Criticised for bigoted remarks, Gary Oldman returns in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Gary Oldman has had as many hits as misses. So where does Dawn of the Planet of the Apes figure on his career trajectory?
Gary Oldman is talking candidly about his career. "It's good at the moment," he says. "It feels like it's on a little pendulum, and it's on the upswing." With recurring roles in both the Harry Potter franchise (as Sirius Black) and Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy (as lawman Jim Gordon), the 56-year-old Londoner's past few years on screen have certainly been vibrant.
He was even finally rewarded with a long overdue best actor Oscar nomination for his sublime turn as George Smiley in the 2011 film adaptation of John Le Carré's espionage tale Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.
Yet as Oldman discovered recently, pendulums can swing downwards just as swiftly. An interview published in the July/August issue of Playboy magazine in the US led to outrage as he defended fellow stars Mel Gibson and Alec Baldwin for their controversial remarks about Jewish and gay people.
"We've all said those things," he told the reporter. "It's the hypocrisy of it that drives me crazy." In the same article, the actor attacked everything from the Golden Globes to reality television and the idea that if you didn't vote for this year's slavery Oscar-winner 12 Years a Slave, you were a racist.
If it was meant as a swipe against political correctness, it was a miscalculated move that backfired. Aware that he came off "like a bigot", Oldman wrote a letter to the Anti-Defamation League, beginning what has been dubbed an "apology tour" as he showed remorse on the US television chat-show circuit.
"Words have meaning. They carry weight. And they carry on long after you said them," he told Jimmy Kimmel, teary-eyed and regret palpable in his voice. "I'm a public figure. I should be an example and an inspiration."