Gary Oldman: Oscar nod is a fairytale

The actor is clearly enjoying his first Oscar nomination, describing his personal award season experience as 'a fairytale'.

Speaking at the Oscar Nominees lunch at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, Gary Oldman said: "I'm deeply honoured to be part of it. I've decided to completely embrace it. I'm having the time of my life. It's a fairytale.

"You can either be incredibly overwhelmed by it or embrace it and run with it. So I'm thrilled. I'm hanging out there with George Clooney and Brad Pitt."

After admitting that his first Best Actor Oscar nomination for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy was better than any amount of money he gets from movie roles, Gary expressed his pleasure that many older stars such as Christopher Plummer and Max Von Sydow have received Oscar nods.

He said: "There's no sell-by date is there really? You keep going until we stop, until it gets us, whenever that might be."

Fellow nominee Kenneth Branagh, who is up for Supporting Actor for playing Sir Laurence Olivier in My Week With Marilyn, discussed the debt he owes the late Oscar-winning Olivier, a long time inspiration.

He said: "He was such an inspiration to me and to so many generations of actors. I felt very flattered to be asked. There's always so much inspiration about how he worked on parts that I could take on board and try and use his level of dedication and take his approach to his work as a model to try to become him.

"And in a way, pay a debt of gratitude to him because he's the reason I'm standing here."

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