In November 1986, journalist Elissa Van Poznak conducted an interview with Colin Firth, Spencer Leigh, Paul McGann, Bruce Payne and Tim Roth for the January 1987 edition of The Face. Daniel Day-Lewis and Gary Oldman were also invited, but were unable to attend due to acting obligations (although Oldman gave his own interview at a later date). The title of the article was "The Brit Pack": this moniker stuck and has been referenced in subsequent pieces regarding actors from that period.
In the February 1988 issue of Film Comment, Harlan Kennedy stated that Day-Lewis and Oldman, along with Rupert Everett and Miranda Richardson, were the "pack-leaders". According to a retrospective article by Marlow Stern in The Daily Beast, the British press anointed Oldman "de facto ringleader" of the Brit Pack.