Gary Oldman

Did you know one actor can disappear into a role so completely it feels like a new person? Meet Gary Oldman. Born in London in 1958, he's a famous English actor from the late 20th and early 21st centuries. He's best known for changing his voice, look, and way of moving to become different characters on screen.

Gary built his fame with many striking characters: he played punk rocker Sid Vicious in Sid and Nancy (1986), the scary Count Dracula in Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992), the corrupt agent Norman Stansfield in Leon: The Professional (1994), the strange businessman Zorg in The Fifth Element (1997), and the brave Sirius Black in the Harry Potter movies. He also played police officer Jim Gordon in Christopher Nolan's Batman films.

In 2017 he played British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour. For this role he won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 2018 - the top prize for movie actors. People praised how he used makeup, his voice, and careful study to make Churchill feel real and to show how powerful a performance can be.

Beyond awards, Gary's lasting impact is showing how an actor can become many people - brave, scary, funny, or sad - so the story feels true. He also wrote and directed the film Nil by Mouth (1997). If you like stories where actors transform, watching Gary Oldman is like seeing an actor change costume, voice, and heart for every role.