Gary Oldman credits Harry Potter for saving his “dying” career

Actor Gary Oldman credits Harry Potter and one other blockbuster for saving his “dying” career in Hollywood.

Throughout their decades long span, the Harry Potter film franchise had no short of well-known actors step into some of the most iconic roles ever put on the big screen.

From Maggie Smith as Minerva McGonagall to Alan Rickman as Severus Snape, British finest thespians were lining up to be part of the magical world.

One of the most notable amongst thing was definitely Gary Oldman who played Harry’s godfather Sirius Black, a fan favorite character. And Oldman himself seems to treasure the roll immensely as he credits the franchise for saving his withering acting career.

Oldman sees Harry Potter and Batman franchises as career saviors

The English actor appeared on The Drew Barrymore Show to discuss his decades long career and how he juggled being a single father while filming his roles in two of the biggest movie franchises.

“At 42 years old, I woke up divorced and I had custody of [my] boys,” Oldman recalled, “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.”

“Thank God for ‘Harry Potter.’ 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.”

Along with starring as Sirius Black in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Oldman also booked the role as Gotham City Commissioner Jim Gordon in Batman Begins, two roles he filmed back to back in 2004 and 2005.

“When we did the first Batman, London doubled for Gotham. I did 27 round trips of flying back from LA,” Oldman explained, “I’d fly in for a day. I’d do a shoot a day. To Chris Nolan’s credit, he stayed on schedule. I would go home for three days. Come back for two. Go home for a weekend. Come back for a day… otherwise, I just felt my kids are being brought up by a nanny.”

Though being in two huge ongoing franchises was difficult at first, Oldman managed to make his schedule work and appear in both Harry Potter and Batman until both series came to an end in 2011 and 2012.

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