Gary Oldman has featured in many iconic movies over the course of his acting career, starting with Remembrance in 1982. But Oldman had to wait until 2018 to win his first Academy Award.
He took home the award for playing Winston Churchill in the 2017 film Darkest Hour. It was truly a generational performance by the veteran actor, which finally ended his drought for winning the Oscar award in the best actor category.
Gary Oldman ‘Seduced’ a Retired Make-Up Artist for Darkest Hour
Gary Oldman looked unrecognizable following impressive make-up in Darkest Hour as he donned the role of Winston Churchill. Oldman didn’t trust anyone but then-retired make-up artist Kazuhiro Tsuji to create the terrific look.
In a 2017 interview with Variety, Oldman explained how he seduced Tsuji to come out of retirement to join Darkest Hour as a make-up artist to avoid putting on extra weight to play Churchill.
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How are we going to this? I’m nearly 60. I am not going to put on 50, 60 pounds to play the man because it would just be ridiculously unhealthy. And it would have taken me a long time. That was always a thing that we had to discuss and I knew someone, I knew Kazuhiro Tsuji, who designed the makeup.
Oldman, being 60 years old at the time, didn’t want to risk his health for his future Oscar-winning role. The veteran actor then narrated how he convinced Tsuji to join the movie.
I said, really, ‘I’m in, I’m on the train with you, Joe. But this is the guy I want because I feel he’s the only man on the planet that can do this and achieve it and pull it off.’ And Joe took his notebook out of his pocket and his pencil and he said, ‘Kazuhiro, how do you spell it?’ And we got going and I knew Kazu. The stars aligned. You know, he’s here. He’s 25 minutes from my house. It wasn’t like some amazing artist that lived in Finland, you know? He was like, 25 minutes from me. He’s retired from the movie business. So I had to seduce him and say, ‘Please, please, please, come back.’
Tsuji accepted Oldman’s plea and agreed to come out of retirement for Joe Wright’s Darkest Hour.
What was Gary Oldman’s Role in Darkest Hour?
As we mentioned earlier, Oldman played the role of former prime minister of the United Kingdom, Winston Churchill. The British prime minister made crucial decisions over a four-week span that changed the course of history.
When many expected Churchill to sign a peace treaty with Germany’s Adolf Hitler, the newly appointed prime minister disagreed. Instead, he led the British people to a victory against the brutal leader of Germany.
Oldman perfectly grasped the essence of Churchill’s role in history and delivered a memorable performance. A key factor in Oldman’s performance was his make-up, which completely changed his look.
Fans have Kazuhiro Tsuji to thank for the terrific job of Gary Oldman’s transformation in the 2017 war-drama film.
