Interviews with Gambon and Oldman
May 30, 2004 at 9:56 AM ET
Geri
The Scotsman
Even before Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban hit theatres around the world, Michael Gambon who portrays Prof. Dumbledore has been hit with letters from hundreds of children all over the world asking for signed photographs and Gary Oldman talks about his problems trying to direct and what has made him a superstar in the eyes of his son.
"I only did three weeks as Dumbledore, so I’ve forgotten everything about it. I come from the generation that’s frightened not to take the jobs that are offered. It’s been bred into me, you know. All I remember was that the costume was two layers of silk and quite light. I think I’m a very physical, very visual sort of actor. My first task in rehearsal is to discover what the person looks like, what he wears, how he does his hair. And if you’re thinking the way the character thinks, your face and body will change. My Dumbledore is quite light so he capers around, he has beads because he’s a bit of a hippy, and he has an Irish accent, because Richard was Irish."
"My kids don’t get to see a lot of my films but with Harry Potter I got enormous respect. There are two big books in our age; one’s the Bible and the other is Harry Potter. When I was a kid I watched Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and now my kids do the same. Sirius means I get to be imprinted on generations in the same way."