Gary Oldman's 10 Greatest Movie Performances - Ranked

Gary Oldman’s first Oscar nomination came for a quite un-Oldman performance. While the actor can do it all, his most notable roles have tended to be his flashier ones. As George Smiley in this John LeCarre adaptation he’s quiet, calm, considered, and absolutely outstanding.

Like many of his other finest roles, Oldman stands out here by playing at a different level to most of the rest of the cast. Only here, while his co-stars - British heavyweights like Tom Hardy, Colin Firth, and Mark Strong - are hectic schemers, knee deep in espionage and double dealing, Oldman is contemplative and reserved, distanced from the action.

It’s a perfectly realised character - as George Smiley, Oldman is tasked with sniffing out a mole in the British secret service. He’s appropriately beige as a man attempting to blend in, to see everything while no one sees him.

Oldman steers this complex, grown up spy movie throughout. There’s not an ounce of flash to his performance, and it’s the committed, intelligent work of a performer who knows exactly what he’s doing - a selfless turn that ended up being his best.