SOUF LONDON SUPERSTAR?

The best thing to come out of New Cross, though that south-of-the-river stigma does stick. "Get Gazza, he'll do a loony," is, he says, how British directors think of him, following his debut in 1986's Sid and Nancy as punk icon Sid Vicious.

BUT HE'S NOT THAT TYPE OF GEEZER, RIGHT?

Well. . .there was a time when he was closer to Del Boy Trotter than Francis Ford Coppola: "I lived in a rough neighbourhood and dabbled in petty crime." He left school with no qualifications, reputedly selling over-priced spots gear in Peckham before turning to acting as "an escape".

YOU MEAN HE SOLD OUT?

Only of shell suits. Oldman discovered his calling at the Greenwich Young People's Theatre, then went to the Rose Bruford College. When they asked him what he had to fall back on, he said "Thieving."

HE DON'T 'ARF TALK PROPER THESE DAYS

He's so good at accents that even the Americans think he's American. He calls himself, jokingly, "the British Meryl Streep".

ONE FOR THE BIRDS, IS HE?

Not the tweety kind - but 37-year-old Oldman has been married twice: originally to British actress Lesley Manville (they have a young son, Alfie) and, briefly, to Pulp Fiction goddess Uma Thurman. "You try living with Venus," is all he'll say about that. He's now living with Blue Velvet star Isabella Rossellini.

THEY MET DOWN THE BOOZER?

No - on the set of the Beethoven biopic Immortal Beloved. She helped him control his alcoholism. "It was killing me," says Oldman, who spent a night in a police cell after boozing with Kiefer Sutherland.

HOW'S HE DO IT, THEN, THIS ACTING LARK?

By really getting into his roles. For Bram Stoker's Dracula, he learned Romanian and read Hungarian folklore. How did he get into being undead? "I went to live in LA," he says.

(Copyright: The Radio Times 1995)

BRITAIN'S SEXIEST FILM STARS: GARY OLDMAN

Elle Magazine (September 1998)

A brilliant actor who's made it in Hollywood but who hasn't sold out, Gary Oldman's the Brit actor's hero. He couldn't make it to London so his choice of venue is a theatre in downtown LA. 'Donya [Fiorentino, his wife] has a two-and-a-half-year-old daughter, then there's our son Gulliver. . .I'm kind of anchored here,' he explains over the phone. And when he arrives for the shoot, he's more interested in chatting to the photographer about the roses in his garden than the new Hollywood rat pack. There were rumours earlier this year that he'd retired from acting. 'I've been bored with it for years. I did Air Force One which is conveyor-belt, multiplex, popcorn stuff, just so I can make another Nil By Mouth,' Gary explains. 'I'm not in the race, I'm not looking for the Oscar, it's just how I earn my living,' he sighs, tired of shop talk. 'I'm more interested in finding out how to become a good father or husband or lover,' he says. Earlier this year he started his own production company, Matisse Productions, and he's currently on the big screen with Lost In Space. but for now, tough guy Gary is content with Donya, Gulliver and pruning his roses.

(Copyright: Elle Magazine 1998)