Gary Oldman Offered Super-Rare Details on How the Harry Potter Movies ‘Saved’ Him as a Newly Single Dad

To us, Gary Oldman is an Oscar-winning actor who has appeared in so many films that we hold near and dear to our heart, with Harry Potter being one of them. But to his sons, he’s dad, and a dad who could not stop singing the praises of the Harry Potter films for helping him […]

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To us, Gary Oldman is an Oscar-winning actor who has appeared in so many films that we hold near and dear to our heart, with Harry Potter being one of them. But to his sons, he’s dad, and a dad who could not stop singing the praises of the Harry Potter films for helping him when he became a newly single father.

While promoting his series Slow Horses on the Drew Barrymore Show on Dec 14, the decorated actor talked about how the Harry Potter movies (and The Dark Knight) “saved” him. In case you missed it, the clip is below:

“At 42 years old, I woke up divorced and I had custody of these boys and so that, in itself, was…” he said on the show. “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.”

He continued by saying he “turned down a lot of work” to stay close to his children. “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,” he said.

For those who don’t know, Oldman played the role of Sirius Black in the Harry Potter films, and was in them starting with the Prisoner of Azkaban. He also played Gordon in The Dark Knight.

Now, back to him being a father: he has three sons named Alfie, born in 1988, Gulliver, born in 1997, and Charlie, born in 1999, along with a stepson named William. (He became a single dad after he divorced his ex-wife, Donya Fiorentino, in 2001.)

Before you go, check out these celebs who are close with their stepkids.