Gary Oldman explained how the Harry Potter and Batman movies “saved” him when he was raising his sons on his own.

The actor, who is father to Alfie, Gulliver and Charlie, explained how his involvement in the two films helped him be at home with his family when he split from third wife Donia Fiorentino in 2001.

Gary Oldman, who was a guest on ‘The Drew Barrymore Show’ last week, said: ‘At 42, I woke up separated and had custody of these boys. So that in itself was…. That was difficult because there was a change in the industry, a lot of productions were being shot, in Hungary, Budapest, Prague, Australia, you know, all these places.”

When Drew Barrymore explained that filming locations were then changed due to “tax reasons”, Oldman said he “turned down a lot of offers” to be with his children.

“Thank God for Harry Potteradded the English actor. “I’m telling you, the two Batman movies and the Harry Potter film series – they really saved me, because it meant I could do the least work for the most money and be home with the kids.”

Oldman played Sirius Black in four Harry Potter films and in Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy, he was Gotham Police Inspector James Gordon.