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What Gary Oldman Learned From Christopher Nolan
Gary Oldman is back on Apple TV+ thanks to the launch of the fourth season of his Emmy-nominated drama “Slow Horses,” and his continued role as Jackson Lamb almost led to his reunion with Christopher Nolan on “Oppenheimer.” Oldman, who played Detective James “Jim” Gordon in Nolan’s Batman trilogy, originally starred as U.S. President Harry S. Truman in the director’s Oscar-winning drama. But accepting the role meant he told Nolan that his “Slow Horses” character came first.
"This [role] is a little different because I'm stuck with it, even if I have a six-month break. And it dictates whether I do something else," Oldman told the Wall Street Journal Magazine about how his preference for moving right on with the characters he plays has now changed due to doing an ongoing TV series. "I did a day on 'Oppenheimer.' I said to Chris Nolan, 'I'd love to come and do it, but I have to wear a prosthetic cap and a wig and I can't cut my hair. So if you can handle that, then I'd love to come and do it. And if you don't want wigs, then you'll have to find someone else to do it.' Lamb is never far away in that sense."
"I remember hearing something once where John Lennon said he hated his voice, as hard as that is to believe," Oldman continued. "He always wanted to put some kind of effect on it or double the vocals. He said, 'I'd just burn all the records and start all over again.' I know what he means. I don't go back and revisit this stuff. It's old stuff. If someone said to me, 'What's your best work?' I'd have to say, 'Next season.'
