Summary
- Harry Potter “saved” Gary Oldman as a single parent, allowing him to be with his kids more while still making money.
- The Harry Potter movies exposed Oldman to a new generation of fans and opened up opportunities in films aimed at younger audiences.
- Oldman’s involvement in both Harry Potter and The Dark Knight trilogy propelled his career and led to prestigious award nominations and wins.
Gary Oldman recalls how the Harry Potter movies “saved” him as a single parent. The English actor made his debut as Sirius Black, Harry Potter’s infamous godfather, in 2004’s Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and reprised the role for two more installments before the character’s tragic death in 2007’s Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. As his first major franchise role, the Harry Potter movies had a tremendous impact on his professional career, though they were also a godsend for his personal life as well.
During a recent appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show, Oldman opened up about how the Harry Potter movies “saved” him as a single parent raising two kids after his divorce.
After his divorce in 2001, the actor “turned down a lot of work” to spend time with his children. Once Harry Potter and Batman came along, Oldman was able to “do the least amount of work for the most amount of money and then be home with the kids.” Read his full comments below:
At 42 years old, I woke up divorced and I had custody of these boys and so that in itself 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… 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.
How Harry Potter Changed Gary Oldman’s Career
Not only did the franchise save him as a single parent, but Harry Potter also changed the trajectory of Oldman’s career. He was already an established actor before taking on the role of Sirius Black, though the character did have a significant impact on his career. Harry Potter is immensely popular, especially with younger audiences, and Oldman’s involvement in the franchise exposed him to a new generation of fans who might not have been familiar with his earlier work. This afforded him more opportunities in movies aimed at younger audiences, such as A Christmas Carol and Kung Fu Panda 2.
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Shortly after The Prisoner of Azkaban, Oldman quickly joined another major film franchise, playing Jim Gordon in Batman Begins. His collaboration with Christopher Nolan – which continued on The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises, and Oppenheimer – has proven to be one of the most fruitful of his career. While filming The Dark Knight trilogy, Oldman would fly back and forth so he could see his kids during his days off:
I’d fly in for a day, I’d do a shoot a day. To [Nolan’s] credit, he stayed on schedule and I would go home for three days, come back for two, go home for a weekend, come back for one day… otherwise, I just felt they’re being brought up by a nanny.
After Harry Potter and The Dark Knight trilogy, Oldman was in a position to take fewer franchise roles and arguably entered the prime of his career. Since then, he’s received three Academy Award nominations for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Darkest Hour, and Mank – including a win for his transformative performance as Winston Churchill.
Source: The Drew Barrymore Show
Harry Potter
Harry Potter is a multimedia franchise about an orphaned boy who enrolls at Hogwarts School of Wizardry, where he learns the truth about himself, his family, and the terrible evil that haunts the magical world. Adapted from the novels, Harry Potter is an eight-episode film saga that follows the journey of Harry Potter and his friends, Hermoine Granger and Ron Weasley, as they navigate the tricky world of growing up, school life, and magic. Starting from year one and moving to their seventh year, the films chronicle the students’ time at Hogwarts while unfurling a sinister plot that centers around the unsuspecting Harry. With the return of the dark wizard, Voldemort, the students and professors at Hogwarts will fight to carry on as the world around them may change forever. Harry Potter has expanded beyond the world of its films and novels with several video games, a spin-off film series titled Fantastic Beasts, and even attractions at Universal Studios.
- Cast
- Daniel Radcliffe , Emma Watson , Rupert Grint , Tom Felton , Alan Rickman , Matthew Lewis , Bonnie Wright , Evanna Lynch , Maggie Smith , Michael Gambon , Richard Harris , Ralph Fiennes , Helena Bonham Carter , Alfred Enoch , Harry Melling , Gary Oldman , Robert Pattinson , Warwick Davis , Oliver Phelps , James Phelps , David Bradley , David Thewlis , Katie Leung , Jason Isaacs , Imelda Staunton , David Tennant , Jamie Campbell Bower , Timothy Spall , Robbie Coltrane , Eddie Redmayne , Jude Law , Katherine Waterston , Ezra Miller , Dan Fogler , Alison Sudol , Johnny Depp , Mads Mikkelsen
- Character(s)
- Harry Potter , Hermione Granger , Ron Weasley , Albus Dumbledore , Minerva McGonagall , Rubeus Hagrid , Dobby the House Elf , Draco Malfoy , Sirius Black , Ginny Weasley , Voldemort