Gary Oldman Had to Relearn an English Accent to Play Winston Churchill in ‘Darkest Hour’
Legendary actor Gary Oldman is no stranger to transforming in his roles. From Commissioner Gordon in Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight movies to Ludwig van Beethoven in Immortal Beloved to Dracula himself in Francis Ford Coppola’s adaptation of Bram Stoker’s book, he’s got range few performers can hope to match. One of the actor’s historical roles took him through a similarly extreme transformation, though one aspect of this that he needed to rehearse might surprise those who know his backstory.
Gary Oldman stars as Winston Churchill in ‘Darkest Hour’
Darkest Hour is a 2017 war drama depicting British Prime Minister Winston Churchill during the 1940 War Cabinet Crisis. Starring Oldman as the man himself, it recreates Churchill’s deliberation on battling the Nazis as they began their expansion into Western Europe early in World War II.
The movie received a lot of acclaim from critics and audiences upon its release. Almost universally, people heaped praise on Oldman’s performance. Filling the shoes of someone like Churchill was always going to be a big ask, but the actor managed to pull it off. Fittingly, this resulted in a Best Actor win at the Oscars.
Despite being English, Gary Oldman had to relearn his native accent to play Winston Churchill
Many of Oldman’s performances are complimented by his impressive accent work. As Dracula, he mastered a Romanian accent. As characters like Jim Gordon, you’d never know he wasn’t actually from Chicago. And as Beethoven, he really sounded like a German speaking English.
This is similarly true for his performance as Churchill, where he uses a British accent like the historical figure. At first glance, this might seem like his easiest job yet given that Oldman himself is British. Not true, however, at least according to the man himself.
During an appearance on The Graham Norton Show, the actor discussed this shocking aspect of his pre-performance. Describing them as “English lessons,” Oldman explains that he’s spent so much time in America that his native accent has begun to falter. “My kids are American,” he says, “that’s what I hear around me all day.”
Obviously, he hasn’t completely switched sides, as he still talks with a unique accent in everyday life. He went on to explain that it was more like he’d adopted certain American pronunciations of words over time. At that point, he wouldn’t even notice he was doing it, hence the need for an accent coach.
Gary Oldman is the latest in a long line of actors portraying the British Head-of-State
Oldman is obviously not the first to step into the late Prime Minister’s shoes. Numerous acclaimed actors have taken the role in the past, ranging from Bob Hoskins in When Lions Roared to Albert Finney in The Gathering Storm to Timothy Spall in The King’s Speech. To say Churchill is one of the most adapted roles with some of the biggest expectations to date would be a major understatement.
Strangest of all, though, one of the more recent and acclaimed portrayals of the man came from none other than American actor John Lithgow. Lithgow is undoubtedly talented, but it’s unlikely most would have him at the top of their list to portray someone like Churchill. Despite this, however, he’s blown everyone out of the water with his interpretation of the man on The Crown.
During his time with the series, Lithgow won a slate of awards from multiple organizations for his performance. Between his physical transformation, the compelling way he embodied the character, and (of course) the accent, he just might be one of the best to ever do it. Maybe Oldman didn’t have to be so concerned about a few mispronounced words, after all.
