Gary Oldman featured in David Bowie video for free lunch

Veteran British actor Gary Oldman signed up to appear in David Bowie’s music video for The Next Day in exchange for “a sandwich and a bottle of pop”. The Dark Knight star, who has been friends with the rock icon for 25 years, admits he wasn’t looking for a payday when Bowie invited him to join French actress Marion Cotillard in the religious-themed promo, so he agreed to film it for free.
He tells Britain’s Event magazine, “Dave just shot me an email, out of the blue, saying, ‘Do you want to come and play a priest for a day?’
“It was all done for a sandwich and a bottle of pop (soda). We actually shot it in a place that’s about 10 minutes from my house. There was no money in it.”
The video, which featured a Christ-like Bowie performing at a bar in front of a collection of figures from the Christian faith, including a Cardinal dishing out cash to dancing girls, sparked controversy upon its release in May (13), and was even temporarily banned from YouTube.com for allegedly violating the site’s terms of service.
However, Oldman has no regrets about his participation in the project, which was directed by Floria Sigismundi.
He says, “People can make what they want of it, that’s the point of a video like that. He’s an artist, he makes you think.”
The Next Day video, taken from Bowie’s comeback album of the same name, also featured Cotillard as a prostitute, who transformed into a saint after stigmata on her hands gushed blood over a topless nun, while another scene featured a monk practising self-flagellation.