“If I watch a performance of myself and think, ‘My God, I’m fantastic at this,’ that would be a sad day,” said the actor

Gary Oldman clarifies previous comments he made about his role in the Harry Potter Movies.

During an appearance at a press conference at the Cannes Film Festival for his new film Parthenope On Wednesday, May 22, the actor was asked about his own critical assessment of his acting performance in the popular fantasy franchise in December 2023 Happy Sad Confused Podcast appearance.

At the time, Oldman described his work in these films as “mediocre” – and in Cannes he made it clear that he “did not want to attract fans of Harry Potter and the movies and the character, which I think is very popular.”

“What I was trying to say is that we are all – whether we’re artists, actors or painters – always overly critical of our own work,” said Oldman. “If you’re not that and you’re happy with what you’re doing, that would be death to me.”

“If I look at one of my performances and think, ‘My God, I’m fantastic at this,’ it would be a sad day because my best performance won’t be until next year,” he added.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Related topics: Harry Potter actress “worried” about adult fans: “They should have gotten over that by now”

The Oscar winner played the character Sirius Black in two of the eight Harry Potter Films, starting with 2004 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. He also had a brief cameo in the last film of the franchise, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 (2011).

During the press conference, Oldman said he thought he “might have approached the matter differently” if he had Harry Potter Novels in which his character appears before his roles were filmed.

“Maybe I looked at it differently and painted it in a different color. So when I started Harry Potterall I had was the book The Prisoner of Azkaban and this one depiction of this man. A book in Sirius Black’s library,” the actor said.

“And that’s what I meant by that. It’s not that I look at the movie and say it’s a terrible movie or I’m terrible,” Oldman continued.

Related: Gary Oldman explains why Harry Potter And Dark Knight Trilogy “Saved me” after his divorce

“I just wish it had happened under different circumstances,” he added. “That’s what I wanted to say, I didn’t mean to be rude to the people who like this film.”

Oldman also mentioned during his podcast appearance in December that he believes he might have approached the role differently if he had closely followed the character’s development in the books.

“It’s like anything – if I sat there and watched myself in something and said, ‘My God, I’m incredible,’ it would be a very sad day,” he said at the time.

Oldman added: “Because you want to make the next thing better.”

Subscribe to our newsletter to receive more People news!

Read the original article on People.