Alfonso Cuarón reveals why Guillermo del Toro called him “an arrogant asshole”
Mexican director Alfonso Cuarón has revealed the pivotal career advice he was given by Guillermo del Toro, who labelled him “an arrogant asshole” in the process.
In 2001, Cuarón became hot property in Hollywood following the worldwide success of his movie, Y tu mamá también, which was nominated for an Academy Award. Following this breakthrough, the filmmaker wasn’t short when it came to offers landing in his inbox, but he made sure his next opportunity was a considered one.
At the time, there were few bigger cultural entities than Harry Potter, however, Cuarón wasn’t particular familiar with the film series and JK Rowling’s books on the teenage wizard. Therefore, when he was asked by producer David Heyman to direct Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban it wasn’t an enticing invitation.
“I was confused because it was completely not on my radar,” the director revealed in a new interview with Total Film to commemorate the film’s 20th anniversary.
Thankfully, del Toro was on hand to remind Cuarón of the film’s significance, convincing him to direct the project. “I speak often with Guillermo, and a couple of days after, I said, ‘You know, they offered me this Harry Potter film, but it’s really weird they offer me this’,” he continued.
The director continued: “He said, ‘Wait, wait, wait, you said you haven’t read Harry Potter?’ I said, ‘I don’t think it’s for me.’ In very florid lexicon, in Spanish, he said, ‘You are an arrogant asshole.’”
Although Cuaròn was a left-field pick, Heyman explained why he was his first choice: “Y tu mamá también was about the last moments of being a teenager, and Azkaban was about the first moments of being a teenager. I felt he could make the show feel, in a way, more contemporary. And just bring his cinematic wizardry.”
Meanwhile, Gary Oldman, who appeared in Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban as Sirius Black, recently clarified his previous comments about being “mediocre” in the movie.
Speaking following the premiere of Parthenope at the Cannes Film Festival, the actor stated: “What I meant by that is, as any artist or any actor or painter, you are always hypercritical of your own work. If you’re not, and you’re satisfied with what you’re doing, that would be death to me. If I watched a performance of myself and thought, ‘My God, I’m fantastic in this,’ that would be a sad day.”
Oldman also explained that the reason that he hadn’t read the books to get a deeper understanding of his character was because they were “under lock and key” rather than laziness on his behalf.
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