Legendary actor Gary Oldman says that Harry Potter and The Dark Knight "saved" him.
During an interview on The Drew Barrymore Show, Oldman opened up about how the franchise films came along at just the right time to save his career.
“Thank God for Harry Potter,” he said. “Thank God for Harry Potter. 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 is renowned for his work on both franchises, starring as Sirius Black in the Harry Potter movies, and Commissioner Gordon in Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy.
Of course, he became a screen legend long before, starring in the likes of Leon, The Fifth Element, and more. However, it was these franchise movies that gave him the stability he needed most, at exactly the right time.
“At 42 years old, I woke up divorced and I had custody of these boys,” he explained. Oldman divorced his then-wife, American model Donya Fiorentino, in 2001, and was granted custody of their children.
“That, in itself, was... that was hard because there was a shift in the industry where a lot of productions were being [filmed in] Hungary, Budapest, Prague, Australia, you know, all of these places. So, I turned down a lot of work.”
Oldman instead chose to remain as close to home as possible to raise his kids, and it seems that flying between his home in Los Angeles and London to film the Harry Potter films and The Dark Knight trilogy allowed him to do just that. The pay can’t have been half bad, either.
The Harry Potter movies were hugely successful, and following his debut as Sirius Black in The Prisoner of Azkaban, Oldman appeared in several more: The Goblet of Fire, The Order of the Phoenix, and The Deathly Hallows: Part Two.
As for The Dark Knight films, he portrayed the iconic Commissioner Gordon in all three and is beloved by Batman fans for his time in the role.
Want to read more about Gary Oldman? Check out our review of Slow Horses Season 3 and find out where The Dark Knight films sit in our ranking of Christopher Nolan’s movies.
Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.
