Career Profile: Gary Oldman

Paying Homage to Hollywood's Most Versatile Actor

It is quite remarkable to think that Gary Oldman is a mere 54 considering the colossal number of films he has starred in. Throughout his career, he has steadily accumulated an extensive cult fan base, primarily due to his remarkably varied choice of roles and numerous enigmatic performances. He is famous for his villainy, his chameleon like ability to don almost any accent and, more recently, as Harry Potter's Godfather and as one of Gotham city's finest in the Batman trilogy. 

Particularly in the first half of his career, Oldman has always been the master craftsman of fantastically sinister and treacherous bad guys. He has portrayed one of the most infamous men of the 20th Century (in JFK), one of the most feared villains in all of fiction (in Dracula), a violent and brutal Rastafarian pimp (in True Romance) and has even battled against a presidential Harrison Ford as a vengeful Russian terrorist (in Air Force One). 

His most memorable antagonist to date, however, is undoubtedly his unnervingly histrionic performance as the corrupt detective in Leon. His performance, which is as wonderfully entertaining as it is deeply disturbing, is widely regarded as one of the greatest villains of modern cinema. 

Here is a clip of Oldman at his very best in Leon; 

Oldman is also well known as the actor biographer of an incredibly diverse range of characters, including; the troubled and ill fated Sex Pistol, Sid Vicious, history's most illustrious composer, Beethoven and as Kennedy's infamous assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald.      

Since taking up roles in two of the most successful movie franchises ever, Oldman has taken his success to new and unsuspecting audiences. He had won the hearts of millions as Harry Potter's loyal and determined, long lost Godfather, Sirius and then broke them all in the cruellest of the franchise's casualties. Parallel to this, Oldman also starred as the virtuous Lt. Gordon in Christopher Nolan's Batman series, who's character provides a constant moral conscience to the dark and sinister themes that have underpinned the previous two films. With this, he has once again proven his versatility; playing humble and trustworthy characters to the same high standard as some of his earlier career's most devilish villains.  

Such a remarkable set of performances, spanning 30 years, was finally rewarded with a long over due Oscar nomination for his portrayal of George Smiley in Tinker Tailor Solider Spy. His reticent, nuanced performance as the intelligence officer working assiduously in pursuit of a mole at the heart of MI6 must surely be his best role to date.
   
Oldman is widely well respected by his fellow acting community, with an endless number of high profile actors citing Oldman as their inspiration to act. Brad Pitt describes him as his "acting God" and to Tom Hardy he is a "hero", with similar sentiments coming from Joseph Gordon Levitt, Johnny Depp and Ryan Gosling (to name but a few). 

However, I'll finish with Tinker Tailor co-star, Colin Firth who, on presenting Oldman with the Empire magazine's Icon award last year, described him as such; 

"He is a very strong candidate for the world's best living actor [and] I've marvelled at the intensity, courage and intelligence he brings to every film."

I couldn't have put it much better myself. 

The Perfect Filmography

The greatest 'Film CV' of them all?

My house mates and I were debating, earlier in the year, on a very tricky question on whether or not there's an actor with a clean record, a repertoire without fault, a filmography with no howlers or flops... an actor without a single bad film to his or her name. Off the top of your head, it may seem quite difficult; well, it is. Now, I appreciate that everyone's opinion is different, and that one man's masterpiece is another man's worst nightmare, but I'll try my best to be fair - and i'll even choose my favourite at the end.

To really bugger things up, Ocean's Twelve (and possibly Thirteen) has managed to wipe out some of the modern era's greatest and well known actors (although if you hunted around enough, you could probably find other howlers to accompany it). George Clooney, for example, had his trio of terrible films; Batman & Robin, Spy Kids and the aforementioned, Ocean's Twelve. However, since making Ocean's terrible, he's been arguably the greatest actor of the last seven years, regularly appearing in Oscar nomination lists and even picking up the little gold statue in 2005 for Syriana. It appears Mr. Clooney has a conscience after all...

Then my mind wandered to Leo DiCaprio. He certainly fits the bill, especially considering the last few years of top class performances, but if you cast your mind to the younger, blonder Leo and you'll recall the disappointing second half of to The Beach and the entirety of Titanic (no, that's not a typo). Oh well, another one bites the dust.

However, I managed to scramble a top five together. See what you think...


5. Ryan Gosling



He may have the advantage of being in the relative infancy of his career, but Ryan Gosling is on fire. Last year alone he starred in three superb films of completely different genre with engaging and well acted individual performances. He compliments Steve Carrell brilliantly in the refreshingly funny, Crazy, Stupid, Love. He really takes control of The Ides of March, carrying the film's slick and clever dialogue effortlessly and really showing that he is more than just a pretty face. His potentially career defining role, however, was as the mysterious and dangerous getaway driver in Drive. You get a real sense of his charismatic style through the chemistry between himself and Carey Mulligan, that develops so intensely and tantalisingly throughout the film. 
  

4. Heath Ledger

The tragic loss of such a young and prodigious talent back in 2008 shocked the world of film. Not only because of his enourmous popularity and natural charisma, but because we lost his future works and performances too. His all too short film career really started as when playing the rebellious, mischievous bad boy  in 10 Things I Hate About You. Strong performances in The Patriot, A Knight's Tale and Ned Kelly soon followed, but it wasn't until Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain where Ledger could finally flex his acting muscle... and picking up an Academy Award nomination along the way. However, his chilling portrayal of The Joker was his masterpiece he left to the world and is also the image I leave you with now...


3. Sean Penn

I can only admit to seeing a handful of his films, but from what I have seen, there is few better actors alive today than Sean Penn. His two Academy Awards are testament to such quality; in particular, playing the bereft father engulfed in pain, despair and dark secrets in Mystic River. A gripping and engaging film drama from start to finish, the two central performances by Penn and Robbins are second to none and directed by the brilliant Clint Eastwood (who would've won the Oscar, had it not been for LOTR: ROTK).


2. Denzel Washington

The two time Academy Award winning actor has to be one of the finest actors of our generation. He has consistently made good, solid films, with very few bordering on the 'average' mark (that I have seen at least). There are a few favourites of mine, but nothing can beat his truly remarkable role as the troubled anti-hero John Creasy. His on screen chemistry with a young Dakota Fanning is sensational and his rampant revenge spree is as gripping as it is disturbing. This is a true modern classic.
  

1. Kevin Spacey

Another two time Oscar winner, Kevin Spacey is one of those actors who, simply put, cannot put in a bad performance. He inhabits every role with great enthusiasm and vigour and has given some incredibly memorable performances. His turn as the timid small time con man in The Usual Suspects and as the inept suburban husband having a mid life crisis in American Beauty are brilliantly detailed and carefully acted - the latter being one of my favourite films of all time. Not only is Spacey fantastic, but the ensemble cast really keep up with such a high standard, as well as; a virtually flawless script, a remarkable début direction by Sam Mendes and accompanied by Thomas Newman's moving simplistic score. If you haven't already, you must watch this film.  

Hello Film Fans!

Welcome To The Film Scrapbook

I'm hoping this new blog, The Film Scrapbook, will be a place where I can share my thoughts and views on anything and everything about film. Everyone has their own unique opinion on film, and I want to hear about it! I'm not necessarily about reviewing the latest films released, but more intent on discussing general topics and theories I may have about genres, actors, directors. And then there is that which always divides opinion... The best bond? The greatest movie series? Greatest book adaptation? Will Matthew McConaughey ever star in a good film? (Okay, the last one is easy). So sit tight and wait for my first 'proper' blog post...
Coming up soon!