Gary Oldman’s Darkest Hour co-stars have tipped him to dominate awards season after his Golden Globes nomination.
The 59-year-old actor was announced as a nominee in the Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama category on Monday (11Dec17), earning the nod from members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for his performance as Britain’s iconic wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
Hours after Gary received the nomination, he and his co-stars walked the red carpet for the film’s London premiere, and his castmates backed the star – who is an early Oscars favorite – to end his long drought at the Golden Globes and Oscars.
Samuel West, who plays Churchill’s Secretary of State for War, Anthony Eden, in the film, told WENN that nominating Gary for a Golden Globe was “obligatory” before adding, “He’s one of our greatest actors and I believe this is one of his greatest performances.”
Asked if he thought the star was likely to win his first Oscar, Samuel added, “I wouldn’t bet against it,” confirming that he was tempted to place a wager on his colleague but thought he “might not get very good odds”.
Gushing over his co-star’s portrayal, Samuel, whose father Timothy West played Churchill twice on screen, said, “The pleasure of watching an actor who you’ve admired for a long time give one of the greatest performances I’ve ever seen was extreme.”
Kristin Scott Thomas, who plays the leader’s wife Clementine Churchill, smiled and joked that she was “only slightly” pleased to hear about Gary’s Golden Globes nod, but explained that working with him was “thrilling”.
The film follows Churchill over a five-week period during the war, when Britain faced defeat by Nazi Germany.
Speaking about how Clementine supported her husband through difficult times, Kristin said, “I think she knew him and they complemented each other. They were both very troubled people, they had mood swings. I think they both suffered from depression and they were both able to support each other because they understood it.”
Darkest Hour debuts in cinemas from 22 December (17).
