Gary Oldman Critiques His ‘Mediocre’ Performance as Sirius Black in Harry Potter Films

Gary Oldman was not charmed by Sirius Black.

Actor whose Apple TV+ series Slow horses returned for the third season last month, criticized his performance as Sirius Black in the Harry Potter franchise on Josh Horowitz’s final episode Happy Sad Confused podcast. Oldman, 65, considers his portrait to be his beloved Harry Potter the character was “mediocre,” he said.

After telling Horowitz, “I think my work is mediocre in that,” the Oscar winner said he believed he could have played the role “differently.”

Oldman’s approach might have been different if he had read JK Rowling’s original books before acting in the movies, as his late co-star Alan Rickman said.

“Maybe if I’d read the books like Alan, if I’d been ahead of the curve, if I’d known what was coming, I honestly think I would have played differently,” Oldman said on the podcast.

The actor joined the franchise as Sirius Black in 2004 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and reprized the role in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. He also had a cameo in the last film of the franchise, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.

Gary Oldman and Daniel Radcliffe in the movie “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix”.

The Everett Collection

The actors of ‘Harry Potter’: Where are they now?

Oldman said he usually criticizes his past performances.

“It’s like anything, if I were to sit and watch myself in something and go, ‘My God, I’m amazing,’ that would be a very sad day,” Oldman explained. “Because you want to make the next thing better.”

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

While the actor isn’t a fan of his performance, he recently shared how much he appreciates the franchise.

Earlier this month, Oldman told Drew Barrymore in an interview on her eponymous talk show that Harry Potter franchise and Christopher Nolan The dark knight trilogy helped his personal life.

Oldman explained to Barrymore, 48, that he turned down opportunities to spend time with his children – Alfie, 35, Charlie John, 24, and Gulliver Flynn, 26 – after becoming a single father in 2000.

Gary Oldman on May 14, 2023 in London, England.

Joe Maher/Getty

Everything you need to know about the new ‘Harry Potter’ TV series

“Thank God for Harry Potter. I tell you, two – Batman and Harry Potter — really saved me, because it meant I could do the least amount of work for the most money and then be home with the kids, Oldman told Barrymore.

“At 42 I woke up divorced and I had custody of these guys and that, in itself, was… That was difficult because there was a shift in the industry where there were a lot of productions [filmed in] — it was Hungary, Budapest, Prague, Australia, you know, all those places,” he continued.

Oldman said he had round trips in between The dark knight trilogy of film productions in London and his home in Los Angeles 27 times to spend time with his children.

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education