Gary Oldman has explained how the Harry Potter and Batman movies “saved” him when he became a single father.
The actor, who is a father to sons Alfie, Gulliver and Charlie, detailed how being cast in the two film franchises helped him be at home with his family after he divorced his third wife, Donya Fiorentino, in 2001.
Speaking on The Drew Barrymore Show on Thursday (December 14), Oldman said: “At 42 years old, I woke up divorced and I had custody of these boys. So that, in itself, was…. that was hard because there was a shift in the industry where a lot of productions were being [filmed in], it was Hungary, Budapest, Prague, Australia, you know, all of these places.”
After Barrymore explained that filming locations shifted at this time due to “tax reasons”, Oldman said he “turned down a lot of work” to be with his children.
“Thank God for Harry Potter,” Oldman added. “I tell you, the two – Batman and Harry Potter – really they saved me, because it meant that I could do the least amount of work for the most amount of money and then be home with the kids.”
Oldman played Sirius Black across four Harry Potter films, starting with 2004’s Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban.
In Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy, starting with 2005’s Batman Begins, the actor played Gotham’s police commissioner James Gordon.
Oldman currently stars in Apple TV+ series Slow Horses, which released its third season last month. The show was renewed for a fourth season in June last year.
In a five-star review of season three, NME wrote: “The sad thing about Slow Horses is how few people are watching it on Apple TV+ in the UK. Far fewer are subscribed versus the other streaming giants. However, this season could change all that as the buzz around the show becomes impossible to ignore: it’s the best show on TV right now.”