Gary Oldman has shared that he didn't "get" Edward Scissorhands.
The Oscar-winning actor, revealed in an interview with the Hollywood Reporter that the film was a "sliding-doors" moment, because he had turned down the opportunity to play the lead role.
At the time, Oldman had already found success with movies including 1986's Sid and Nancy and 1987's Prick Up Your Ears.
"I was on Tim Burton's list for the role of Edward Scissorhands. It was a small list," he said. "My agent thought I had a really good chance of getting it."
"They said to me, 'Read the script.' They sent the script over, and I basically said, 'I don't get it,'" he recounted. At the time, he added, he didn't have "Tim Burton's whole body of work" to sway his decision.
"I read this quirky, strange little script, and I didn't get it," he remembered, saying the story "didn't register" with him. He told his agent, "I just don't understand this. It's not my cup of tea."
Oldman also talked about how he was asked to play Scarecrow in Christopher Nolan's 2005 film Batman Begins.
"And I said, 'No, I don't want to play another weirdo,' " he said. He ended up being cast as Jim Gordon instead.