Gary Oldman quotes

Gary Oldman is an English actor and filmmaker renowned for his versatile roles in both independent and blockbuster films. His performances span a wide range of genres, from historical dramas to popular franchises like Harry Potter and The Dark Knight. He is celebrated for his transformative acting style and multiple prestigious awards, including an Academy Award. Here are 77 of his quotes:

I'm not the best audience for that because I'm not a great science-fiction fan. I just never got off on space ships and space costumes, things like that.

Gary Oldman

Your own barometer is all you have to go by, and often what makes a good director is knowing when not to say something. On occasions you can find yourself on a film set where the person who is wearing the director's hat is only trying to justify his position.

Gary Oldman

I was quiet, a loner. I was one of those children where, if you put me in a room and gave me some crayons and a pencils, you wouldn't hear from me for nine straight hours. And I was always drawing racing cars and rockets and spaceships and planes, things that were very fast that would take me away.

Gary Oldman

Wanting to be a good actor is not good enough. You must want to be a great actor. You just have to have that.

Gary Oldman

My passion and energy get mistaken for anger.

Gary Oldman

We're given a code to live our lives by. We don't always follow it, but it's still there.

Gary Oldman

I had a guitar when I was 6 or 7, a plastic guitar with the Beatles' faces on it. It would be a collector's item now. It would fetch a hefty sum, I imagine.

Gary Oldman

Speaking very generally, I find that women are spiritually, emotionally, and often physically stronger than men.

Gary Oldman

People have an idea that one is in control of a career, a lot more than you really are. You can engineer things to an extent. But you are at the mercy of what comes in across the desk.

Gary Oldman

Getting sober was one of the three pivotal events in my life, along with becoming an actor and having a child. Of the three, finding my sobriety was the hardest thing.

Gary Oldman

I don't go to premieres. I don't go to parties. I don't covet the Oscar. I don't want any of that. I don't go out. I just have dinner at home every night with my kids. Being famous, that's a whole other career. And I haven't got any energy for it.

Gary Oldman

How many movies do you see when you can say this director really knew what film he wanted to make? I can count them on the fingers of one hand.

Gary Oldman

What's fascinating is that when you write a script, it's almost a stream of consciousness. You have an idea that it means something, but you're not always sure what. Then when you get on the set, the actors teach you.

Gary Oldman

I didn't do drugs. It wasn't my thing. But the drink was terrible. Today when I look back, it's like I was another person. You could call it a coping mechanism, but that would be an excuse. I just drank too much.

Gary Oldman

People who know me, they know I have a sense of humor, I'm a bit of a joker, a bit of a clown really, and I would love someone to exploit that side of me and send me a romantic comedy.

Gary Oldman

And costume is so important for an actor. It absolutely helps to get into character; it's the closest thing to you, it touches you. Some actors like to go into make-up and then put their clothes on, but I like to dress first; that's my routine.

Gary Oldman

So Harry Potter came in and it is nice that I have kids of the right age. I took them to London and they walked around the set and met Harry Potter and that is thrilling.

Gary Oldman

I was brought up by my mother and my two sisters, although they're older than me and fled the nest very young, so I was technically raised as an only child, but I was very much loved.

Gary Oldman

I got obsessed with classical music, I got obsessed with Chopin, with playing the piano.

Gary Oldman

I did have a knack for playing weirdos. There's still sort of this perception of me out there as being this crazy guy.

Gary Oldman

I'm still a member of the Empire! Although I sometimes feel like an American with a British accent - you get contaminated after so long.

Gary Oldman

But you see, I have played more good guys than I have played villains.

Gary Oldman