The actor revealed on 'The Jonathan Ross Show' that he almost turned down the role because he was hesitant about not knowing anything about Harry Potter.
For all those who have been major Harry Potter fans, here's something that might leave you surprised. According to Gizmodo, Ralph Fiennes, who plays the role of Voldemort in the Harry Potter films recently revealed why he was earlier going to reject the role.
The actor revealed on 'The Jonathan Ross Show' that he almost turned down the role because he was hesitant about not knowing anything about Harry Potter. “The truth is I was actually ignorant about the films and the books,” he said. “I was approached by the production. Mike Newell was directing the film that they wanted me to be in… the first time Voldemort was going to appear physically.”
“Out of ignorance I just sort of thought, this isn’t for me... Quite stupidly I resisted, I was hesitant. I think the clincher was that my sister Martha – who has three children who were then probably about 12, 10, and 8 – she said, ‘What do you mean? You’ve got to do it!’ So then I rewound my thinking," he continued.
The actor must be really thankful to Martha because the role became the most iconic character and his performance was much appreciated by the critics and the viewers alike. The director of 'Harry Potter and The Prisoner Of Azkaban', Alfonso Cuaron revealed to Vanity Fair how he came on board with a Harry Potter film even though he didn't know much about the series.
The director revealed how the writer Guillermo Del Toro shouted at him for not knowing about the Harry Potter series. "I talked with Guillermo, as I always do, and he says, 'What’s happening? Any projects going on?' And I said, 'I’m going for Harry Potter, can you believe it?' And I even made fun of it. I hadn’t read the books or seen the films. And then he looks upset with me."
"He called me 'Flaco'—that means skinny [in English]. He says, 'F**king skinny, you’re such a f**king arrogant bastard. You are going right now to the f**king bookshop and get the books and you’re going to read them and you call me right away.' When he talks to you like that, well, you have to go to the bookshop. At that time, the fourth book had just come out. And I read the first two, and I was halfway through the third, [and] that was the one they had offered me. And I called him and said, 'Well the material’s really great.' " He said.
The director further expressed how humiliated Guillermo made him feel for not knowing about Harry Potter. He considered it as a lesson learned in his filmmaking career. "He says, 'Well, you see you f**kin’ ...' I mean, it’s just untranslatable from the Spanish... As a filmmaker, it was almost like a lesson of humility, of saying how am I going to do it my own, but at the same time, respecting what has been beloved in those couple of movies?" he added.
'Harry Potter And The Philosophers Stone' film came out in 2001 and became really popular among the audience. Based on the British novel by JK Rowling, the novel follows a magical journey of a boy who is destined to be a wizard. Harry, played by Daniel Radcliffe, is rescued from an abusive home and is taken to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The first film shows his first-year experience at the school.
Harry soon learns that he is a popular wizard and due to some dark experiences in the past involved with the death of his parents, his name is well known in the school. He befriends Ron Weasley played by Rupert Grint and Hermoine Granger played by Emma Watson. The trio goes on a journey to discover the dark secrets of the school as they grow up there.
The actors have grown up in the film and have played roles that have become the most iconic. The last film of the Harry Potter series was 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2' that came out in 2011, ending the series of the film. Five of the series' eight films are among the 50 highest-grossing films of all time, with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, being the highest-grossing film in the series and one of 36 films to gross over $1 billion, ranking at number ten.
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