Gary Oldman clarifies his ‘mediocre’ acting remarks about Harry Potter after backlash-Asyia Iftikhar-Entertainment – Metro

Harry Potter star Gary Oldman said he wasn’t trying to ‘disparage’ fans after noting that he gave a ‘mediocre’ portrayal of Sirius Black in the popular franchise.

The 66-year-old screenstar – who is currently at Cannes Film Festival to promote his latest film Parthenope – was asked to clarify the remarks he made on Josh Horowitz’s Happy, Sad, Confused podcast last year where he admitted his displeasure.

The Oscar-winning actor played Harry Potter’s godfather Sirius Black in four films: the Prisoner of Azkhaban, the Goblet of Fire, the Order of the Phoenix, and a brief cameo in Deathly Hallows: Part Two.

But he shared he would have ‘played it differently’ had he known his character’s fate from the start such as co-star Alan Rickman (who was notably told his character’s, Professor Snape, arc early on).

After backlash from fans who refuted the idea that he didn’t play the character well, Gary has finally explained he didn’t mean to be ‘rude’.

He hadn’t intended to ‘disparage’ any ‘fans of the Harry Potter films and the character who I think is much beloved,’ Gary said during a Cannes press conference.

Sirius Black is a fan-favourite character in the Harry Potter series (Picture: Warner Bros)

He explained any ‘artist, actor, painter’ is ‘always hypercritical’ of their own work.

‘If you’re not and you’re satisfied with what you’re doing, that would be death to me. If I watched a performance of myself and thought, “My God, I’m fantastic in this,” that would be a sad day,’ he continued.

‘What I meant by the Harry Potter remark was there was such secrecy that was shrouded around the novels, they were under lock and key.

‘And had I known from the very beginning, if I had read the five books and I had seen the arc of the character, I might have approached it differently. I may have looked at it differently and may have painted it in a different colour.’

Gary’s character is killed off at the end of the fifth installment by Bellatrix Lestrange.

The actor went on to say that he originally only knew ‘one representation’ of Sirius from the third book, Prisoner of Azkhaban.

‘One book in the library of Sirius Black and that’s kind of what I meant by it. It’s not me looking at the movie and saying “it’s a terrible film or I’m terrible”… I just wish it had been under different circumstances.

Gary first appeared in the third film directed by Alfonso Cuaron (Picture: Warner Bros)

‘That’s what I meant, [I was] not [trying] to be rude to any of the people out there who likes that film.’

In fact, Gary has previously spoken about how endlessly grateful he is to the wizarding world franchise for giving him career stability at a time he desperately needed it.

‘I tell you, the two — Batman and Harry Potter — really, they saved me, because it meant that I could do the least amount of work for the most amount of money and then be home with the kids,’ he said on The Drew Barrymore Show last year.

Now the Slow Horses actor is looking toward his current role as US author John Cheever in Paolo Sorrentino’s Parthenope.

The Darkest Hour actor is now looking toward his next project (Picture: Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto/Shutterstock)

Reflecting on his own similarities with the 20th century novelist, he spoke about their dual struggles with alcohol and sobriety.

‘There was chaos and drama and a lot of pain in my life when I was younger. I’ve made it no secret that I used to drink, and I’ve just celebrated 27 years of sobriety,’ Gary told the Cannes audience.

‘Cheever, my wife (Gisele Schmidt) actually found a quote where he says, “My shaking hand reaches for the phone to ring Alcoholics Anonymous, and instead it reaches… for the whiskey, the gin, the vermouth”. And I’ve been there. I know what that means.’

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