‘Harry Potter’ casting trivia: Alan Cumming asked producers to ‘Ef off!’ over a role offer

Scottish actor Alan Cumming apparently asked the producers of the famous ‘Harry Potter’ franchise when they had offered him a role in one of the movies. 

Cumming was considered for the role of Hogwarts professor Gilderoy Lockhart in ‘Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets’—the second film from this eight-part franchise. 

“I didn’t turn it down. I told them to f— off!” Cumming, known for his part in ‘The Good Wife’, reportedly told a global daily.

“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. 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,” he went on to explain to the same newspaper. 

“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,” Cumming added.

The franchise, based on the eponymous novels by J. K. Rowling and distributed by Warner Bros. for the visual format, released its first installment ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’ in on November 4, 2001. Over the years, just like the book, the franchise has been a raging success the world over and has turned the three central characters into huge celebrities.

‘Harry Potter’ is all set to mark its 20th anniversary in November this year.