Slow Horses star Gary Oldman said he 'put himself out of work' before making huge change

Oscar winner Sir Gary Oldman has revealed he put his acting career on hold - to escape being cast as a "rent-a-villain" character. The star, 67, knighted by the King in June, says he deliberately put himself out of work after becoming known as "Hollywood's go-to psycho" in films such as Dracula, The Fifth Element and Air Force One, in which co-star Harrison Ford dubbed him "Scary Gary".

He said: "I felt I was being sort of typecast. And when you get known for those kinds of roles, it's a hard ship to turn around. So I made a conscious decision that I couldn't do this anymore. I put myself out of work to wait for something to come along that was as far away as possible from the sort of villainous world I was in."

Fortunately, what he describes as his "diabolical good luck" saved his career with major roles in both the Harry Potter and Dark Knight series - as well as playing Sir Winston Churchill in 2017 hit Darkest Hour that won him his Academy Award.

Sir Gary is hoping to secure his first Emmy next month for best actor for his starring role as dishevelled and flatulent MI5 spy chief Jackson Lamb in the acclaimed Apple TV+ drama Slow Horses.

The series, which co-stars Jack Lowden and Kristin Scott Thomas, is adapted from the novels of British thriller writer Mick Herron, with its fifth series set to stream next month.