Why isn’t anyone asking Gary Oldman about politics, abuse or #MeToo?
January 26, 2018
Here are some photos of Gary Oldman leaving BBC Radio Two in London, where he was promoting The Darkest Hour. The Darkest Hour has already won Oldman a SAG Award, a Golden Globe and now an Oscar nomination too. Oldman is thought of as the frontrunner in a meek Best Actor field. No one really thinks Denzel Washington is a contender, Daniel Kaluuya should be a bigger consideration but he just isn’t, and Timothee Chalamet only has a very, very slim chance, if we’re being honest. Oldman’s biggest competition is – in my opinion – Daniel Day Lewis for Phantom Thread. It’s reportedly DDL’s last on-screen role and it would be incredible to see him win an Oscar for his final performance… and reportedly, DDL is amazing in it too.
I know this is not the most important thing, but I don’t think Gary Oldman should win an Oscar for being wildly miscast in the role of Winston Churchill and for sitting there for hours getting hair, makeup and prosthetics. We should be “over” that as a film-watchers and awards-watchers, just as we should be “over” giving people Oscars just for gaining or losing a lot of weight. These are the kinds of blatant, awards-grabby stunts that are widely mocked for good reason. Every time I see a clip of The Darkest Hour, I always think it looks like a spoof of some hodge-podge of awards-baity sh-t (the makeup, the “historical figure,” the over-the-top performance) from a satire about Hollywood. And all I keep thinking of is this: why not hire a f–king actor who looked more like Churchill in the first g–ddamn place?
Of course there are other issues too, which involve Gary Oldman’s personal history and his history of questionable and offensive statements. He has the right to say whatever he wants, of course. It’s a free country. But #NeverForget all of the sh-t he talked in his 2014 Playboy interview, where he called Nancy Pelosi a c-word, defended Mel Gibson’s anti-semitism, claimed people voted for 12 Years a Slave so they wouldn’t look racist and defended homophobic insults.
There’s also the not-so-small matter of Gary Oldman’s own troubling history – in 2001, his then-wife Donya Fiorentino accused him of assaulting her. Her accusation never resulted in an arrest or a conviction, but Donya always maintained that this happened:
“As I picked up the phone to call the police, Gary put his hand on my neck and squeezed. I backed away, with the phone receiver in my hand. I tried to dial 911. Gary grabbed the phone receiver from my hand, and hit me in the face with the telephone receiver three or four times. Both of the children were crying.”
This 2001 accusation has been brought up a handful of times so far during the Oscar season, by Ira Madison III at the Daily Beast, and by several reporters at HuffPo. But nary a mention in the trade papers, and Oldman hasn’t been asked any questions about the 2001 allegation, nor has he even been asked about his very recent political views. And before anyone yells “he shouldn’t have to talk about politics!” – dude, the reason he should be asked is because just a few years ago, he was mouthing off to Playboy and calling Pelosi a c–t.
So what’s the point of all this? I don’t know. I just thought we should talk about it since few other people are discussing it.
Photos courtesy of WENN, Backgrid.
