Gary Oldman: will Churchill prove to be his finest hour? | The Observer profile

The dazzling British actor, often mentioned in the same breath as Daniel Day-Lewis, is tipped for a Golden Globe for his role as a national saviour, a long journey from playing punks and skinheadsThe 1980s was a dazzling era for young, explosive British actors and two of the brightest fireworks in the box were Gary Oldman and Daniel Day-Lewis. They followed parallel trajectories: a 1960s childhood in south-east London, acclaimed stage work in the 1970s and on in the next decade to screen performances that gave homegrown cinema its equivalents to Method heavyweights such as Robert De Niro and Al Pacino, as well as successors to angry young men such as Albert Finney and Malcolm McDowell. (McDowell’s confrontational performance in The Raging Moon inspired Oldman to become an actor.)They will compete next month in a Brit-off at the Golden Globes for the best actor prize, with the rivalry likely to continue at the Oscars in March. Day-Lewis, 60, has been nominated for his absorbing portrayal of a controlling, fastidious dressmaker in Paul Thomas Anderson’s brilliant Phantom Thread, in which he stars with Lesley Manville, Oldman’s first of five wives to date. (They were married from 1987 to 1990.) Continue reading…
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