Gary Oldman reveals why he rejected the role of Edward Scissorhands

Gary Oldman turned down the role Edward Scissorhands because he didn't "get it".

The Bram Stoker's Dracula star was offered the lead part in Tim Burton's kooky 1990 Gothic romantic fantasy about a boy with scissors for hands, which ended up going to Johnny Depp, but he admits he had no clue what the narrative was after reading the "quirky, strange little script".

Burton had released blockbusters including Pee-wee's Big Adventure, Beetlejuice and Batman when Oldman was approached.

He told The Hollywood Reporter: "Well, that’s going back a few years. It would have been in the late ’80s. I was on Tim Burton’s list for the role of Edward Scissorhands. It was a small list. 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 continued: "You have to remember at this point in time you’re not looking at Tim Burton’s whole body of work. I read this quirky, strange little script, and I didn’t get it. The Avon lady and the kid with the scissor hands. It just didn’t register with me. I said to the agent, ‘I just don’t understand this. It’s not my cup of tea.’"

However, within minutes of watching the film, Oldman quickly cottoned on.

He added: "So I did not meet Tim Burton. Then Scissorhands came out and I went to the cinema to watch it. With that opening shot — all those brightly coloured houses, and then the camera pans up to the castle-like thing on the hill — within two minutes I went, ‘I get it!’"

Other names attached to the role reportedly included Tom Cruise, Tom Hanks, Jim Carrey, and John Cusack.

The film - which also starred Winona Ryder, Dianne Wiest, Anthony Michael Hall, Kathy Baker, Vincent Price, and Alan Arkin - was a huge hit at the box office and a firm-favourite among Burton fans.