Robin Williams was turned down for a role in Harry Potter because he wasn’t British

Robin Williams was reportedly desperate to be cast in Harry Potter – but was turned down because he wasn’t British.

Casting director Janet Hirshenson told the Huffington Post that the late actor was keen to play Hagrid in the film franchise.

But being a comedy legend wasn’t enough to get his foot in the door.
Robin Williams was turned down for a role in Harry Potter for a rather surprising reason

She explained: ‘Robin [Williams] had called because he really wanted to be in the movie, but it was a British-only edict, 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.’

Hirchenson also revealed that Robbie Coltrane was JK Rowling’s first choice to play the role.
Williams has previously spoken about how eager he was to land a role.

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He told the New York Post in 2001: ‘There were a couple of parts I would have wanted to play, but there was a ban on American actors.

‘Maybe one day. Say if [Harry] goes to Yale and becomes president.’
Sadly, Williams died in 2014, two years before the release of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, which is set in 1920s New York.