Gary Oldman said he was not trying to be "rude" to Harry Potter fans after he was critical of his acting as the character Sirius Black in the franchise.
The Oscar-winning actor, 66, played Harry's godfather and escaped convict, Black, in the third movie Harry Potter And The Prisoner of Azkaban and also appeared in Goblet of Fire and Order Of The Phoenix, as well as a brief appearance in Deathly Hallows: Part 2.
He was asked at Cannes Film Festival about saying that he thought his work was "mediocre" in the films and that he would have portrayed Black "differently" if he had read the books by JK Rowling.
Oldman told the press conference for his new movie Parthenope: "(It’s) not to disparage anyone out there who are fans of the Harry Potter films and the character who I think is much beloved.
"What I meant by that is, as any artist or any actor or painter, you are always hypercritical of your own work.
"If you’re not, and you’re satisfied with what you’re doing.. then that would be death to me.
"If I watched a performance of myself and thought, 'My God, I’m fantastic in this’, that would be a sad day."
"What I meant by the Harry Potter remark, was there was such secrecy that was shrouded around the novels, they were under lock and key.
"And had I known from the very beginning, if I had read the five books and I had seen the arc of the character, I might have approached it differently.
"I may have looked at it differently and may have painted it in a different colour.
"So, when I started Harry Potter all I had was the book The Prisoner Of Azkaban and that one representation of that man.
"One book in the library of Sirius Black and that’s kind of what I meant by it.
"It’s not me looking at the movie and saying ‘it’s a terrible film or I’m terrible’… I just wish it had been under different circumstances.
"That’s what I meant, (I was) not (trying) to be rude to any of the people out there who likes that film."
Source: Press Association
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