The Trivia of: Harry Potter

Tim Roth was a leading contender for the role of Professor Severus Snape. Roth dropped out of contention, however, to pursue his role as General Thade in Tim Burton's adaptation of Planet of the Apes.

Richard Harris died a few weeks before the Chamber of Secrets' release. Michael Gambon took over. Richard Attenborough is said to have lobbied for the role of Dumbledore. Ian McKellen turned down the role of Albus Dumbledore afer Richard Harris passed away. He was quoted as saying "I had enough trouble living up to one legend. Two would be too much to hope for." (referring to his role as Gandalf in Lord of the Rings) Christopher Lee was also reported to be in the running to take over the role of Dumbledore.

Steven Spielberg was considered to direct the Harry Potter series, but was reportedly rejected by Rowling who kept close control of the film.

In addition to Steven Spielberg, other candidates for the director's job of the first film were Jonathan Demme, Brad Silberling, M. Night Shyamalan and Terry Gilliam. Gilliam was J.K. Rowling's initial favorite but the studio finally picked Chris Columbus to direct because he had experience directing child actors. Columbus was also asked many times by his daughter to direct and he agreed after he read her copy of the book. M. Night Shyamalan says he turned down the offer to direct the first "Potter" movie because of being busy on his own "Unbreakable”, but was interested in directing Deathly Hallows part 1.

Before Robert Pattinson (Cedric) was cast in The Goblet of Fire, Henry Cavill was considered.

In Spring of 2004, it was reported that Kate Winslet was in talks to star in the fourth Harry Potter movie as the French wizard Fleur Delacour. Clémence Poésy was cast.

Robbie Coltrane was the very first person to be cast, he was also handpicked by J.K. Rowling to play Hagrid.

According to rumors that circulated the Internet, both Rowan Atkinson and John Malkovich were considered for the role of Lord Voldemort. Both rumors were proven to be untrue.

Ray Winstone and Billy Connolly were considered for the role of Mad-Eye Moody. Brandan Gleeson got the role.

Richard Harris only agreed to taking the part of Albus Dumbledore after his eleven year old granddaughter threatened never to speak to him again. Patrick McGoohan was originally offered the role but had turned it down due to health reasons. Ironically, Harris had health issues of his own, dying of Hodgkin's lymphoma shortly before the release of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

Alan Rickman was hand-picked to play Snape by J.K. Rowling, and received special instruction from her as to his character. Rowling even provided the actor with vital details of Snape's back story not revealed until the final novel.

Saoirse Ronan and Juno Temple were considered for the role of 'Luna Lovegood'. Scarlett Byrne, who later played 'Pansy Parkinson' in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, also auditioned for the role.

Considered for the role of Harry Potter were Daniel Radcliffe, Gabriel Thomson, Liam Aiken, Haley Joel Osment and Cody Linley.

Directors considered for directing The Prisoner of Azkaban were Marc Forster, Kenneth Branagh, Callie Khouri and Guillermo Del Toro. Del Toro rejected because he wanted to make ‘Hellboy’ instead. He later rejected Half-Blood Prince to make a second Hellboy movie.

Hugh Grant was originally cast as Gilderoy Lockhart but was forced to withdraw at the last moment because of scheduling conflicts. Jude Law was deemed too young to play Gilderoy Lockhart.

Helen McCrory was originally cast as Bellatrix Lestrange, but due to pregnancy she had to be replaced by Helena Bonham Carter. McCrory was later cast as Narcissa Malfoy, who is Bellatrix's sister, in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

Rosie O'Donnell and Robin Williams were two of the celebrities who had asked for a role in the movie without pay. However they did not film any scenes for the movie. In the original draft, Drew Barrymore, a self-proclaimed Harry Potter fan, had a cameo.

Tilda Swinton was reportedly originally offered the role of Professor Trelawney but declined. Emma Thompson agreed.

David Thewlis auditioned for the part of Professor Quirrell in the first film, but instead got cast as Remus Lupin in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

Author J.K. Rowling insisted that the principal cast be British and she got her wish, with two exceptions - Richard Harris was, of course, Irish, and Zoë Wanamaker, though she has made her name as a "British" actress, was actually born in the United States, which is also the case of Emma Watson who was born in France. Other non-Brits in the cast include Verne Troyer, born in Michigan, USA, who plays Griphook (the second Goblin in Gringots' Bank) and Chris Columbus daughter, Eleanor Columbus, who played Susan Bones.

The first movie is known as "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" everywhere except the USA and so every scene in which the Philosopher's Stone was mentioned was filmed twice (once with the actors saying "Philosopher's" and once with the actors saying "Sorcerer's") or redubbed (notably, one of the times Hermoine says it in the library, her face isn't shown). The reason for this was to keep the films consistent with the book series: the US publisher, Scholastic, had changed the title (and corresponding text) to "Sorcerer's Stone". The title change was done with the consent of author 'J.K. Rowling', but she has since said that she regrets having granting permission, and as a fledgling author she wasn't in a strong enough position to fight it at the time.

Author J.K. Rowling revealed on her website that she was considered to play Lily Potter during the Mirror of Erised scene, but she turned down the role, which instead went to Geraldine Somerville.

Mike Newell (director of The Goblet of Fire) decided against the studio's original idea of adapting the extremely long book into two separate films to be released several months apart, figuring that he could cut enough of the book's bulky subplots to make a workable film. It was Alfonso Cuarón, the director of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, who convinced him.

Evanna Lynch beat 15000 girls for the role of Luna. She was ninth in a line of 29 finalists, and when it came to viewing the audition videos, one of the producers, David Barron, stopped viewing after her audition, saying, "She is Luna." Unknown to them, Lynch actually wrote a letter directly to J.K. Rowling.

Mira Nair and Jean-Pierre Jeunet were approached to direct Order of the Phoenix. Both declined. Jeunet prefers projects that allow him more creative influence.

David Yates and the producers asked Wally Pfister if he could do the cinematography for The Half-Blood Prince. Pfister declined since The Dark Knight was shooting at the same time, citing schedule conflicts.

Jason Isaacs originally considered not returning for The Deathly Hallows movies, fearing that his character's arrest and imprisonment at the end of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix would mean very little if any screen time in the finale. Upon meeting J.K. Rowling, he begged to be let out of prison. She told him "You're out. Chapter one." This immediately convinced him to sign on for the film.

When David Heyman (producer) was asked if there were any actors that he wished had been in the series but never were, he answered Eileen Atkins, Ian McKellen, Daniel Day-Lewis, Daniel Craig, James McAvoy and Anne-Marie Duff. He now wished to work with them in future projects. Daniel Radcliffe would have loved to see Helen Mirren, Judi Dench and Stephen Fry (the narrator of the UK Harry Potter audio-books).

And did you know that the character Dumbledore is in fact…gay?

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