# what are some quintessential gary oldman roles?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-quintessential-gary-oldman-roles/505515>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [August 6, 2009, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-quintessential-gary-oldman-roles/505515 "2009-08-06T08:47:18Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 2

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\
**Post date:** [August 6, 2009, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-quintessential-gary-oldman-roles/505515/21 "2009-08-06T19:51:34Z")

</div>

> [@mbh](#):
>
> My favorite Gary Oldman movie is _True Romance_, in which he plays a black pimp…

…or at least a pimp who _thinks_ he’s black. That’s my favorite of his side roles. He has some classic deliveries in the few minutes that he’s in the movie.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![vifslan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f4b2a3/32.png) [@vifslan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vifslan)\
**Post date:** [August 6, 2009, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-quintessential-gary-oldman-roles/505515/22 "2009-08-06T21:23:55Z")

</div>

Add me in as another fan who can never get enough. I heartily second Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, because it’s such a rare and precious thing to see him do comedy.

My favourite movie that never got made, and one I’d easily emigrate to another reality to see, is a biopic on Christopher Marlowe, starring Gary Oldman.

Though with Mr Oldman, maybe the question is: Has the quintessential Gary Oldman role even been invented yet?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\
**Post date:** [August 6, 2009, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-quintessential-gary-oldman-roles/505515/23 "2009-08-06T21:28:56Z")

</div>

> [@SaharaTea](#):
>
> I don’t know if there’s a “quintessential” Gary Oldman role, but my favorite will always be _The Professional_. So delightfully psychotic.
> 
> Honorable mention to his role as Beethoven in _Immortal Beloved_. Great range of acting skills in that one.

I pretty much agree with this one.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\
**Post date:** [August 6, 2009, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-quintessential-gary-oldman-roles/505515/24 "2009-08-06T23:11:30Z")

</div>

> [@bienville](#):
>
> _The Professional_  
> _The Fifth Element_

Even better, these two are nearly the same character & should put many viewers off watching a Gary Oldman movie ever again.

I’ve probably seen him somewhere else. But I know this: _The Professional_ is one of my favorite movies, while my best friend hates it _because of Gary Oldman._ And he was IMO the 2[sup]nd[/sup] worst thing in _The Fifth Element_.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\
**Post date:** [August 7, 2009, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-quintessential-gary-oldman-roles/505515/25 "2009-08-07T01:36:47Z")

</div>

I’d say Gary Oldman’s talent is based on his anti-quintessence. He’s not Jack Nicholson or Clint Eastwood or Samuel L. Jackson playing variations of the same character. There’s no such thing as an Oldmanesque character.

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-quintessential-gary-oldman-roles/505515.md?page=1)