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To some, he will be immortalised as Count Dracula. To others, Sid Vicious. For many it might be Norman Stansfield, for a few it could well be Lee Harvey Oswald, and to an entirely new generation, Lieutenant James Gordon.
To Top Gear, however, on this day, he is Man Who Likes Engine Noises.
"Cars to me have to make a proper noise," he says, as though reciting for stage. "You've got a Porsche, OK. You turn the key, you feel that frequency of the engine. I suppose I'm a bit old fashioned like that. I love the whole relationship you have with a vehicle."
Delivered in exactly the manner you expect of someone with the gravitas of Gary Oldman; the hushed, staccato, almost tortured musings of a deep soul. What comes next then, takes Top Gear a little by surprise.
"I mean, I nearly got hit the other day by a Prius backing up because I couldn't hear the f****** thing," he says, as loud and proud as any Sarf Landaner can be.
So there we have it. Likes cars, loves a good noise, hates Priuses. Welcome to the automotive world of Gary Oldman, a man once described by Colin Firth as "candidate for the world's best living actor" and, it turns out, a man who really loves his Porsches.
"I've got a 550 Spyder at home. It's been... completely restored. Totally redone. It's not a cheap car to run, I must say, but..." Oldman trails off. He does this a lot.
But still, a Porsche 550 Spyder, that's... one helluva car: Porsche's purpose built ‘50s racer that helped build the brand's success in sportscar racing. The possessor of sub-zero levels of cool, the target of many replicas across the globe. James Dean used to own one too, and he called his ‘little b*****d'. Fitting.
Not that Oldman would enjoy pootling around his now-native Los Angeles in the old Porsche. "LA is such a police state," he says. "It's the worst place in the world to drive. First of all, the test is ridiculous. It's like ‘answer a few questions and drive around the car park'."
Written By:- Vijay Pattni
More of this article on the Top gear website