The legendary Gary Oldman says that his love for acting has "withered," and that he mostly keeps accepting roles to pay the bills. "I've had a great career and I'm very lucky to do what I do. But I've been doing it a long time, and you can get tired. You might say I want to change careers or to do something else," says Oldman.

 

You hate to see this sort of thing happen to a guy so talented. And he's only 49 years old. When Gene Hackman retired in his mid-seventies a few years back that was one thing, but Oldman's still got some good years ahead of him. So here are seven reasons why Gary Oldman should reconsider:

 

We need guys like him who are so different in every single role. Whether it's a deranged futuristic arms dealer in The Fifth Element, or a deranged drug-addicted police detective in Leon, or a deranged ebonics-speaking drug dealer in True Romance, you need that guy. If ever they were to remake Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949 comedy starring Alec Guinness in 8 different roles) Gary Oldman would be the only actor for the job.

 

2. He stands out even in the best of casts.

Basquiat, Batman Begins, Harry Potter 3, just to name a few. The best example is perhaps JFK. In a cast of dozens of the greatest and best known actors out there, you can't take your eyes off Gary Oldman. I'll go out on a limb and call his character by far the most compelling. Sure, mostly because he plays Lee Harvey Oswald…

 

To date, Gary Oldman has written and directed only one picture: The critically acclaimed Nil by Mouth. The film is loosely based on Oldman's own coming of age in London and centers on an abusive working class family. Aside from being a really bang-up film, it has to be by far one of the most vulgar films ever made. According to IMDb, the word "fuck" and its derivatives are used 470 times (an average of 3.9 times per minute), with "cunt" being used 42 times. How does that stack up to other profanity-ridden films? The Departed: 237 fucks. South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut: (a paltry) 146 fucks. Pulp Fiction: 281 fucks. I think we see who won this round. Granted, he only wrote and directed this film, which he could continue to do once he's quit acting, but I'm using this film as an example for why the business still needs him in general.

 

The video store near my old apartment had its movies arranged by genre and by director. There was only one small shelf where it had movies sorted by actor, and there were only three actors that had their own categories. Those actors were Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jack Lemmon, and Gary Oldman. Not bad, eh? 

 

Which could take a few centuries at this rate, unfortunately. Despite constantly being praised for his performances, both the Oscars and the BAFTAs have neglected to recognize Oldman's considerable acting chops. He won two BAFTAs for Nil By Mouth, but those were for his role in producing and writing the film. Sure, the Oscars aren't the "be all end all" of acting, but Gary Oldman has deserved a best supporting actor nomination for (almost) everything he's done.

 

I'm guessing he's going to keep needing that big Hollywood paycheck to help with that. One of his former wives is Uma Thurman, so she's probably doing okay, but college is going to be expensive for those kids by the other two.

 

If you've seen David Cronenberg's Dead Ringers, you might remember Jeremy Irons talking with his twin brother (also Jeremy Irons) about Chang & Eng Bunker, conjoined twins from Siam who moved to the United States during the 19th century and became quite famous. Well, according to his friend, producer Douglas Urbanski, Oldman has written the script and is planning to direct a movie about Chang and Eng. I think it's pretty clear what must be done to win that Oscar. Oldman is already an accomplished master of dialect (Russian in Air Force One, ebonics in True Romance, Southern in The Fifth Element, and of course his native British). He's the only Caucasian actor in the world that could convincingly pull off playing not one, but both conjoined Siamese men. He's THAT versatile. And may the awards start flowing.

 

So with that we make our plea to the great Oldman. Truly one of the best.

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