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Gary Oldman is generally considered, correctly, to be one of our greatest living actors. Some of Oldman’s best roles are some of the best performances in recent memory. Christopher Nolan is known, also correctly, as one of our greatest current directors. Together, the pair have made four movies, with Oldman playing James Gordon in Nolan’s Batman trilogy as well as appearing in the cast of Oppenheimer. One of the reasons the two have worked together so often may be that Nolan doesn’t have to do much when directing Oldman.
A story that Oldman told on the Happy Sad Confused podcast that is currently going viral on Instagram reveals that over the seven years that Oldman has been directed by Christopher Nolan, the director has only ever given him a couple of notes. One of those came during one of the Batman movies, and even the note was simple. Oldman said…
I did a scene once in Batman and he came up to me, and it was probably one of two notes he ever gave me in seven years, and he came up to me and he said ‘Let’s do that one more time. There’s more at stake.’
Oldman doesn’t specify which scene, or even which Batman movie, the note came from, but it was clearly important if it was one of only a couple of times that Nolan even gave him a note at all. Oldman has spoken about the importance of trusting his director, and part of that may be trusting him to focus on what’s important.
The actor loved the direction and its simplicity because, for him, that was all he needed to hear. He understood what the problem with the first take was, and knew what he needed to do to get it right. He continued…
That’s a fantastic piece of direction. I don’t need to know the ins and outs of the whole universe. I just need that nudge.
One gets the impression that other directors might be spending a lot of time telling Gary Oldman things about the character or the scene that he doesn’t feel are necessary. Perhaps if the actor was really off base with a performance, he might get a longer note. In this case though, it seems clear that Oldman was almost there, and Nolan simply gave him the missing piece. Oldman doesn’t mind getting the note, and he appreciates that it gives him what he needs and nothing more. Check out the full comments in the post below.
Nolan and Oldman work well together. Christopher Nolan is one director who likes working with the same people frequently. Little is known about Nolan’s next movie beyond the fact that it will star Matt Damon and Tom Holland. While Gary Oldman has been focused on his Slow Horses series for Apple TV+ of late, it seems likely if there’s a role that’s right for the actor, these two will work together again.