British acting's best leading men, Gary Oldman and Colin Firth showed up together in Los Angeles earlier last week, to promote their new spy thriller "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy." 　　Adopted from the bestselling novel by John le Carre, the film centers on Britain's Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), which strived to keep pace with other countries' espionage efforts in 1973. 　　Colin Firth joked that he didn't do much of the acting while shooting the film. 　　"We were shooting this time last year. So it was before the Oscar. It was the year in which, I didn't do much acting at all really. I took almost the entire time off. This was what the doctor ordered at the time, which was a good project, no responsibility really. Except for the little bit I phoned in. Let the likes of Gary (Oldman) carry it on his very broad shoulders. I thought three weeks was just enough. Then I actually regretted it, by the time it came to and end I wished I had more." 　　Oldman who plays top lieutenant, George Smiley, says he took the role without hesitation. 　　"Well it's such a famous book, and its such famous role," 　　"When the call comes in and they say they are doing 'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy' and they want you to play Smiley. It's like being asked to play Hamlet. I you just know it. Oh I know what that is. And you go, 'oh really?' It's a rare thing, because you know, they wanted me and I wasn't one of the usual suspects. Thomas (Alfredson) wanted me from the get go, and that's rare." 　　Firth, the latest Oscar's Best Actor for his lead role in The King's Speech said that he finds it 'incomprehensible" that Oldman has never received an Oscar nomination. 　　"He should be on his seventh win rather than waiting for his first nomination. I think it's vastly overdue. I very much hope it comes along." 　　"Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" is currently in limited release in the United States.(Courtesy: StudioCanal)