Eighteen Brilliant But Unawarded Acting Performances
5. Gary Oldman – Sid and Nancy
His short and chaotic stint onstage with the Sex Pistols was full of hard drug use and ended in a whirlwind of mystery and heroin addiction.
Some versions of the film’s DVD include interview footage of Vicious so that you can see just how exact Oldman’s portrayal actually is – few actors have managed to capture the energy and intensity of a musician like Sid Vicious as eerily well as Oldman.
Even harder to portray on screen is the insanity that the complete dependence on a drug as addictive as heroin can cause, and Oldman, along with his co-star Chloe Webb, brings the reality of addiction to the film with an almost scary accuracy.
Chloe Webb, playing Oldman’s girlfriend Nancy Spungen, won three Best Actress awards from three Film Critics Societies, but Oldman only earned a Most Promising Newcomer award from the Evening Standard British Film Awards. Despite the phenomenal acting in “Sid and Nancy,” neither the film nor the actors were recognized by the Academy.
