Gary Oldman Hints He Will Retire From Acting Soon

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Acclaimed actor Gary Oldman says that he will retire from acting soon. The 64-year-old Oscar winner has mesmerized audiences throughout his career, delivering performances that merit his inclusion among the greatest actors of all time. Having taken on a wide variety of roles throughout his career, Oldman’s talents have enabled him to consistently gain new fans over the years, resulting in one of the most diverse followings of any working actor.

 

For most newer fans of his work, Oldman will forever be recognized as Harry Potter’s godfather, Sirius Black, as well as Jim Gordon in Christopher Nolan’s ridiculously successful Batman trilogy. But beyond these two roles, Oldman’s career stretches all the way back to the early 1980s, when he first received acclaim for his role as Coxy in iconic British filmmaker Mike Leigh’s Meantime. Since those early days of his acting career, Oldman has established himself to such a degree that even today, it’s hard to tell what sort of role he’ll choose next. Few actors still working today can claim a similar status, and although every film Oldman’s starred in hasn’t necessarily been a hit, he’s delivered countless memorable performances.

 

After so many decades of establishing himself as one of the greatest living actors, Oldman has admitted that he likely won’t continue to act much longer. During a recent interview with Deadline, the Harry Potter star talked about his current role on the Apple TV series Slow Horses, in which he plays Jackson Lamb, the head of a British spy agency for spies who haven’t quite made the grade. Oldman spoke about his enjoyment of the role and the series as well as how his time as Lamb would be a fitting way to end his acting career:

 

It’s up to all the big people upstairs and the audience and the obviously the viewership and what Apple what they say. But, yeah, I could see myself playing Jackson for the next how many years, yeah. Absolutely. I mean, for those that love the books and that were Mick Herron devotees as it were, he is already an iconic character. So, if it were to go out with a bang, I mean, retirement is on the horizon. Yeah. I can see it.

Side by side of Gary Oldman in Dracula, Fifth Element, and the Dark Knight

 

Though Oldman doesn’t give a specific timeline for his retirement, the fact that he’s admitting that it’s on the horizon will no doubt disappoint fans. Establishing a career as an actor is certainly no easy task, and while there are no shortages of actors working in film today, it is not often that someone of Oldman’s caliber comes along. His retirement from acting would be as much of a blow to cinema as multi-Oscar winner Daniel Day Lewis’ decision to call it quits after the release of 2017’s Phantom Thread. Both actors have exhibited uncanny abilities to transform into the characters they’re playing and both will long be remembered for their numerous contributions to cinema.

There is one small glimmer of hope for fans of Gary Oldman, however. Though he’s stated that retirement from acting isn’t far off, he hasn’t specified if he has other plans that involve film and television. Having made his directorial debut with 1997’s Nil By Mouth, Oldman hasn’t stepped behind the camera again for a feature film. At present there he’s set to direct Flying Horse, a biopic about photographer Eadweard Muybridge. Whether or not this could lead to more films from the acclaimed actor is anyone’s guess, but it’s a career prospect that fans are sure to relish.

 

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