Gary Oldman's 10 Greatest Movie Performances - Ranked

One of Gary Oldman’s earliest screen roles remains among the most sympathetic and nuanced performances of his career. The meticulous actor seemed to pay special attention when portraying real people - which he's done a lot - and in depicting the late writer Joe Orton, he was sure to put in a measured and committed turn as a complex but ultimately decent man.

Oldman stars alongside Alfred Molina as Kenneth Halliwell, and the film charts the romantic relationship between the two men. While Halliwell, the older of the two, was a known writer when Orton got started, the younger man soon eclipsed his partner, ultimately leading to Halliwell’s murder/suicide.

Gary Oldman’s swagger in the part is remarkable for an actor taking on a significant literary figure so early in his career. He’s energetic, funny and frustrating in equal measure. His immense sense of life is all the more tragic for how we know the story will end (the film begins with the discovery of the two dead men, for anyone unfamiliar with the real case).

This was a significant shift for Oldman, who had previously played a sneering Sid Vicious and was keen to demonstrate his extraordinary versatility.