| Norman Stansfield | |
|---|---|
Gary Oldman as Stansfield in Léon. |
|
| First appearance | Léon |
| Last appearance | Léon |
| Created by | Luc Besson |
| Portrayed by | Gary Oldman |
| Information | |
| Nickname(s) | Stan[1] |
| Occupation | DEA agent |
| Nationality | American |
Norman Stansfield, billed as Stansfield, is a fictional character, portrayed by Gary Oldman in Luc Besson's 1994 film Léon (also known as The Professional and Léon: The Professional). He is the primary antagonist of the film.
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Stansfield is a corrupt DEA agent who employs a holder (Michael Badalucco) to store cocaine in his residence. When Stansfield learns that the holder has been stealing some of the drugs for himself, he guns down the man's entire family, with the exception of 12-year old Mathilda (Natalie Portman), who is able to find refuge with neighbor, and professional hitman, Léon (Jean Reno). As the film progresses, Mathilda implores Léon to teach her his trade in order to gain revenge on Stansfield for the murder of her younger brother.[1]
Stansfield has been described as a psychopath,[2] and as having an unhinged,[3] unpredictable[4] personality, but also the ability to be charming.[4] He is a classical music purist[2][3] who likens his killings to the works of Beethoven.[3][5][4] Throughout the film, he takes an unidentified drug in capsule form, which causes physical contortions and pupil dilation, and apparent feelings of blissfulness.[6]
Stansfield is noted for Oldman's deliberately excessive, over-the-top portrayal of the character, as directed by Besson.[7] Given the stoic nature of the film's title character, actor Jean Reno had "no room to play", according to Besson, and Stansfield was devised as a contrasting character with whom "anything was possible. Anything."[8] Although the antagonist of the film, Stansfield was intended to offer a measure of comic relief. Besson stated, "A movie without humor somewhere, is not a movie. A movie needs humor"[8] (Virgin Media would later describe Stansfield as "menacing but so full of whimsical tics you can't help but let out a guilty chuckle"[5]). Oldman said of Besson's direction, "You share ideas, and if you come up with an idea that he likes, you can bet your bottom dollar that it'll go in the movie. I liked working with Luc so much that if I actually never worked with another director again, it wouldn't worry me."[8] In a later interview, however, Oldman alluded to some conflict with Besson on-set, "He tells you how to move, how to speak, where to stand. He tried that with me [laughs], not always with the greatest success. You have to be open to ideas, and it's okay if someone has a better idea than you. You can't nest and be so closed off. You act and direct with an open hand. It's about collaboration."[9] Based on his satisfaction with Oldman's performance in the film, Besson would go on to cast Oldman as the primary antagonist of his next project, 1997 blockbuster, The Fifth Element.[7]
The character of Stansfield is generally well-regarded by critics. In a five-star review of Léon, Mark Salisbury of Empire magazine described Oldman's portrayal as "astonishingly histrionic";[6] Richard Schickel of TIME magazine, in a positive review, described it as "divinely psychotic".[10] The character was not without criticism, however. The Deseret News' Chris Hicks, in a negative review of the film, called it "utterly ridiculous."[11] Mark Deming of Allmovie, in a positive review of the film, adopted a neutral stance on Oldman's performance, describing it as a "love-it-or-hate-it, over-the-top turn".[12] In a listing of their "Top 10 bent movie cops", Virgin Media wrote, "Bad cops don't have to be believable, they only have to be bad, and in Leon, Gary Oldman's Stansfield is so OTT that he is genuinely unnerving."[3]
Oldman's overstated approach lent itself to the exaggerated delivery of memorable lines such as: "I haven't got time for this Mickey Mouse bullshit!";[13] "Death is... whimsical today";[9] and "I take no pleasure in taking life if it's from a person who doesn't care about it"[2] (extended dialogue for the scenes in which these lines appear can be found at wikiquote). The latter occurs in an intense scene with Natalie Portman's female protagonist, Mathilda, where Stansfield prepares to kill the young girl. Portman said of the scene, "Working with Gary Oldman was probably the easiest acting experience of my life, because I don't even remember being directed at all. I just sat there, and watched him, and was terrified! I don't think I had to act at all in that scene, I mean it was really simple, because he really does what he does well. I mean he really can do it. It's pretty amazing to get to see it that close, but it was also a gift to me."[14]
Another important scene is where Stansfield, who has "a talent for sniffing out a lie... almost like a sixth sense",[1] interrogates Mathilda's father, played by Michael Badalucco. Stansfield has been paying him to store cocaine in his residence, but suspects that he has been stealing some of the drugs for himself. The sniffing and invasion of Badalucco's personal space was improvised by Oldman, resulting in the genuine expression of unease on Badalucco's face during the scene.[9]
Recognizing its cultural impact, Noah Walden of MSN Movies described Oldman's portrayal of Stansfield as "the role that launched a thousand villains."[4] In recent years, it has been included in the Online Film Critics Society's "Top 100 Villains of All Time";[15] Virgin Media's "Top 20 villains we love to hate";[5] CNN's "Top 10 Movie Psychos"[16] and Total Film's "100 Greatest Movie Villains",[2] among other listings. Total Film named the performance as one of the five best of Oldman's career.[9] Filmsite.org also included Stansfield's unique demise in their "Greatest Movie Death Scenes".[17]