Gary Oldman Feels His Performance As Sirius Black In Harry Potter Was 'Mediocre'

Gary Oldman recently opened up about his role in the Harry Potter film franchise during an appearance on the Happy Sad Confused podcast with Josh Horowitz. The Academy Award-winning actor, known for playing Sirius Black, criticised his performance in the movies and called it “mediocre." Oldman, who entered the wizarding world as Harry’s godfather in 2004’s Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and continued The Order of the Phoenix, regretted not reading JK Rowling’s original novels to prepare for his role, unlike his late co-star Alan Rickman, who played Severus Snape.

He said, “I think my work in it is mediocre. I don’t know, maybe if I had read the books like Alan, I’d got ahead of the curve. If I had known what’s coming, I honestly think I would have played it differently. That’s just my own my wife says you know don’t be ridiculous but she often does." He added, “They killed me off too early, I’m still upset about that and we were all taking bets, it’s Hagrid and I was there going no no no no, it’s going to be maybe, it’s wrong maybe and then you kind of open the script and you go it’s me. I’m out of here."

Further in the interview, Gary Oldman discussed a challenging scene from one of the Harry Potter movies where he played dead by a frozen lake for weeks. He remembered the lengthy filming process, which would have been completed within a two-day shoot, but the production team stretched this particular scene for weeks. Oldman revealed that the studio constructed a frozen lake set for the sequence, which required the actor to lie motionless for long hours. He felt discomfort and mentioned the team would provide him with hot water bottles and pillows to bear the long working hours.

Meanwhile, the Hollywood star credited the Harry Potter and Batman film franchises for reviving his career and personal life during a challenging period. Struggling to secure acting roles before landing the parts of Sirius Black and Jim Gordon, he expressed gratitude for these characters that pushed him to newfound stardom. At 42, Oldman was divorced and had custody of his children, while going through a shift in the industry’s filming locations to places like Hungary, Budapest, Prague and Australia. Due to this, he declined numerous film offers.

However, the roles in Harry Potter and Batman not only provided financial stability but also allowed Garry Oldman to “work less while earning more", enabling him to prioritise his time at home with his children.