Gary Oldman claims he was “mediocre” in Harry Potter: “I honestly would have played it different”
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Despite being viewed as one of the greatest actors of recent times, no one is a more prominent critic of Gary Oldman than himself, stating his appearance in the Harry Potter series of films were “mediocre”.
Oldman played a pivotal role throughout the series, taking on the mantle of Harry’s misunderstood godfather, Sirius Black. His dramatic introduction in Prisoner of Azkaban sees him become Harry’s closest father figure and family member.
With his soft-spoken manner, love for Harry and ability as a Wizard, he earned himself fan favourite status. Despite his appearances not coming under any scrutiny, on a recent appearance of the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Oldman played down his contribution to the franchise.
“I think my work is mediocre in it,” he said, surprising the podcast host Josh Horowitz. Oldman compared himself to his co-star Alan Rickman, who became so immersed in the role that he was trusted with secrets about the plot before they were released in the books.
“Maybe if I had read the books, like Alan,” Oldman said, “If I had gotten ahead of the curve a bit – if I had known what’s coming – I honestly would have played it different.”
Oldman was sure to make it clear that his criticism lie with his performance as opposed to the material he was given. He was happy with the scripts and how the story unfolded and spoke highly of his time on Harry Potter.
The only issue he had of the process as a whole was during his introduction in Prisoner of Azkaban where he had to lay motionless next to a frozen lake for an entire week. He said that was one of the least pleasant things he had ever done, which isn’t too bad considering everything his character went through.
Listen to Oldman on the Happy Sad Confused podcast below.
