Gary Oldman Clarifies Why He Called His “Harry Potter” Acting 'Mediocre': 'I Might Have Approached It Differently'

"If I watched a performance of myself and thought, 'My God, I'm fantastic in this,' that would be a sad day," the actor said

Gary Oldman is clearing up past comments he made regarding his role in the Harry Potter movies.

During an appearance at a Cannes Film Festival press conference for his new movie Parthenope on Wednesday, May 22, the actor was asked about his own critical assessment of his acting in the popular fantasy franchise during a December 2023 Happy Sad Confused podcast appearance.

At the time, Oldman called his work in those films "mediocre" — and at Cannes, he clarified that he did not mean "to disparage anyone out there who are fans of Harry Potter and the films and the character, who I think is much beloved."

"What I meant by that was I think we're all — as any artist or any actor, painter — you are always hypercritical of your own work," Oldman said. "If you're not, and you're satisfied with what you're doing, that would be death to me."

"If I watched a performance of myself and thought, 'My God, I'm fantastic in this,' that would be a sad day, because my best work is next year," he added.

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The Academy Award winner portrayed the character Sirius Black in two of the eight Harry Potter films, beginning with 2004's Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. He also made a brief cameo in the franchise's final movie, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011).

During the press conference, Oldman said he believes he "might have approached it differently" had he read each of the Harry Potter novels that feature his character before filming his parts.

"I may have looked at it differently and painted in a different color. So when I started Harry Potter, all I had was the book The Prisoner of Azkaban and that one representation of that man. One book in the library of Sirius Black," the actor said.

"And that’s kind of what I meant by it. It’s not me looking at the movie and saying it’s a terrible film or I’m terrible," Oldman continued.

Related: Gary Oldman Explains Why Harry Potter and Dark Knight Trilogy 'Saved Me' After His Divorce

"I just wish it had been under different circumstances," he added. "That’s what I meant, not to be rude to any of the people out there who like that film.”

Oldman also mentioned that he believes he may have approached the role differently had he followed the character's arc closely through the books during that December podcast appearance.

"It's like anything — if I sat and watched myself in something and said, 'My God, I'm amazing,' that would be a very sad day,” he said at the time.

Added Oldman, “Because you want to make the next thing better."

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