Gary Oldman is an incredible actor who has played a laundry list of equally incredible roles throughout his career. He’s been in great films, been nominated for Oscars and taken part of some major franchises. While his most high-profile role to date is likely that of Sirius Black in the Harry Potter cast, some kids are apparently much bigger fans of his participation in the Batman franchise.
Appearing on the The Jess Cagle Show on SiriusXM Gary Oldman was asked about what roles he tends to be recognized for when he meets fans. Oldman says that when it comes to his younger fans, it’s usually Harry Potter that they know him from, but then told a story about introducing himself to a young Harry Potter fan, only to be confronted by somebody who knew him from Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy. Oldmany explained…
That's so funny, but although I do have a funny story. I was at one of those, El Capitan, one of those glamping, they call it. I think they call it glamping. I was there years ago with the kids, and I ran into my dentist, and he said, ‘Oh, my son's down there. Huge, huge fan of Harry Potter. Would you just go down and sort of, you know, appear and say hello?’ and I went, ‘Yeah, sure,’ and there was this bunch of kids, and they were sitting around a sort of fire pit on these crates and I went up to his son, I think it was Jack, and I went, ‘Hello Jack.’ I said, ‘Nice to meet you. I'm Sirius Black,’ and a kid at the other end went, ‘No, you are not. You are James Gordon.’
Thinking about it, it’s maybe not that surprising that a kid would recognize Gary Oldman as James Gordon and not Sirius Black. Oldman is one of those actors who is capable of transforming himself quite significantly. Even Tom Felton didn't recognize Oldman on the set of the film. Many of Oldman's best roles don’t look that much like the guy you see giving interviews. Jim Gordon is one who probably looks more like Gary Oldman looks off the set than others he has played.
Gary Oldman probably doesn't mind. The actor has praised both the Harry Potter and Batman films for coming a long at a key moment in his career. Either way, we can guess that the group of kids was pretty stoked to be meeting either Sirius Black or James Gordon. Meanwhile, their parents were probably equally impressed. They got to meet Winston Churchill, Dracula and Agent Stansfield from The Professional.
Most of those kids probably aren't watching Gary Oldman’s current project, the excellent Apple TV+ series Slow Horses, which just debuted Season 4. Still, every time they do find a new Gary Oldman role they can remember the time they met Sirius Black… or James Gordon.
