Robin Williams reportedly wanted to star in the Harry Potter franchise as Remus Lupin or Hagrid.
Harry Potter director Chris Columbus stated in an interview with Games Radar on Thursday that Williams had his eye on the role for Remus Lupin, but the part eventually went to David Thewlis.
“I had a conversation with Robin Williams, who wanted to play Lupin,” Columbus said, according to the outlet. “It was very difficult for me to say ‘It’s all British. There’s nothing I can do.’”
Robin Williams wasn’t cast in ‘Harry Potter’ for this reason, film director Chris Columbus sayshttps://t.co/uA4Z7DjYtX
— Fox News (@FoxNews) October 15, 2021
Casting director Janet Hirshenson told HuffPost in 2016 that Williams had called the director and expressed his interest in playing the role of Hagrid, but he was turned down due to an all British cast rule, HuffPost reported.(RELATED: ‘Harry Potter’ Star Suffers ‘Medical Incident’ During Celebrity Golf Match)
“Robin [Williams] had called [Chris 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 said, according to the outlet. “It couldn’t be.”
Robin Williams really wanted to play Hagrid in the Harry Potter films but was turned down because he wasn’t British pic.twitter.com/hAhbqxRaQQ
— Film Facts 🎬 (@Factsonfilm) December 8, 2020
“There were a couple of parts I would have wanted to play, but there was a ban on American actors,” Williams said in an interview, according to The Independent. “Maybe one day,” Williams said hopefully at the time, “Say if [Harry] goes to Yale and becomes president.”