World-Famous US Actor Got Stepped Over Twice for a Harry Potter Role Due to 'All British' Rule
J.K. Rowling’s primary rule for filming the movies was that the cast had to be 100% British — and this ensured many amazing actors couldn’t get in for the ride.
While Harry Potter movies were bound to become massive hits, in most cases, this would’ve meant that the studio would start searching for top-tier global stars to join the cast. This wasn’t the case with the Harry Potter movies, though: J.K. Rowling’s demand was that only British actors were allowed to play in the adaptation.
This obviously left many phenomenal performers out of the equation, and while some might argue that it eventually hurt the movies, this decision allowed for many British stars to shine for the whole world — and even gave birth to quite a few new global celebrities. The actors that were stepped over weren’t happy, though.
In 2016, when speaking to Huffington Post, the Harry Potter casting director, Janet Hirshenson, revealed that because of the “only British” rule, director Chris Columbus had to even pass up on Robin Williams…twice! The actor really wanted to become part of the Wizarding World, but JKR’s decision was adamant, so he was rejected.
“The ‘only British’ rule was so important that Robin Williams was even turned down to play Hagrid. Robin had called [Columbus] because he really wanted to be in the movie, but it was a British-only edict, and once he said ‘no’ to Robin, he wasn’t going to say yes to anybody else, that’s for sure. It couldn’t be,” explained Hirshenson.
However, it wasn’t just that once. Sure, Robin Williams wanted to play Hagrid, but he also tried to persuade director Columbus to cast him as Remus Lupin …to no avail, too.
“I had a conversation with Robin Williams, who wanted to play Lupin. It was very difficult for me to say ‘It’s all British. There’s nothing I can do.’ Robin would have been brilliant. It would have been a different interpretation — I thought David Thewlis was great — but Robin would have been brilliant,” Columbus shared with Insider.
Robin Williams was far from the only A-lister that tried to become part of the Harry Potter franchise and failed because of this rule, but he’s admittedly the only one who wanted it so badly he tried to break JKR’s sacred rule twice. We’re sure he would’ve done a great job, but…Robbie Coltrane and David Thewlis were iconic, come on.
Sources: Huffington Post, Insider