During an interview on The Drew Barrymore Show, actor Gary Oldman shared how tough it was for him during a period to balance family life with working as an actor.
He tells how a divorce and getting custody of his children meant he had to turn down a lot of work because of where the productions took place: "At 42 years old, I woke up divorced and I had custody of these boys. That, in itself, was... that was hard because there was a shift in the industry where a lot of productions were being in Hungary, Budapest, Prague, Australia, you know, all of these places. So, I turned down a lot of work."
Fortunately, then came the opportunity to participate in two film series that allowed him to continue working and spend as much as possible with the children: "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."