Gary Leonard Oldman (born 21 March 1958) is an English actor and filmmaker. He is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, three BAFTA Awards, two Critics' Choice Awards, a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award. Known for his versatility and intense acting style, Oldman is regarded as one of the greatest actors of his generation.

Oldman studied the teachings of Konstantin Stanislavski and Stella Adler while at drama school but went "off-book", drawing much of his inspiration from American cinema. As a screen actor, Oldman was almost typecast as an anti-social personality early in his career: the necessity to express villainous characters in an overtly physical manner led to the cultivation of a 'big' acting style that incorporated projection skills acquired during his stage training. Oldman further sought to develop a distinctive approach that would distance him from "stuffy" and "often interchangeable" British peers.

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