Gary Oldman's crankiest quotes from his Playboy interview

Cranky old men give the best interviews.

Cranky Gary OldMan (ha!) gave one of the best cranky old man interviews we've read in a while - and by 'best', we mean 'OMG why are you still talking?!'. 

According to E! Online, folks are baying for Oldman's blood after his latest interview with Playboy ahead of his latest movie Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.

His comments were labelled "anti-Semitic" by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), an international Jewish lobby group, and it's hard not to see why, as he defends notorious Hollywood ranters Mel Gibson and Alec Baldwin. (Update: Oldman has since apologised for his comments. Read his statement below.)

He also slams his own movies - yes, Harry Potter and The Dark Knight franchises included. 

We're hoping he did this as a joke - as you can tell from this video, the 56-year-old can sometimes be adorable, too. 

We present to you ...

The crankiest quotes from Gary Oldman's Playboy interview

On Mel Gibson

"He got drunk and said a few things, but we've all said those things ... Mel Gibson is in a town that's run by Jews and he said the wrong thing because he's actually bitten the hand that I guess has fed him—and doesn't need to feed him anymore because he's got enough dough ... We all hide and try to be so politically correct. That's what gets me. It's just the sheer hypocrisy of everyone, that we all stand on this thing going, 'Isn't that shocking?'"

On Alec Baldwin

"... He's pissed off coming out of his building because they won't leave him alone. I don't blame him."

On his illustrious career

"I've learned over the years that people get upset when they tell you something is their favorite movie and you go, 'Really? You liked that piece of s***?' That's the sort of thing Sean Penn would say. So I now tell people, 'Thank you, that's great,' and move on ...Most of my work I would just stomp into the ground and start over again."

On the Oscars

"At the Oscars, if you didn't vote for 12 Years a Slave, you were a racist. You have to be very careful about what you say."

On awards in general and the Golden Globes specifically

"Does it mean anything to win a Laurence Olivier Award or a Tony? I guess it's peers or people acknowledging you in some way. I know it certainly doesn't mean anything to win a Golden Globe, that's for sure. It's a meaningless event. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association is kidding you that something's happening ... There's nothing going on at all. It's 90 nobodies ... Everybody's getting drunk, and everybody's sucking up to everybody ... The Oscars are different. But it's showbiz. It's all showbiz. That makes me sound like I've got sour grapes or something, doesn't it? I don't know. I mean, I don't have an Oscar."

On award-winning box office success The Fifth Element (1997)

"Oh no. I can’t bear it."

Nice one, Gary.

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Update: Gary Oldman apologises to the Anti-Defamation League

Dear Gentlemen of the ADL:

I am deeply remorseful that comments I recently made in the Playboy Interview were offensive to many Jewish people. Upon reading my comments in print—I see how insensitive they may be, and how they may indeed contribute to the furtherance of a false stereotype. Anything that contributes to this stereotype is unacceptable, including my own words on the matter. If, during the interview, I had been asked to elaborate on this point I would have pointed out that I had just finished reading Neal Gabler’s superb book about the Jews and Hollywood, An Empire of Their Own: How the Jews invented Hollywood. The fact is that our business, and my own career specifically, owes an enormous debt to that contribution.

I hope you will know that this apology is heartfelt, genuine, and that I have an enormous personal affinity for the Jewish people in general, and those specifically in my life. The Jewish People, persecuted thorough the ages, are the first to hear God’s voice, and surely are the chosen people.

I would like to sign off with “Shalom Aleichem”—but under the circumstances, perhaps today I lose the right to use that phrase, so I will wish you all peace–Gary Oldman.

Sources: The Hollywood Reporter, E! Online, Buzzfeed