As Sirius Black, he’s out of jail and on the trail of Harry Potter. So, is this another trademark Gary Oldman, or does the Prisoner have a surprise up his sleeve?

What was your awareness of the whole Harry Potter phenomenon before you became involved?

Well, I have three kids who like Harry Potter so I was sort of aware of it. You can’t really move from it, it’s everywhere. You go to Sainsbury’s and it’s Harry Potter socks and Harry Potter toothbrushes and tooth paste. It’s like Les Misérables or Cats, we live in a world where that logo is on buses, it’s on stores, it’s everywhere. And my kids wanted to see the movies. One of them has read the books, but he’s nearly 15, the other two are too small but they like the movies.

Why did you go for the role?

Well, I needed the work – that’s the honest answer. I haven’t worked for a while, a couple of years. So I thought it would be nice to get back to work and earn some money. Pay the bills. Also, it’s prestigious, it’s a phenomenon, so you’re not just making a movie. It’s joining the family of some kind of cinematic dynasty I suppose. It is interesting to be a part of that. The material was good, the director was interesting and it is nice to actually be in a movie that my kids could see.

Was Alfonso Cuarón a particular draw?

The thing about Alfonso, wanting to be part of it, is that it is such an interesting choice to have a director like him join this franchise. That was attractive because you knew it wasn’t going to be, “Let’s just make another Harry Potter film because she’s [JK Rowling] written another book.” It wasn’t just a cookie cutter thing to cash in although I am sure they are going to make millions of dollars from it. I see it as an Alfonso Cuarón movie, it’s not Harry Potter 3.

Has he been allowed the freedom to be himself?

Yes, I think so. There may be things going on but he doesn’t bring any of that to the set if he is having discussions with the studio outside of here.

Are you doing the next film?

I’m doing number four, I don’t know if they’ll make five. Well, at the moment I am, if they’re happy. They might stick it all together and give me the elbow.

But you know what happens to your character in book five?

Yeah, it’s not very good for me. I thought, “ooh, five, six, seven I could earn a few quid here”. Maybe in six I come back as a phantom. Maybe there is a twist and I’m not really dead. I was quite sad that day, when I found out. All the rumours were flying around and people were taking bets who it might be – that it might be Ron Weasley, that it might be Hagrid, but it’s me, so I die again … I don’t know even if they’re doing it.

Has working with Alfonso inspired you to direct again?

When I directed, it was in a bubble, a creative bubble and I was very spoilt there. I’d like to do it again but it would have to be under my method. It’s becoming increasingly harder and harder; there’s no such thing as independent film anymore. There aren’t any, they don’t exist. In the old days you could go and get a certain amount of the budget with foreign sales, now everybody wants a marketable angle. What does that mean? They keep raising the bar, so three years ago you could raise money on Russell Crowe. Now, you may have Russell Crowe and they would say, “who’s playing the girl?”

Sirius is an ambiguous character …

I’m playing him as a bad guy and then you make that twist. It’s a bit like playing Shakespeare. Shakespeare doesn’t really write subtext, you play the subtext. You do it all in the line, I’ve not embellished it with a whole lot of psychology. It’s a certain technique to playing it, a certain style. I appear, you think I’m the bad guy and through the course of the scene you realise, “oh he’s not that”. But when you see me, I have an energy and intensity and the audience, not being familiar with the book, would still think that I‘m actually after Harry Potter and that I’m presumably in cahoots with Voldemort. I guess what I am saying is you play him as a good guy but he has been wrongfully accused and imprisoned.

Is there pressure being part of such a huge event?

No. It’s always hard when you’re playing someone for a lot of people out there who are going to see the movie after reading the books. There’s a communion between a reader and the writer, so people will have an idea who Sirius Black is and I might not be everyone’s idea of that. I met a kid, actually, who came to the set who was looking me up and down and said, “Well, I never imagined him to look like that. I thought you’d look a bit paler, your hair is a bit long.” I was obviously a huge disappointment.

With thanks to: The Sunday Herald