actor-y (laughs).
Q: Gary, this is a quieter role for you. How did you develop your character?
Oldman: It turned out like that. You know, I put it together in my kitchen, on the plane, [that] kind of thing. I learned
the lines on the plane and got there and did the first scene and he said, 'that's okay, do it like that. Like we said
earlier, sometimes directors feel like they have to justify that hat that they are wearing they've got on as a director, and
they come in and they tweak and interfere, you know what I mean? Sometimes directors, they are jailers of your talent. They
close you up. And being a good director is knowing sometimes when not to say something.
Freeman: Knowing a lot when not to say anything...
Oldman: Knowing a lot, yeah, and Chris just lets you kind of, you know, and he had such a vision of what he, I guess, such an
overview of what he wanted that if you were kind of going off a bit, he would kind of nudge you back, but he didn't need to
be busy.
Freeman: More like herding... 'You are the actor, and I understand we already had our sit down, you explained your concept, your
view,' so I said, 'okay, I'm in your hands.' That means that if you've got to nudge me a little bit to the right I move to the
right, just from the pressure, weight, but you won't have to touch me at all. You can come and go 'okay, you want
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me over here a little bit more,' so no pressure on us at all that's easy to do.
Q: What is your personal process in shaping these characters? How helpful were the comics in doing that?
Freeman: Me first.
Oldman: Go ahead.
Freeman: I don't have to do anything. The character is shaped on the page. All you have to do is lift it off, and I didn't
have to do anything at all, except decide whether you're going to shave or not shave, comb your hair one way or another way.
Someone's going to put the clothes on you, and part of being an actor is wearing costumes. Costumes tell you an awful lot
about who you are, so you just, it's nothing. I think basically, get out of the way if you can, right? (to Oldman) That's my
answer.
Oldman: Well, I went and lived in Chicago for a year (laughs), and I studied at the police academy. No, the script is your
map of the world, isn't it? And if someone knows that if it's well-written, you get all of the beats, it will tell you
everything you need to know, and then Chris goes and hires Lindy Hemming, who's a great costume designer, so you're not there
for four days, turning, saying 'no, that doesn't work, that doesn't work.' She's got a great sense of how you might dress, so
she offers up three jackets or a suit and you go, 'you know what? I think I went with the
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