Welcome to another one of my favourite things pages!
So you've either stumbled across my website while looking for Gary Oldman info, or you clicked the Gary Oldman link on my webjournal. Either way, I'm glad you stopped by!
This page is dedicated to my favourite actor of all time, Gary Oldman. I've been watching him since I was around 15 years old...I hate to say it but that means I've been watching Gary for almost 18 years! I feel old now.
Anyhoo, Gary has been my absolute favourite actor since I saw him play Sid Vicious in the 1986 film, Sid and Nancy. I watched that film thinking that this man simply MUST be Sid Vicious. He was so convincing, that even now when I see a photo of Sid Vicious, I think, "Who is that guy?" Because in my head Sid Vicious looks like Gary Oldman. HA!
Born Gary Leonard Oldman, March 21, 1958 in New Cross England, Gary's mother was a homemaker, and his father was a welder. Gary won a scholarship to Britain's Rose Buford Drama College where he graduated with his BA in theatre arts in 1979. Until his film debut in 1986 (Sid and Nancy) Gary acted in a number of plays, recieving critical acclaim for his work and winning several awards.
After starring in Sid and Nancy, Gary found his niché in hollywood very quickly. Gary is rarely seen as the lead man in a film. His talent is for character acting, and is usually cast as the villain or as some strange character concocted by writers afraid they'd never find anyone talented enough to pull off such bizarre roles. Even when Gary played the lead in one of my favourite films, 'Immortal Beloved', it was not the usual role of a leading man. The film was a biopic on the life of composer Ludwig van Beethoven. Watching Gary morph into Ludwig Van is amazing. He even plays the piano himself in the movie, and I must say, he plays beautifully.
Gary's most popular role to date would probably have to be as Dracula in Francis Ford Coppola's 1992 version of the film. The movie isn't the greatest...and the acting in it is really sub-par. However, Gary Oldman shines like an evil light in this film. He is the perfect Dracula. Once again, Gary morphs into his character. He is not simply portraying Dracula, he becomes him.
Most people are surprised when they find out that Gary Oldman is actually British. He has a different accent in every film, so it's hard to know what he really sounds like! I've seen him with Russian accents, German accents, American, redneck American, ghetto American etc. etc. etc. He truly is a one of a kind, amazing actor. In my opinion, he is the most underrated actor in Hollywood.
Gary Oldman has many nicknames...he is the only other actor to be dubbed, "The Man of A Thousand Faces", the original Man of A Thousand Faces of course being Lon Chaney. During filming of 'Air Force One', he was given the nickname, "Scary Gary Oldman" by fellow castmembers, thanks to his wicked portrail of airplane hijacker, Ivan Korshunov.
Gary Oldman however has not been as successful in his private life as he has been in his professional life. He has been married 3 times, including a 2 year marriage to actress Uma Thurman. He has also suffered with alcoholism for most of his adult life. Thankfully he has now left his wild days behind, and is living a sober life.
Here is a list of films you can find Gary in. You can see him play anything from the Prince of Darkness, a rastafarian mob boss, a man who had his face eaten off, a midget, or simply a couple of history's most hated characters (or possibly misunderstood) Pontius Pilot, the Devil or Lee Harvey Oswald.
(courtesy of Wikipedia)
Go watch them all, just to watch Mr.Oldman. My favourites performances of his are in the following films-
Sid and Nancy, Immortal Beloved, JFK(once again, you'll swear that you are looking at Lee Harvey Oswald when you see Gary's performance. It's chilling.), Dracula, The Professional and State of Grace.
I watch Gary's carreer very closely, and cannot wait to see him in his next film...I'm even more exited to see him in the next Harry Potter movie! I just read that it will come out in 2008. 2008?? HOLY CRAP THAT'S GROSS! As long as I don't have to wait that long to see Gary Oldman on the big screen again.
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