'Harry Potter' casting director explains why Robin Williams couldn't play Hagrid
When the Harry Potter movies began casting exclusively for British talent, there were no exceptions -- not even for comedic powerhouse and family film hero Robin Williams.
In a new interview with the Huffington Post, casting director Janet Hirshenson revealed that Williams called director Chris Columbus about the part of Hagrid.
"He really wanted to be in the movie, but it was a British-only edict," Hirshenson said. "And once [Columbus] said no to Robin, he wasn’t going to say yes to anybody else, that’s for sure. It couldn’t be.”
According to The Guardian, Williams previously mentioned his desire to play "a couple of parts" back in 2001, when the first Harry Potter film was in production.
Robbie Coltrane, of course, was eventually cast as Hagrid in the Potter films.
Topics Harry Potter
Proma Khosla is a Senior Entertainment Reporter writing about all things TV, from ranking Bridgerton crushes to composer interviews and leading Mashable's stateside coverage of Bollywood and South Asian representation. You might also catch her hosting video explainers or on Mashable's TikTok and Reels, or tweeting silly thoughts from @promawhatup.
