From Sid to Smiley, why it’s not more Mr Nasty for Gary Oldman

We predict of him as Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols in Sid And Nancy.

Then there’s Bex Bissell, estate agent by day and Stanley knife-wielding leader of a gang of football hooligans by night, in Alan Clarke’s The Firm.

Even as Sirius Black, godfather to Harry Potter, he’s dangerous, teetering at the fringe of an explosive temper.

But in person, four-times married Oldman, 53, is really an exceptionally nice chap. He was showered with praise for the Smiley role.

In it, he holds his own against co-stars John Hurt, Colin Firth and Benedict Cumberbatch.

He even eclipses the formidable Sir Alec Guinness, who played Smiley inside the acclaimed Seventies TV series. ‘I loved it because for after I was not being asked to bop off the walls like a nutter,’ he says.

‘It was about blending in, like a genuine spy. Smiley is an observer.’

James Bond he certainly seriously is not. ‘I needed to wear just a little of weight for Smiley,’ he says.

‘i’d basically eat anything. What I hadn’t calculated was how hard that is to lose.’

Did he find the offer to play this banal sixtysomething spy somewhat disconcerting? ‘Mel Gibson once spoke of me as Mr Potatohead,’ he says.

‘As in, you set the entire various things on and make him look the way you want. However it’s easy for him to claim, the nice-looking b*****d.

‘And i’m now what you will technically call an out-of-work actor. I actually have nothing to move directly to.’

Except, for sure, the Oscars.

• Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is out there on DVD from January 30.