tom hardy gary oldman TTSS ricki tarr and smiley thedailybeast.com w. 47 notes
In an interesting interview with Daily Beast, Gary Oldman and Peter Straughan reveal more about that great scene Gary had with Tom (the one in which Tom said Gary rattled him). Here, Gary explains how he rattled Tom beforehand. xD
Ah, hero worship. Who wouldn’t be rather discombobulated?
Ricki Tarr Confesses He Screwed Up
Oldman: At this point Ricki Tarr (Tom Hardy) is hiding out and believes that they are after him and indeed they are. He really finds the safest place to be Smiley. He tells this extraordinary story about [another spy] Irina and what he has learned. The book starts with this story. It is the second chapter.
Straughan: We knew from the beginning that we had to move it deeper into the story [in the movie] because we had to introduce George Smiley. Didn’t you say, Gary, that when you were shooting this scene that you maintained a Smiley silence which was freaking Tom out?
Oldman: Yes, it discombobulated him.
Straughan: You stayed in character.
Oldman: You’ve got a great excuse when you are playing Smiley. I would get to the set, and I was ready and I would just sit and wait. There is no particular method of how you approach a role but you find one. It was a nice thing for me to get there and be ready. There was a set up in this scene and we had about 40 minutes of downtime. I stayed sitting in the chair. And Tom was just talking and talking and talking and I was just sitting there like a statue, without realizing it. Tomas was watching this and he said, “Do you know that you have not spoken for 45 minutes?” I just watched Tom burble on. That is one of the secrets of George and how he gets people to open up.
Straughan: Right, I was going to say, that is the energy of the scene where Smiley just sits there and waits and Tarr just unravels.
Oldman: All I say is, “What did you do then?”
Straughan: Smiley is almost like a priest. People confess their sins [to him]. Tom knows it is a terrible thing he did. He has betrayed Irina by saying too much in the message back to the Circus; he alerted the Russians to her.
Oldman: And of course, Smiley says, “Well, I understand. You wanted to do something.” But he is really thinking, “What an idiot.” He sees great potential there with Guillam. He has great respect for Control. He has an admiration for Haydon. And of course, he has great respect for Karla. But there are people along the way, like Tarr, who are flies.
Straughan: The audience connects more with Tarr because he is so human. He is sort of flailing around like the rest of us, trying to find a connection with someone.
![In an interesting interview with Daily Beast, Gary Oldman and Peter Straughan reveal more about that great scene Gary had with Tom (the one in which Tom said Gary rattled him). Here, Gary explains how he rattled Tom beforehand. xD
Ah, hero worship. Who wouldn’t be rather discombobulated?
Ricki Tarr Confesses He Screwed Up
Oldman: At this point Ricki Tarr (Tom Hardy) is hiding out and believes that they are after him and indeed they are. He really finds the safest place to be Smiley. He tells this extraordinary story about [another spy] Irina and what he has learned. The book starts with this story. It is the second chapter.
Straughan: We knew from the beginning that we had to move it deeper into the story [in the movie] because we had to introduce George Smiley. Didn’t you say, Gary, that when you were shooting this scene that you maintained a Smiley silence which was freaking Tom out?
Oldman: Yes, it discombobulated him.
Straughan: You stayed in character.
Oldman: You’ve got a great excuse when you are playing Smiley. I would get to the set, and I was ready and I would just sit and wait. There is no particular method of how you approach a role but you find one. It was a nice thing for me to get there and be ready. There was a set up in this scene and we had about 40 minutes of downtime. I stayed sitting in the chair. And Tom was just talking and talking and talking and I was just sitting there like a statue, without realizing it. Tomas was watching this and he said, “Do you know that you have not spoken for 45 minutes?” I just watched Tom burble on. That is one of the secrets of George and how he gets people to open up.
Straughan: Right, I was going to say, that is the energy of the scene where Smiley just sits there and waits and Tarr just unravels.
Oldman: All I say is, “What did you do then?”
Straughan: Smiley is almost like a priest. People confess their sins [to him]. Tom knows it is a terrible thing he did. He has betrayed Irina by saying too much in the message back to the Circus; he alerted the Russians to her.
Oldman: And of course, Smiley says, “Well, I understand. You wanted to do something.” But he is really thinking, “What an idiot.” He sees great potential there with Guillam. He has great respect for Control. He has an admiration for Haydon. And of course, he has great respect for Karla. But there are people along the way, like Tarr, who are flies.
Straughan: The audience connects more with Tarr because he is so human. He is sort of flailing around like the rest of us, trying to find a connection with someone.
Full interview](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lzh6bjgzUK1qde7iyo1_500.jpg)