Lynn Hirschberg: After living in America for 20 years, was it difficult to be very, very
British in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy?
Gary Oldman: The weird thing is, I had to do
a bit of voice work to get my English accent back. I’ve not really lost
my accent completely, but it is now a cross-pollination. It came back
quickly. The weather of England is in me—I will never lose those clouds
and gray skies.
You’ve said the key to playing Smiley is the eyeglasses.
Yes—Smiley and
his glasses go together like Bond and his Aston Martin. I saw Smiley as
a wise owl, and my search for the right spectacles was important. He’s
getting on—he’s in his mid-50s, he’s forced to retire, and his wife has
left him—but he still wants to tiptoe toward the new world. It’s the
seventies, and he cheers himself up by wearing these glasses. He thinks
they may help him get his wife back.
Brad Pitt says that you die better on film than any other actor. What’s
the key to a great death scene?
Practice. I’ve died more than anyone.
I’ve been hanged, blown to smithereens, decapitated, and had my genitals
cut out. I think the worst death was in Hannibal, where I was eaten by
wild boars. My favorite death was in State of Grace. I kind of fold.
That was quite lovely.
