Actor Gary Oldman is not interested in continuing acting in his later years, even if the roles are available.
The 64-year-old Oscar winner made the comments during a recent interview with The Sunday Times.
“I’ve had an enviable career, but careers wane, and I do have other things that interest me outside of acting,” Oldman told the publication. “When you’re young you think you’re going to get round to doing all of them — read that book — then the years go by.”
The “Bram Stoker’s Dracula” actor continued, discussing how he’s already agreed to two more seasons of his current AppleTV+ spy drama, “Slow Horses.” But even though retiring from acting isn’t imminent, Oldman is thinking about it now and doesn’t know how much longer he’ll keep working.
“I’m 65 next year, 70 is around the corner. I don’t want to be active when I’m 80. I’d be very happy and honored and privileged to go out as Jackson Lamb — and then hang it up,” he explained.
Oldman also talked about relating to his “Slow Horses” character struggling with alcoholism. He credited his “Scarlet Letter” co-star Demi Moore with helping convince him to go to rehab. She supposedly told him, “you’re very ill, you have to go away.”
“I’ve not made any secret of it. There but for the grace of God go I. I’ve been in recovery, and I’ve made 25 years sober,” the actor said during the interview.
“Maybe the drink is what it is about Lamb. The biggest lie he tells himself is about his drinking … that cruel mocking way he has — he knows he’s a drunk but he lies to himself about it,” he continued.
Oldman’s “Slow Horses” character Jackson Lamb is complicated but intriguing. Previously, he said the chance to develop this type of role influenced his decision to sign on to the project.
“We get a sense that he’s maybe just kind of given up,” the actor said in June. “He’s just treading water and going through the motions. He gives the impression that he doesn’t care very much, and yet, he probably cares more than most.”
He continued, “Some of the slow horses think he’s lazy and he sits on his a** all day in that chair with his feet up on the desk, but the mind is working. And he’s very loyal. He has a great moral compass. He has a disdain for the hypocrisy and self-serving bureaucratic bulls*** that is the MI5 establishment.”
