Harry Potter Star Slams “Mediocre” Performance

Gary Oldman is not fond of his work on Harry Potter.

The actor, who played Harry Potter’s godfather Sirius Black in four of the eight films in the series, admitted his disdain for the performances in an interview on the Happy Sad Confused podcast.

“I think my work is mediocre in it,” said Oldman. “No, I do. Maybe if I had read the books like [co-star] Alan [Rickman] … if I’d got ahead of the curve a bit, I would have played … if I’d have known what’s coming, I honestly think I would have played it differently.”

Oldman recalls one moment in particular as “the most difficult thing” he’s ever done in his career. It was a scene in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, in which Oldman “had to lie by the lake, there was like this frozen lake, and I’m sort of dead, and the soul is leaving my body.”

It looks like the Harry Potter HBO Max series that doesn’t involve the franchise director also won't include Oldman.

Oldman’s performances in Harry Potter weren’t the only one he regrets. The actor also admitted he’s “not crazy about” his role in Bram Stoker’s Dracula.

“I’d put it all on a fire and burn it and do it all again,” Oldman said. “It’s like anything. If I sat and watched myself in something and said, ‘My god, I’m amazing,’ right, that would be a very sad day, because you want to make the next thing better.”

Oldman talks Harry Potter 11 minutes into the video below.