At the end of 2023 Gary Oldman he confessed in the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast that he played Sirius Black in the film series “Harry Potter” in a “mediocre” way. His words were very disliked by fans of the series.
“Maybe if I read books like Alan Rickman (who plays Severus Snape).’a – ed.) and if I had prepared in this way for what was coming, I honestly think I would have played this role differently,” the actor told Josh Horowitz on the podcast.
While attending the Cannes festival, where his latest film, “Parthenope” directed by Paolo Sorrentino, was shown, Gary Oldman decided to explain himself. He emphasized that he did not want to offend fans of the saga about the young wizard.
“I didn't mean to discourage anyone who is a Harry fan’Potter's ego. What I meant was that like any other artist, I'm always very critical when it comes to my own work. (…) I certainly didn't want to be unpleasant to people who like this film,” Oldman is quoted as saying by PAP (source: Deadline).
“When I started working on the film, I knew only one book from the entire series. That's what I meant when I said those words,” added the actor and apologized to the fans once again.
Gary Oldman starred as Sirius Black in these parts of the series: “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” (2004), “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” (2005), “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” (2007) and “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II” (2011).