Alan Cumming has claimed he told the producers of Harry Potter to “f*** off” after he was offered a major role in the franchise.
The Scottish actor has revealed in a new interview that he was in the running to play Hogwarts professor Gilderoy Lockhart in the second film in the long-running franchise, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, but had disagreements with the filmmakers over his proposed salary.
“I didn’t turn it down,” Cumming told The Telegraph. “I told them to f*** off!”
The 56-year-old star added that he competed for the Lockhart role with Rupert Everett, with whom he shared an agent.
“They wanted me and Rupert Everett to do a screen test, and they said they couldn’t pay me more than a certain sum, they just didn’t have any more money in the budget,” recalled Cumming.
“And I had the same agent as Rupert, who of course, they were going to pay more. Blatantly lying, stupidly lying, as well. Like, if you’re going to lie, be clever about it. I said, tell them to f*** right off. And thought, well Rupert’s going to get the part. They made him screen test, and I remember he brought his own wig. And then they f***ing gave it to Kenneth Branagh, came out of the shadows.”
The Harry Potter film franchise, which concluded in 2011, starred Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint in the main roles.
Radcliffe, who played the titular wizard in the films, revealed this week (3 August) that he had his eyes on a specific Hogwarts role if the franchise were to be rebooted and he was asked to play a different character.
