Gary Oldman, who won the Oscar for best actor for his portrayal of Winston Churchill while in heavy makeup and prosthetics in “Darkest Hour,” spoke of how important the makeup artists — who also received Oscars for the film — were to his performance.
The Oscar for makeup and hairstyling went to Kazuhiro Tsuji, David Malinowski and Lucy Sibbick.
“The clothes, the makeup and clothes, are the closest thing to the actor, and they actually touch the actor,” he said backstage Sunday night at the Dolby Theatre. “And they are the first people that you meet in the morning. And they really are vital individuals that you interact with — I’ve done motion capture, and you’re in a gray void, with no costume and then they CG it on you later — so to lose that kind of connection, we really worked as a team.”
Oldman also said his involvement with the film was “contingent on getting Kazuhiro because for me he was really the only person on the planet who could have pulled it off, and I think he delivered.”
Oldman has long been an admired actor in Hollywood — best original screenplay winner Jordan Peele spoke backstage of his extreme admiration for Oldman — but this was his first Oscar and only second nomination. He said to finally get the award for portraying Churchill made it extra special.
“I think for this role, it’s got a special, it feels like it’s got a special significance. I can’t say what it would be like to win an Oscar any other year, but winning an Oscar for playing arguably one of the greatest Britons who ever lived, to win it for playing Winston makes it doubly special,” he said.
—City News Service