Let's get something out of the way real fast. Yes, Gary Oldman's career throughout the '90s lived on playing the villain. Does that mean he fits the label of "type cast?" Well, let's go over some of the villains he's played and I'll let you decide. His first villainous role was Lee Harvey Oswald in Oliver Stone's JFK. He then followed that performance up with his turn as everyone's favorite vampire (not Edward) in Bram Stroker's Dracula, Drexyl Spivey in True Romance, Norman Stanfield in Leon: The Professional, Zorg in The Fifth Element, an uncredited role as the horribly mangled Mason Verger in Hannibal and a Republican in The Contender. So yes, he's played a great number of villains, but relating any two of those roles simply because they're antagonists is a superficial comparison at best. Even if he only ever played villains, there are few actors with as much range as Oldman, even if he had to constrain his performance within the context of the "bad guy." In many ways, Oldman being cast as Sirius Black in the third Harry Potter film was foreshadowing. He's at first thought of being yet another villain, but turns out to be Harry's benevolent godfather, protecting him throughout the whole film (um.. Spoiler). It's not a coincidence that he started receiving bigger and less dubious roles like Jim Gordon and his Academy Award nominated performance as George Smiley in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.
I am a writer based in Salt Lake City, UT. I am currently revising a novel and maintain a feverish, certifiable obsession with all things film, literature and politics.
