Gary Oldman is not holding back. The veteran actor sat down for an extended interview with Playboy magazine and made his uncensored opinions known, on everything from his disdain for his own work to his thoughts on reality TV to his experience with groupies.
The one thing that raised the most eyebrows, however, was Oldman's words on controversial stars Mel Gibson and Alec Baldwin. The Dawn of the Planet of the Apes star, 56, spoke out in favor of the Hollywood leading men.
"I just think political correctness is crap," the London-native told Playboy. "I think it’s like, take a f–king joke. Get over it…" Addressing Gibson's run-ins with the law and a notorious anti-Semitic rant in 2006, Oldman said, "I don’t know about Mel. He got drunk and said a few things, but we’ve all said those things. We’re all f–king hypocrites. That’s what I think about it. The policeman who arrested him has never used the word n—-r or that f–king Jew? I’m being brutally honest here. It’s the hypocrisy of it that drives me crazy. Or maybe I should strike that and say 'the N word' and 'the F word,' though there are two F words now."
He went on to comment on Baldwin's use of homophobic slurs and insults, which have been seen on Twitter and in a run-in he had with a paparazzo. "Alec calling someone a F-A-G in the street while he’s pissed off coming out of his building because they won’t leave him alone," Oldman continued. "I don’t blame him. So they persecute. Mel Gibson is in a town that’s run by Jews and he said the wrong thing because he’s actually bitten the hand that I guess has fed him—and doesn’t need to feed him anymore because he’s got enough dough. He’s like an outcast, a leper, you know? But some Jewish guy in his office somewhere hasn’t turned and said, 'That f–king kraut' or 'F–k those Germans,' whatever it is? We all hide and try to be so politically correct. That’s what gets me. It’s just the sheer hypocrisy of everyone, that we all stand on this thing going, 'Isn’t that shocking?'"
After adding on his opinion of the pope "Oh, f–k the pope," Oldman apparently realized the scope of his comments, saying to the publication, "You have to edit and cut half of what I’ve said, because it’s going to make me sound like a bigot."
When asked if he was, in fact, a bigot, Oldman replied, "No, but I’m defending all the wrong people. I’m saying Mel’s all right, Alec’s a good guy."
Lest any Oldman fans worry that the Oscar nominee has dug himself into a hole from which he can't emerge, he clarified he stance to Playboy, saying, "I do have particular views and opinions that most of this town doesn’t share, but it’s not like I’m a fascist or a racist. There’s nothing like that in my history."
