Gary Oldman, Oscar campaigner?
It seemed an unlikely role for the veteran actor when "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" began screening back in September. Despite a lengthy and brilliant career, the 53-year-old British actor had never received an Oscar nomination, and he hardly seemed the type to embrace the rigors of awards season on behalf of a moody, understated, smart movie that might well prove too subtle and thorny for voters.
But Oldman has been a constant, affable presence on the circuit for months – never with the hard sell, but always around to remind voters just how ridiculous it was that he'd never been nominated despite a career that has included "Sid and Nancy," "Prick Up Your Ears," "JFK," "Bram Stoker's Dracula," "True Romance," "The Contender" and many more – including, in recent years, both the "Harry Potter" franchise and Chris Nolan's "Dark Knight" trilogy.
On January 24, his Oscar shutout ended with a Best Actor nomination for his defiantly low-key performance as master spy George Smiley, who is always both the smartest and the quietest man in any room.
The first time we spoke this season, "Tinker Tailor" had yet to be released, and its Oscar prospects were uncertain. When we sat down again in early February, Oldman showed right away that he is a man given to understatement.
"Things have changed," he said softly, "since I last saw you."
The Oscar nomination is certainly a huge change. In the past, were you ever surprised when you didn't get nominated?
No, no. You know, there's quite an amount of work that you have to do. I don't know why people can't watch a movie and tick a box. But I know why they don't: because it's business as well. So I understand it. It's the machine.
But I've never really put myself out there, so it never surprised me when I wasn't nominated. I've never done everything that was required of one to even be noticeable.
What caused you this time around to say, "Okay, I'll do what's required?"
It was a cumulative thing. It's a lead role, which I haven’t played for a long time. I'm very happy to be associated with Smiley, and "Tinker Tailor," and [author] John le Carre. And I thought that Tomas Alfredson had made a really good movie, and I was just very proud to be associated with it.
And then you get good reviews, so that changed the game a little. Then you realize that it’s actually making money, that there's an audience for the movie. It develops a momentum, and one can either get off the train, or say, "Let's just ride this to the destination and see what happens."
But you were still considered something of a longshot before the nominations were announced.
I wasn’t expecting an Oscar nomination. If you take the temperature of SAG and the Golden Globes, we were missing.
