Gary Oldman tells Jeremy Austin why he agreed to star in a feature length of the 1960s TV show

THERE are two main reasons why Brit actor Gary Oldman took the part of Dr Zachary Smith in sci-fi blockbuster Lost in Space -- one mercenary, the other cute.

Gary shakes off the image of the archetypal British movie villain when he explains the first, major attraction of the role.

"This was a strange, weird, twisted character for the kids. That was the big attraction for this project -- that I could finally do a film that I could take my son to," he admits, his London accent fringed with an American twang.

Mr Oldman a family man? Surely that cannot be true of the actor who has played Lee Harvey Oswald in JFK, violent drug dealer Drexyl in True Romance, the bent copper in Leon, Dracula in, erm, Dracula, a violent prison governor in Murder in the First, the warped boss of a futuristic corporation in The Fifth Element, a crazed Ruskie assassin in Air Force one... shall I go on? It rings sort of hollow when, later in the interview he states: "In 23 movies I have only played about four villains. People have short memories." Gary among them, obviously.

In recent years, Gary Oldman has probably been single-handedly responsible for the old adage that if you want a good villain cast an Englishman, which is why it is more in character when he reveals his second reason for taking the role -- one highly-paid part in a blockbuster means that a creative actor can spend time developing less lucrative ideas.

"Yes, it sound mercenary, but it's true," he admits. "Air Force One and Lost in Space help subsidise the other work. I am very fortunate. Lost in Space helped me pay for Nil By Mouth."

Nil By Mouth was Gary's highly acclaimed debut as a writer/director and was based partly on his own experiences growing up in violent South London. Being behind the lens is a direction this versatile actor now prefers.

"I don't miss going in front. I haven't done it for over a year. I don't miss it in the slightest, but when I go and do it again I think: 'I have neglected the acting, I think it's time to water it, to give it some sun'."

His most recent bit of thespic gardening, to flog the metaphor, is as Dr Zachary Smith -- a role cast in concrete by Jonathan Harris, the camp and cowardly star of the 1960s series on which the movie is based. It was obviously a hard mould to break.

"I think of all the characters, he is the most faithful to the series, although we have obviously taken some liberties," Gary explains.

"I think he would have been a lot more camp in the film had it been left up to me, but director Stephen Hopkins wanted something that was much more rooted in reality to give Doctor Smith an underbelly. I could understand that. He didn't want one catty, bitchy line after another, but if it had been left up to me I would have run loose with it."

Not that Gary was a fan of the original series, as he admits.

"It wasn't something that I ran home to watch. If it happened to be on television then I would watch it and that's it really. I think my favourite was The Avengers. Adam Adamant -- I used to like that one," he says.

There are more computer generated special effects in Lost in Space than in any other film to date. That in itself posed challenges for Gary.

"The robot in the film was the most temperamental co-star I have ever encountered. It was constantly breaking down and refused to work... more than Sean Penn, actually," he laughs, citing a Hollywood bad boy with whom he has worked in the past.

"There's more special effects shots in this movie than ever before and many of them weren't finished. It's strange, you have to have such a good deal of faith in the director. It's weird because he doesn't know what it's going to look like.

"You've got this stuff where the director is saying: 'Here come the spiders. You have to look very worried. I know there is nothing here now, but on the day they are going to be very scary' and he doesn't know what they are going to look like. Right up until the last minute he was making the movie without the special effects. Four days before the movie opened he saw the beginning of the film. He hadn't seen it."

Some of Gary's scenes never made it into the movie because the computer generated backgrounds weren't finished

"It is a process you surrender to. You rehearse at 9am and might not step in front of the camera until five in the afternoon. You have to come in with patience or a good book or a computer and sit it out," he recalls.

Lost in Space opens today (Friday) and is reviewed on the back page of Freetime

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