(I found this picture here.)
An explanation: Since the name Gary is going extinct, I thought it incumbent upon me to celebrate more notable Garys than myself. This is the first of a series!
Gary Oldman is an English actor who's just ten years older than I am, & you read all about him here. I'll ask myself questions & answer them about him.
When did you first see him? When he starred in Sid & Nancy, which, even though I know the film is pretty fact-free, I still enjoy thanks to his performance.
Do you have a favorite performance of his? I liked a lot of his early film performances, especially as Sid Vicious & Joe Orton. I think he made a great Commissioner Gordon.
But you don't like all the villains he's played? It's fun to watch him do over-the-top stuff, like in The Professional & Air Force One, but I always imagined he'd be less a box office star & more of a cinema artiste in the vein of Montgomery Clift.
Why do you think that eluded him? It's arguable that it did, but if it did, maybe it's because he's not traditionally handsome.
He's not? He's decent I suppose, but also kind of funny-looking. That may be an asset, since he changes himself to get into roles - he kinda really looked like Lee Harvey Oswald in JFK.
Did you ever see Nil By Mouth, the only film (so far) he's written & directed? No, it seemed pretty bleak.
Is his name really Gary? Yes, Gary Leonard Oldman.
Do you know why he was named Gary? I don't. I think the name used to be more popular in the UK. I once met a Scottish drummer whose name was Gary, although he said it in such a way that I didn't understand we had the same name for the first few seconds we talked.
Does it bother you that he might be a little right-wing leaning? It doesn't, but it might not be true. As this weird web page suggests, he's not really made his political views known.
Do you have anything else to say about Gary Oldman? Not really, although one day (& soon), I think I'll be an Old Man Gary myself.
No comments:
Post a Comment