Gary Oldman, or should I say, Sir Gary Oldman, has been awarded a knighthood for his services to drama by King Charles in this year’s Birthday Honours list. While speaking with Deadline ahead of the official announcement, Oldman said, “It’s actually sort of mind-boggling. I’m gobsmacked.“
“To be included in the long lineage of extraordinary actors, artists, and others who hold this title fills me with indescribable humility and pride,” Oldman said in an official statement. “It is emotional, humbling and flattering all at the same time to be recognized amongst them.“
Oldman told Deadline that he was thinking of acting legends such as Sir Michael Caine, Sir Daniel Day-Lewis, Sir Kenneth Branagh, Dame Maggie Smith, Dame Judi Dench, and Sir Anthony Hopkins when he received the knighthood. In fact, he once spoke with Hopkins about his knighthood after noticing that the actor only uses “Sir” when he’s in the U.S. “Tony said that he only uses it in America because they expect it,” Oldman said. “Actually they’re rather offended if you don’t use it.“
The actor also thought about his mother, Kathleen, who died just three months after he received his Oscar for playing Winston Churchill in The Darkest Hour. “She was 99, and she was of that generation where, years ago, I remember her talking about getting the letter from the Queen when you reached a hundred,” Oldman said. “And it was a thing that once you started to get up there in age, it was a thing that generation used to talk about. And my mum wanted that letter from the Queen. But yeah, I thought about her because I think she would’ve been absolutely chuffed with this. But in terms of just really processing it, I haven’t had a minute really.“
Oldman will next be seen in the fifth season of Slow Horses, which will launch on Apple TV+ on September 24. Slow Horses is a darkly humorous espionage drama that follows a dysfunctional team of British intelligence agents who serve in a dumping ground department of MI5 known unaffectionately as Slough House. Oldman stars as Jackson Lamb, the brilliant but irascible leader of the spies, who end up in Slough House due to their career-ending mistakes as they frequently find themselves blundering around the smoke and mirrors of the espionage world.
Congratulations, Sir Gary Oldman!
