Why did I sign up for 'RoboCop'? … Money!
Gary Oldman joked that money was the real reason he signed up to star in ‘RoboCop’.
The Oscar-nominated actor said the financial incentive motivated him to join the sci-fi reboot as Doctor Dennett Norton, as he walked up the red carpet for the film’s world premiere at BFI Imax South Bank cinema in London last night alongside Joel Kinnaman, Abbie Cornish and director Jose Padilha.
“Money!” the 55-year-old quipped, adding: “I’m at the mercy of what the industry is making and what comes through my door. But I thought this was an intelligent script and I love Jose’s point of view.”
The actor, who has starred in Christopher Nolan’s ‘Batman’ trilogy, ‘Nil By Mouth’ and four of the ‘Harry Potter’ films, continued: “It’s always interesting when you’ve got someone on the outside coming in to make a movie like this, a part of American pop culture.
“You’ve got people like Alfonso Cuaron making ‘Harry Potter’, Tomas Alfredson makes ‘Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy’ and a Brazilian documentarian (Padilha) making ‘RoboCop’.
“It was a hard one to turn down really.”
Oldman said the reboot is tamer than the 1987 original, which starred Peter Weller as Alex Murphy/’RoboCop’.
“I saw the original when it came out. I haven’t seen it since,” he said. “It was more of a horror I remember – it was more violent and had more gore than ours.”
‘The Killing’ star Kinnaman, who steps into Weller’s iconic shoes as the half human and half cyborg law enforcer, revealed he really wanted the role.
“I had to fight to get this part. When I first heard about it, I told my agent that I wasn’t sure if a remake of ‘RoboCop’ was a good fit for me,” the 34-year-old recalled.
“When I heard Jose would direct, I changed my mind...and I had to convince him I’m the right guy to do the job.”
Cornish, who has starred in Madonna’s drama ‘W.E.’ and Zack Snyder’s fantasy ‘Sucker Punch’, sparkled in a gold sequinned Elie Saab gown with a low-cut back.
The 31-year-old said: “This film means a lot to me. It was the most fun I’ve ever had on making a film and I learnt a lot because I’ve worked with one of the best directors in the world and a great cast. I felt very lucky.”
Michael Keaton and Samuel L Jackson also star in ‘RoboCop’, which opens in cinemas on February 7.
