Tim Roth Turned Down Major Harry Potter Role For an Absolute Flop of a Movie

British actor Tim Roth, known for his roles in the movies of Quentin Tarantino, could become a partner of his good friend Gary Oldman, who played Sirius Black, in the Harry Potter franchise.

Roth was offered the role of one of the main antagonists (at least that's what we thought of the character at the beginning), Severus Snape.

At the same time, Roth was offered another role – Tim Burton called the actor to play the Army of the Apes' general in the remake of Planet of the Apes.

Initially, Roth said that both roles were desirable for him. He wanted to do both movies, and arranged everything so that he could fly back and forth, but when he looked at his schedule, he realized that could not handle doing two movies at the same time.

And although his children loved the books about the young wizard, the idea of playing in Tim Burton's movie was too tempting. Roth's decision was to turn down the role of Severus Snape.

However, Tim later spoke more honestly about the reasons that led him to turn down a role in the Harry Potter movies.

Tim said that he just didn't want to see his face on every lunchbox – apparently hinting that after Severus Snape, it would be difficult for audiences to imagine Roth in a different role, so everyone would see him as the Hogwarts professor.

Then Harry Potter director approached Alan Rickman. It was not easy to convince him either – Rickman had previously played several negative characters and did not want his image to be associated with villains.

Moreover, he found Severus Snape one-dimensional.

Talking to Rowling changed everything. Rickman called her after meeting director Chris Columbus and asked her to tell him something about the character.

Alan recalled that Rowling was sensitive about her story and did not want to tell more than what was published at the time, but agreed to give him a hint.

The actor later shared that thanks to this conversation, he realized that Snape's character is much more complicated than it seems at first glance.

As a result, Planet of the Apes failed and did not receive the best reviews from critics and audiences, which prevented a sequel from being made. Tim Roth missed a great opportunity, but Harry Potter fans are only grateful.