Gary Oldman disappears into his performances better than just about anyone living today.



His latest, a portrayal of former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in "Darkest Hour," is already getting Oscar buzz.



Oldman had over a year to get a handle on Churchill but says he couldn't quite nail down the character until he'd been completely transformed by makeup and heavy prosthetics.

"I could feel him close by, but he was still a little out of reach until I kind of put it all together," Goldman told Jake Hamilton of FOX 32 News. "That happened quite quickly. I think all the work that I had put in. I had over a year to think about him. Everything became all things Churchill. My wife said that she would go to bed with Winston Churchill but wake up with Gary."

One of the most famed faces in film, Oldman says he's having the most fun when he can't recognize himself. Not too surprising for a man who says "acting is an antidote to self-hatred."

"Liberating," Oldman said of being buried in makeup. "Because I don't look like me, basically. I can get away from all those things that I don't maybe like about myself. You get used to yourself. Watching yourself on a screen and you get used to the voice. If you ever hear a tape recording back sometimes and you go, 'Oh god, do I sound like that?'

"You get over those things. You have to, I guess, by nature of what you're doing. But I still nitpick. Actually, the real two occasions I felt most relaxed and most at ease have been 'Hannibal' and 'Churchill.' So that says something about me, I suppose."

Keep in mind, Oldman actually had to have an eye glued open for his turn as Mason Verger. A man of interesting tastes.