Gary Oldman

I would bet my left pinky toe this actor's name would elude you if it weren't for my post naming him; I would also wager my other left pinky toe even more of you are still staring at his picture, thinking, "I know this guy, but I can't seem to place him," or "Hey, isn't that _____? From _____? Didn't he also play _____? In _____? Nah, it can't be the same guy."  

Gary Oldman is known for his rambunctious portrayals of antagonists and his deliberate physical presentations of their personalities and traits; however, in his lesser known roles, he displays a wide range of talents, including the employment of plausible voice accents, representing the depth of characters through minor idiosyncrasies and facial expressions, and the ability to play a multitude of various characters, always bringing his own flavor to each role. He seems to have remained in the shadows of Hollywood stardom, most likely by personal choice, as it seems he enjoys choosing challenging and unique scripts. From Shakespeare's stage to "Sid Vicious," from "Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale" of The Scarlet Letter to Harry Potter's godfather, "Sirius Black," from Batman's "James Gordon" to his post-apocalyptic "Carnegie," Gary Oldman strives to stretch his craft's limits and succeeds in doing so with gusto. If he's listed as a player in a film, you can expect him to deliver a fresh, well-researched, productive character, always performed with his personal touch, even if the character he's playing is stock (which rarely occurs.)

FILMOGRAPHY - (ABRIDGED-MY VIEWINGS)

*My Favorite Performances

• *Sid and Nancy, 1986 - "Sid Vicious"
• *Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead, 1990 - "Rosencrantz"
• JFK, 1991 - "Lee Harvey Oswald"
• Bram Stoker's Dracula, 1992 - "Count Dracula"
• *True Romance, 1993 - "Drexl Spivey"
• Leon: The Professional, 1994 - "Norman Stansfield"
• Murder in the First, 1995 - "Milton Glenn"
• *The Scarlet Letter, 1995 - "Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale"
• Basquiat, 1996 - "Albert Milo"
• The Fifth Element, 1997 - "Jean-Baptiste Emmanuel Zorg"
• Air Force One, 1997 - "Egor Korshunov"
• *Lost in Space, 1998 - "Dr, Zachery Smith"
• The Contender, 2000 - "Rep. Sheldon Runyon (R-IL)"
• *Nobody's Baby, 2001 - "Buford Dill"
• *Hannibal, 2001 - "Mason Verger"
• *Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, 2004 - "Sirius Black"
• *Batman Begins, 2005 - "James Gordon"
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, 2005 - "Sirius Black"
• *Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, 2007 - "Sirius Black"
• *The Dark Knight, 2008 - "James Gordon"
• *The Book of Eli, 2010 - "Carnegie"
• Red Riding Hood, 2011 - "Father Solomon"
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, 2011 - "Sirius Black"
• Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, 2011 - "George Smiley"
• Guns, Girls and Gambling, 2011 - "Elvis"
• *The Dark Knight Rises, 2012 -  "James Gordon"
• RoboCop, 2014 - "Dr. Dennett Norton"
• Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, 2014 - "Dreyfus"