Gary Oldman is a force to be reckoned with in the entertainment industry. For almost thirty years Oldman has been introducing and re-introducing a depth to the craft of acting that audiences have been mesmerized by. He has given us some absolutely classic characters and has been involved in many iconic roles.
Last night, Oldman was a guest of Film Society of Lincoln Center who very politely grilled him about his past, future, and anything in between having to do with film. The topic of his directorial debut in 1997 was breached with the question of why he never followed up on his behind the scenes efforts. Oldman graciously replied with the following.
“Well, I tried to funnily enough. I tried to follow it with a film [I wrote] about a sex addict. And he was married and had a mistress and all the machinations of that and it was very, very, very difficult to finance. I couldn’t get the money or at least I couldn’t get the money to do it the way I wanted to do it.
He’s a 50 year old Italian New Yorker. And they said, ‘We’ll give you the money if you put Russell Crowe in it.’ And I said, ‘[The character’s] an Italian, I need [an Italian]. You know, [Crowe’s] terrific but not for me in this role.’ [Imitating studio], ‘I don’t see him in something like this.’ And it went around, it bounced around to a few different people and [the script] just sat there on the shelf.”
This particular script, even though he admits to tinkering with it over the last year or so, won’t see the light of day anytime soon. However, he has another project in the works that will bring him back behind the camera and although he wasn’t ready to give out any details, he has high hopes to get things rolling in 2013.
If you haven’t yet checked out Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Oldman’s newest film, we urge you too. He’s hands down incredible in the role and it’s a must see.
For those looking for even more Oldman, you can catch him in The Dark Knight Rises this summer.
