“They saved me”, this actor saw his life turned upside down thanks to his roles in Harry Potter and Batman

News culture “They saved me”, this actor saw his life turned upside down thanks to his roles in Harry Potter and Batman

Saving roles

Gary Oldman is rightly recognized as one of the greatest actors of his generation. Famous for his roles in JFK, The Fifth Element, Léon, and Dracula, the actor participated in many major films during his career. But he highlighted the importance of two roles in his life: that of Sirius Black in Harry Potter and Commissioner Gordon in The Dark Knight trilogy. The actor explained himself last year on the set of The Drew Barrymore Show admitting that these two roles “saved his life”.

Thank goodness for Harry Potter. Thank goodness for Harry Potter. I tell you, those two – Batman and Harry Potter – really saved me, because it meant I could do the least amount of work possible for the most amount of money and then be home with the kids .

At the time, in the early 2000s, Gary Oldman got divorced and was left with custody of his sons. A difficult situation to manage at a time when production was relocated abroad.

At 42, I woke up divorced and had custody of these boys. That in itself was difficult, because there was a change in the industry, where a lot of productions were filming in Hungary, Budapest, Prague, Australia, you know, all these places. So I turned down a lot of work.

Living legend

With his two roles, Gary Oldman was able to reconcile his private life and his job, managing to both participate in profitable projects while remaining available for his family. But these films also gave him a real boost in popularity in the 2000s, allowing him to follow up with other blockbusters, but also composition roles which gave him the critical recognition he deserved. It took until 2012 before the actor was nominated for an Oscar, before finally winning the statuette in 2018 for his portrayal of Winston Churchill in the film The Dark Hours.