Harry Potter star Gary Oldman, who appeared on 'The Drew Barrymore Show' this week, said he was grateful for the Batman and Harry Potter movies he got to act in. Oldman, who played Sirius Black in the popular children's fiction franchise, said acting jobs were drying up for him.
He said both the franchisees helped him professionally and personally. “At 42 years old, I woke up divorced and I had custody of my boys,” Oldman said, Variety reported. “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,” he said.
In the Batman series, he was cast as James 'Jim' Gordon. He said the two roles helped him as he could do the least amount of work for the most amount of money and be there for his kids. For the 2005 Batman Begins movie, Oldman shuttled between his home in Los Angeles to the movie's set in London, to get quality time with his children.
Oldman was married to Donya Fiorentino from 1997 to 2001 and has two children with her. While the two got divorced, Fiorentino accused Oldman of domestic abuse. Oldman's son Gulliver, in 2018 wrote a letter defending his father. Gulliver called Oldman his “one and true guiding light” and “only hero,” adding that he was “granted the good graces” to be raised by only his father.