When it was first introduced that the Harry Potter books had been being tailored into movies, a variety of Hollywood actors expressed curiosity in being concerned. Rosie O’Donnell was such a fan of the collection that she known as up director Chris Columbus and provided to play Molly Weasley in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone for free. Columbus wouldn’t even let her audition, and the function finally went to Julie Walters. Robin Williams additionally threw his hat in the ring at one level and was keen to go with out cost as properly, however was turned away for the very same cause as O’Donnell.
In a 2001 interview with the New York Post, Williams revealed that there have been “a couple of parts” he would’ve needed to play in the first Harry Potter movie had they given him the alternative. One of the roles he was eyeing, based on casting director Janet Hirshenson, was that of Hogwarts groundskeeper Rubeus Hagrid (later performed by Robbie Coltrane). “[Williams] 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,” Hirshenson instructed The Huffington Post in 2014. “It couldn’t be.”
The preliminary rejection didn’t deter Williams, nonetheless, as he reached out to Columbus at the very least one different time about the chance of taking part in Remus Lupin in a future movie. “I had a conversation with [Williams], who wanted to play Lupin,” Columbus defined to Total Film in 2021. “It was very difficult for me to say, ‘It’s all British. There’s nothing I can do.’” The Lupin character was portrayed by David Thewlis beginning with 2004’s Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. As for what Williams’s take would’ve been like, Columbus said, “It would have been a different interpretation. I thought [Thewlis] was great, but [Williams] would have been brilliant.”
Williams remained optimistic about showing in one in every of the Harry Potter sequels, telling the New York Post, “Maybe one day. Say if [Harry] goes to Yale and becomes president.” The 100% British rule was fairly strictly enforced, although, with two minor exceptions. Columbus’s daughter had a cameo in the first two movies, however wasn’t allowed to talk. And though Verne Troyer performed Griphook in Philosopher’s Stone, the character’s voice was supplied by Leprechaun star Warwick Davis, who would go on to interchange Troyer in the final two motion pictures in the collection.
