The Harry Potter films were perfectly cast.
But it's still fun to look at what might've been, especially when it comes to actors who
decided to pass on the chance to participate in such a huge blockbuster.
Here are some actors who decided that appearing in the wizarding franchise just wasn't for
them.
Ian McKellen is a legendary actor.
So it makes sense that his name came up to replace Richard Harris as Dumbledore in the
wake of Harris' tragic death following the second film.
However, McKellen turned down the role because he thought it would have been inappropriate.
As he explained,
"People say to me, 'Don't you wish you'd played Dumbledore?'
"I say, 'No!
I played Gandalf!
The original.'
There was a question as to whether I might take over from Richard Harris but seeing as
one of the last things he did publicly was say what a dreadful actor he thought I was,
it would not have been appropriate for me to take over his part.
It would have been unfair."
"He played Dumbledore, of course, the wizard.
I played the real wizard."
Although Michael Gambon eventually took over the role for the rest of the series, McKellen
still gets confused for the character.
He told the Telegraph in 2013,
"The other day there were 100 people outside the theatre who wanted autographs.
Just as I did the last one, a woman grasped my hand and said, 'It's so wonderful to meet
Dumbledore in person.'
I blew her a kiss and got into my car."
Tilda Swinton was set to take on the part of batty professor Sybill Trelawney, but she
ended up turning down the role.
At the time, it was reported that she couldn't fit the film into her busy schedule.
However, some comments she's made since then imply that she may have actually had a much
weirder reason.
In a 2016 interview with Scots Magazine, Swinton condemned boarding schools, Hogwarts included.
She called her own experience at West Heath boarding school in London a quote, "very lonely
and isolating environment."
She further explained,
"That's why I dislike films like Harry Potter which tend to romanticize such places.
I think they are a very cruel setting in which to grow up and I don't feel children benefit
from that type of education.
Children need their parents and the love parents can provide."
Emma Thompson ended up with the part, and Swinton avoided having to relive any bad memories.
Hugh Grant was reportedly so prepared to play the role of pompous Defense Against the Dark
Arts professor Gilderoy Lockhart in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets that he
went ahead and dyed his hair blond.
However, he ended up backing out to star in the romantic comedy Two Weeks Notice.
However, Chamber of Secrets director Christopher Columbus contested these reports, claiming
that he had never spoken to the actor about doing the film.
Regardless of what Grant was or wasn't offered, the part ended up going to Kenneth Branagh,
who brought his standard level of gusto to the performance.
Pulp Fiction actor Tim Roth was forced to decide between Tim Burton's 2001 Planet of
the Apes remake and the part of Severus Snape in Harry Potter.
According to Roth, he was offered the role before Alan Rickman was, but he decided to
turn it down so that he could focus on Apes.
As he told MTV News in 2007,
"I was going to do both films.
We rigged it so that I could fly back and forth.
They figured out the schedule, but it just got to be overwhelming in my mind.
My kids really liked the books.
They were really into me doing it, but the idea of being an ape with Tim was too good."
While Rickman was ultimately incredible in the role, Roth might've been closer to how
the books originally described Snape.
Rickman was old for the part at 55 when the first film was released, while Roth was only
38.
Based on the books, Snape should've been 31 when Harry started at Hogwarts.
According to Roth, he would've played Snape very differently, but he ultimately believed
Rickman was the right man for the role.
"I didn't want my life to be franchised."
Helen McCrory didn't miss out on the Harry Potter films entirely, but she was kept from
playing a much bigger part than what she ended up with.
McCrory ultimately played Narcissa Malfoy, though she was originally cast as Narcissa's
sister Bellatrix Lestrange.
That role eventually went to Helena Bonham Carter when McCrory got pregnant.
"You should be honored, Cissy.
As should Draco."
"He's just a boy."
As McCrory told Parade in 2011,
"I got pregnant with my first child, and insurance wouldn't cover pregnant witches!
It was lovely that they invited me back and wanted me to be a part of it somehow."
This begs the question, what are the maternity leave policies at Hogwarts and the rest of
the Wizarding World?
Fans started pushing for author J.K.
Rowling to appear in the Harry Potter films as soon as they were announced, but the writer
says she's better off behind the camera.
Rowling told the Sunday Mail that producers offered her the chance to play Harry's mom
Lily, but she ultimately turned them down.
As she put it,
"I really am not cut out to be an actress, even one who just has to stand and wave.
I would have messed it up somehow."
While Geraldine Somerville did a great job as Lily, we're sure fans would've loved Rowling
in the part, too.
Even if she did "mess it up," it would've been a thrill to see a beloved author do a
cameo.
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