First Look: Gary Oldman As Winston Churchill in ‘Darkest Hour’

There have been a litany of chameleon actors. Christian Bale. Meryl Streep. Daniel Day-Lewis. Philip Seymour Hoffman. The list stretches on and on, but at the very end there is one person that stands head and shoulders above the rest: Gary Oldman.

From Sid Vicious in Sid & Nancy to Dracula in Francis Ford Coppola’s adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula to Sirius Black in the Harry Potter films, Oldman is the best at losing himself in his performance to the point that viewers can be unaware that he’s even present. Don’t believe me? Do a Google search for “Gary Oldman, Hannibal” and check him out as Mason Verger.

So to learn that Gary Oldman will be starring as Winston Churchill in Joe Wright’s Darkest Hour, I looked at this first production still with mouth agape. Showing to folks around the office bewildered looks and quizzical expressions followed suit.

According to the official press release from Focus Features, Darkest Hour shows the new Prime Minister of Great Britain at odds with moving towards a peace treaty with Nazi Germany, or standing tall and fighting for the ideals, liberty and freedom of a nation. As Nazi troops roll across Western Europe and an invasion eminent, Churchill must withstand his darkest hour as prime minister and rally Great Britain in an effort to change the course of history.

Joe Wright, no stranger to period dramas with films like Pride & Prejudice, Atonement, and Anna Karenina, returns to cinema after delivering the exceptional Black Mirror episode “Nosedive” starring Bryce Dallas Howard for Netflix. His filmmaking team will consist of past collaborators Jacqueline Durran (costume designer) and Dario Marianelli (music composer), plus Bruno Delbonnel, a cinematographer with whom Wright has never collaborated with before but who has worked with the likes of the Coen Brothers (Inside Llewyn Davis), Tim Burton (Dark Shadows), and Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Amelie).

In terms of cast, joining Oldman will be Stephen Dillane, John Hurt, Lily James, Ben Mendelsohn, and Kristin Scott Thomas.

Darkest Hour is slated for release in the U.S. on November 24, 2017.

And to see how much of a chameleon Gary Oldman really is, check out this gallery montage.