![\"Gary](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Gary-Oldman-1140x855.jpg\")
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(Credit: Wikimedia Commons)<\/p>\n
Sat 19 April 2025 17:15, UK <\/p>\n
Film and television acting is different from theatre acting in a myriad of ways, but primary among them has got to be the live, one-and-done nature of theatre. While on stage, there is no such thing as a second take. If an actor flubs their lines or fails to hit their mark, the director can\u2019t just yell \u201cCut!\u201d and start the scene again. This means theatre is not often known for being open to improvisation, because the medium simply doesn\u2019t lend itself to that performance style. It\u2019s unsurprising, then, that some actors feel a certain liberation in trying different things on different takes while shooting a film \u2013 and sometimes magic can come from it, as it did in one of Gary Oldman\u2019s<\/a> most iconic scenes. <\/p>\n In the 1990s, Oldman became \u2013 as he eloquently put it \u2013 \u201cthe poster boy for villains.\u201d In that decade alone, he played Lee Harvey Oswald in JFK, Count Dracula in Bram Stoker\u2019s Dracula, the pimp Drexl Spivey in True Romance, intergalactic tyrant Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg in The Fifth Element, the terrorist Egor Korshunov in Air Force One, and mad scientist Dr Zachary Smith in Lost in Space. <\/p>\n In fact, Oldman wound up playing so many evil, dangerous characters<\/a> that he eventually told his agent to stop sending him villain roles to consider \u2013 and for the odd role that did make its way to his desk, he resolved to increase his price tag. \u201cThey are more expensive, villains,\u201d he told Stephen Colbert with a grin. \u201cI charge more for a villain. At a discount, I\u2019ll gladly be the hero.\u201d<\/p>\n Before he instituted this veto on villain duties, though, Oldman played arguably his most infamous bad guy in Luc Besson\u2019s L\u00e9on: The Professional.<\/a> In that 1994 action thriller, Oldman portrayed Norman Stansfield, a corrupt and likely insane DEA agent. The movie was a hit at the time, but went on to attract an even bigger cult following over the years. Audiences loved Jean Reno\u2019s soulful performance as the titular assassin, while Natalie Portman\u2019s portrayal of the 12-year-old assassin protege, Mathilda Lando, belied her tender years. <\/p>\n