Gary Oldman listening to Uke Songs :)

Didn't realize how much I had in common with Gary Oldman. I could ALSO watch Brad Pitt read a phone book

From The New York Times

Gary Oldman
By KATE MURPHY
Published: February 4, 2012

Gary Oldman is an English actor who first gained acclaim for playing Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols in the 1986 film “Sid and Nancy,” but he is perhaps more widely known for his roles as Sirius Black in the “Harry Potter” film series and Jim Gordon in the Batman movies. He received his first Oscar nomination this year for his portrayal of George Smiley in the film adaptation of John le Carré’s “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.”

READING Right now I’m reading the Steve Jobs biography by Walter Isaacson. I love when people have a singleness of purpose and don’t get dissuaded. I can connect with that. I can recognize it. I think a lot of artists have that. Art and commerce are not particularly happy bedfellows, but he was the exception.

I read quite a lot of biographies. I like nonfiction. The other book I’m carrying around with me at the moment is “River of Shadows: Eadweard Muybridge and the Technological Wild West” by Rebecca Solnit. It deals with the 19th century and the arrival of speed with the coming of the industrial age. We were very much governed by nature before; we were at the mercy of our own speed and horses and the like. It’s interesting to think of living at that pace.

LISTENING Eddie Vedder: “Ukulele Songs.” I’m trained as a pianist, and along the way I’ve picked up the guitar and bass. And about five years ago my mother asked me what I’d like for Christmas, and I’d had enough socks and slippers, so I asked for a ukulele. It’s such a beautiful little thing and has the sweetest sound. And also it’s very portable. You can throw it in an overhead bin in an airplane. And then Vedder’s “Ukulele Songs” came out. Sonically it’s a very challenging album and no worse for the fact that it’s on the ukulele. Some of the songs hold up as well as anything he’s written. The sound of the ukulele contrasts nicely to the voice. I like the combination of sweet and sour.

WATCHING All the Oscar contenders. I’m a fan of George Clooney. I think he has a very interesting range. I think audiences respond to emotional sincerity. And you can’t put a pin through an insincere moment in Christopher Plummer’s performance. And Brad Pitt, I could watch him read a phone directory.

Kate Murphy is a journalist in Houston who writes frequently for The New York Times.
A version of this op-ed appeared in print on February 5, 2012, on page SR2 of the New York edition with the headline: Gary Oldman.