Hollywood.com talks with Gary Oldman about reprising his role as Lt. James Gordon in The Dark Knight.
Hollywood.com: Knowing all the juicy stuff from the comics that was in store of Gordon, how hard was it to get through the first movie to get to the really good stuff in Dark Knight?
Gary Oldman: I have a confession to make. I am not a fan of comic books. I was never a comic book kid. The format irritates me. Do I read here? Is that comment his or hers? Then it goes to the next frame and I’m thinking, “is he talking to him or her?” It irritates me. I can’t get on with it at all. So I really don’t know much… I know Barbara becomes Bat Girl, but we’ll never see that, not in the hands of Chris Nolan, at least.
HW: Was it a treat, then, to see where this character goes in the story?
GO: Yeah. When I got the script and spoke to Chris, and fleshed out the character… you know, if you can come back for seconds, it’s nice to come back and do more.
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HW: How personally did that story affect you, as a father?
GO: It’s not very hard to play. Not like you are playing against type or anything. That whole thing…with the boy…you project your own family into the situations.
HW: How do you help your own children?
GO: It depends what it is. I find myself becoming more square, as I get older. It’s weird but I find myself saying things my parents said.
HW: Like what?
GO: I always say that a lazy man works twice as hard. So you have to take your time and do it right the first time. Let it take the time it takes, put in the time and effort, otherwise you’ll end up doing it again. I always say, “hate me now, love me later.” You’re civilizing them. You have this feral thing, that is all about them, and if you don’t civilize them, then they’ll come to you when they’re all messed up at 22 and say, “Where the fuck were you?” You just become more and more old-fashion. I sound like I’m not hip. “Clean up. Do that. Don’t argue. Take your plate in.” Or you pass the bathroom, and with my little 8-year-old it’s “Lift the seat! How many more times do I have to tell you? Lift the seat!”
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HW: You started commenting on Heath Ledger’s performance in interviews before you even screened the film. What was it that impacted you?
GO: I got a sense of it the first morning I worked with him, and uh, I thought this kid’s a bit good! And he was doing the scene himself, and I called a respective friend of mine who asked, ‘What’s Heath liked?’ And he said he’s sort of tuned in, it’s like a frequency – he’s found a radio station that we can’t hear. He found something. That happens to actors sometimes… You know, I think over the years when I think of performances – [Jack] Nicholson in Cuckoo’s Nest. Al Pacino in Dog Day Afternoon. That sort of work where you look and go, ‘Wow, that’s going beyond… that’s special. I think he’s sort of done that. I think there are times when an actor would just like… go through the sound barrier.
HW: What was he like as a person?
GO: Oh, great. The saddest thing is really, it’s a shame he’s not here to talk about it. I don’t mean this in a disrespectful way – it’s just Christian [Bale] is very private, it’s quite intense, and it’s very private. In the way he works on Batman, you know? That’s not to say he doesn’t have a sense of humor. But it’s more fun to hang out with Heath! Because people want, because he died, and I’m not saying you guys, but people want a dark story. He was so obsessed with the character, and he was contaminated with the Joker, and he couldn’t sleep, and all of that stuff. In-between takes he would sit on the curbside and smoke a cigarette, and laugh, and talk about his daughter Matilda. And I thought he was a beautiful kid. He was wonderful. I had a lot of affection for him. And he’s charismatic. You need a new word for charismatic…and he’s probably going to get an Oscar nomination…I think they don’t always acknowledge this kind of genre. They don’t see this work – I don’t know why.
HW: This is a brainier than the average summer action pic, wouldn’t you say?
GO: There’s about 10 times more things going on, yes? Yeah. And it’s darker… I mean it’s really dark, the movie, isn’t it? I was amazed that [Chris] got a PG-13. And Heath, I think, it’s one of arguably the most psychologically, the disturbing villain I’ve ever seen, a bad guy, in a movie.
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HW: Is there any chance you might be flashed back to in any of the new Harry Potter movies?
GO: No. It was funny, I spoke to Dan Radcliffe the other day. He said that they are releasing the last one in two parts. He said, “It’s because it’s so dense and so complicated.” I go, “No, that’s not the reason, Dan.” [rubs fingers together, miming “more money”]. Ching ching!
HW: What did he say when you told him that? Was he crushed?
GO: Well maybe a little crushed. He just sort of went, “Oh yeah. I see what you mean.”
The Dark Knight opens in theaters July 18, 2008
