous Zorg, Oldman seemed to inhabit every single madman villain that he could think of, including a truly amazing scene where he doesn’t even flinch while a huge explosion happens only a few feet from his face. Although that sort of cheesiness might have been exactly what the film needed, Oldman wasn’t ecstatic about the final product.
When talking about some of his films after the fact, Oldman was no fan of his portrayal in the movie, telling Playboy that he “can’t bear it” whenever it comes on. The movie world seemed to be equally divided as well, with the film being nominated at the Stinkers Bad Movie Awards for ‘Worst Director’ and ‘Worst Picture’ while also being applauded for its costume design and earning an Oscar nomination for ‘Best Sound Editing’.
Despite the divisive tone of the film, it has gone on to be somewhat of a cult classic, with some of the more operatic performances working in the film’s favour. In fact, in more recent years, the unique styling and almost slapstick take on a sci-fi adventure have made it a zeitgeist movie, showcasing the decade it was conceived in perfectly, if not accurately transporting audiences into the future. Still, Oldman wasn’t a fan, and confusion arose as to why such an esteemed actor would take on his exuberant role.
Well, after the film had left the box office, Oldman confessed why he took on the role to begin with. Speaking in 2016, Oldman opened up about doing the job as a favour to a friend, recalling, “I had made a film, and Luc Besson was one of the producers; he helped me finance my film […]. He called me saying: ‘I need you to make a film’. I hadn’t read the script.”
Then again, one dreadful movie was only a pit stop for the rest of Oldman’s career. Throughout the late ’90s into the early 2000s, Oldman would further display his chops as both a dramatic and operatic actor, working on some of the Harry Potter films as Harry’s uncle Sirius Black before getting another franchise under his belt by playing the hotheaded Jim Gordon in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight franchise.
Oldman also hasn’t been afraid to go back into the more daring side of Hollywood, making bold turns as Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour and aiming to work with Nolan again on his latest film Oppenheimer. For all of the cringiness that might come with seeing himself in that dreadful combover, Oldman seems to be looking at this as just a stumbling block between some of his masterpieces.
