Gary Oldman Clarifies Criticizing His Harry Potter Acting As “Mediocre”

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Summary Being hypercritical of own work as an actor essential for growth, not a sign of dissatisfaction.

Lack of knowledge about character's future impacted Oldman's portrayal in Harry Potter films.

Oldman clarifies past remarks, expresses respect for fans despite personal critique.

Harry Potter actor Gary Oldman clarifies his remarks about thinking his performance in the films is "mediocre." Oldman joined the Harry Potter cast in 2004's Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, playing the imprisoned godfather to Daniel Radcliffe's Harry. The actor ultimately bid farewell to the character with 2007's Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, but he reflected on his performance in the films last December and criticized his acting as "mediocre."

At a recent press conference at the Cannes Film Festival for his new film, Parthenope, Oldman further explained his critique of his own performance in the Harry Potter films. Check out his comment (via Variety) below:

“What I meant by that is, as any artist or any actor or painter, you are always hypercritical of your 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. “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 painted in a different color. So when I started ‘Harry Potter,’ all I had was the book, ‘The Prisoner of Azkaban,’ and that one representation of that man. 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. That’s what I meant, not to be rude to any of the people out there who like that film.”

More to come...

Source: Variety