Gary Oldman Fed Up With His "Rent-a-Villain" Typecast: "I Just Put a Stop to It"

Gary Oldman has built a legendary career bringing some of cinema's most memorable villains to life, from the unhinged Stansfield in Léon: The Professional to the flamboyant Zorg in The Fifth Element. But the Academy Award-winning actor has revealed he deliberately stepped away from his villainous streak after becoming Hollywood's go-to bad guy.

In a candid interview on Variety's "Know Their Lines," the 67-year-old actor explained why he eventually decided enough was enough.

“I got sort of typecast for a while,” Oldman said. “I became kind of like the poster boy for the ‘rent-a-villain.’ Sort of, ‘Oh, we need a villain and we’ll get Gary.’ I don’t know how that happened, but it happened. And it was fun for a while, but eventually, I just put a stop to it. It got a little old. But they are fun to play.”

If we look back at Oldman’s previous interviews about his villainous roles, it becomes clear that having fun was often the key for his most successful performances. Remember the iconic “Bring me everyone!” scene in Léon: The Professional? It turns out it was initially planned as a joke to make Luc Besson laugh.

“I did a couple of takes, ‘Bring me everyone, everyone.’ And to make Luc Besson laugh as a joke, I went to the sound guys and I said, ‘I’m going to be really, really loud,’” Oldman explained during his appearance in “The Late Show” with Stephen Colbert earlier in the year. “And I did that, and he kept it and put it in the film — that was just an outtake. It was just me having fun.”

The same approach worked with Dr. Zachary Smith from Lost in Space and Zorg in The Fifth Element.

“This particularly, like ‘The Fifth Element,’ much like ‘Lost in Space,’ they’re comic villains,” he explained. “[‘Lost in Space’] was fun, great cast. I thought the story, it was a lot to put in. It was a lot of movie in two hours. But [Dr. Zachary Smith] was fun to play because it’s a villain with a tongue in the cheek or a little twinkle in the eye,” Oldman added in the interview with Variety.

Fans Anoint Oldman “The Best Villain of the 90s”

Oldman may be tired of antagonist roles, but fans? Never.

In a Reddit thread, the actor has been named “the real best villain of the 90s,” and some fans even had trouble recognizing him immediately as a protagonist.

“I remember watching the first Batman with Christian Bale. Oldman played police chief Gordon. I didn't even realize it was him the first time I watched it. He's one of those guys who can just transform himself, and he is one of the great ones,” said Redditor chrisbrolumbus.

Others can’t help but praise Oldman’s other classic villainous roles.

“I'm an old goth, so peak Oldman for me is 'Dracula' and 'Immortal Beloved,'” added Redditor LadyMirkwood.