A strict rule meant it was never likely to happen
The late great Robin Williams wanted to be a part of the Harry Potter films and was up for playing the role of Hagrid.
One of most loved actors of his generation, Williams was a household name for his starring roles in films such as Mrs. Doubtfire, Hook, Jumanji and Good Will Hunting.
And it turns out he wanted to add the Harry Potter films to his incredible list of roles, and was eyeing up the part of the Keeper of Keys and Grounds of Hogwarts himself, Rubeus Hagrid.
Speaking to Huffington Post back in 2016, casting director Janet Hirshenson revealed that Williams even reached out personally to Chris Columbus, the director of the first two Potter films and who Williams had worked with on Mrs. Doubtfire, because he “really wanted to be in the movie.”
Sadly for Williams, a particular casting rule that the producers had put in place meant that it was never likely he was going to appear in the films.
“But it was a British-only edict,” Hirshenson said. “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.”
So, the role went to Robbie Coltrane instead, and it’s now difficult to imagine anyone else having played the gentle giant.
Williams wasn’t going to take no for an answer though, and also expressed his interest in playing Remus Lupin, who makes his first appearance in the third book and film, The Prisoner of Azkaban.
The all-British casting rule hadn’t changed though, so again Columbus had to turn him down.
In an interview with Total Film in 2021, he said: “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.'”
The part went to David Thewlis, who Columbus said was “great” in the role, although he told Insider that he was sure Williams would “have been brilliant” as well.
Only one non-Brit was cast in any of the Harry Potter films, but only in a non-speaking role.
This was American actor Verne Troyer who portrayed Griphook in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, whilst Warwick Davis voiced the role.
In the final two films, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, Davis replaced Troyer in the part.
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