Who doesn’t like awards?: Gary Oldman

British actor Gary Oldman may not have any plans to visit India yet, but the Bafta award winner reveals that he’s looking forward to doing a Bollywood film someday. Best known as Sirius Black in Harry Potter and Jim Gordon in Christopher Nolan’s Batman series, the actor also has hits like True Romance, Léon and Air Force One to his credit. Here the actor talks about his upcoming spy flick Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy… and shares his Bollywood plans.

Q: Over the years, has your criteria for choosing your films changed at all?
A: Projects always came after me, so selecting criteria to play a character never really concerned me. So I would put it as, directors/producers have set a criterion for me.

Q: Have you heard about the Indian film industry or any Indian actors?
A: Yes! Indian film industry is a growing business, and they are doing well. Our films also have a great market and appreciation there and even I have some set of my die hard fans living there.

Q: Would you consider any film offer here?
A: Why not, as I said projects come to me and I shall open heartedly welcome Indian projects.

Q: Can you tell us about your character in the film Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy…
A: I play the character of George Smiley, a career spy with razor-sharp senses. He is a quiet guy who disappears into the woodwork of a room, watches and listens very carefully. He has a hard core to him, but doesn’t need to go chasing or shooting people to make his point. In two words ‘the perfect spy’. So, you might think he’s not a very cinematic character — but he is!

Q: How was your experience working on this film?
A: It was fabulous! For me it is the greatest role I have ever played. It’s the complexity of the character that I don’t have to express. So I run a scene, but from a very passive position, and a lot of the other people I’m in the scene with are there to talk. So this is what defines my experience on this project.

Q: How was it working with the director and your co-stars? Any interesting incidents you can share…
A: It’s great to work with Tomas Alfredson (director). You don’t have to do anything, you just react... it’s like a free ride. I also share a lot of scenes with Benedict Cunberbatch, he is a dynamic and very intuitive. He is a wonderful actor, isn’t he?  But it is the linage. It is like we are links in a chain.  Now it is people like…you look at a different generation and at people like Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Hardy, and Michael Fassbender, who are great young actors that are coming through.

Q: Have you read the original novel on which the film is based and are you a fan of author John Le Carre’s works?
A: Yes! Indeed have read the book. It was like a home-work to me and other actors. I didn’t work much outside of the book, because really everything you want to know about character, it’s there. And then we had — we were lucky to have — access to Le Carre himself… I mean he had been in MI-6, had been a spy himself. So I sort of wanted to know a little bit of history and he helped me to generate all possible material.

Q: How important are awards for you? 
A: Awards are like appreciation to your work it gives you encouragement and also responsibility to perform well. And who doesn’t like awards?