The movie Robin Williams was banned from starring in: “There’s nothing I can do”
The way Hollywood usually works is that the biggest stars have their pick of the projects, and if they make it abundantly clear they want to star in something, they tend to get what they want. Unfortunately, despite his stardom and status, Robin Williams‘ repeated pleas fell on deaf ears.
In most cases, if a talent of his calibre voiced their interest in a role, it was theirs for the taking. After all, there’s arguably no comedian who’s ever mastered drama to the same extent as Williams, who could have audiences wiping away tears of laughter or sadness depending on which type of character he was playing.
An icon of the stand-up circuit and an improvisational savant, Williams segued into small-screen sitcoms, brought his signature brand of endlessly energetic comedy to a string of beloved hit movies, and won an Academy Award for flexing his dramatic muscles in Good Will Hunting, so there was nothing he couldn’t do.
One thing that remained out of his control was his birthplace, which immediately ruled him out of a movie series he was desperate to be a part of. Casting directors, producers, and filmmakers would love to have Williams banging on their door in 99% of cases, but it was the other percentile that left him crushed.
Having collaborated twice on Mrs Doubtfire and Bicentennial Man, Williams probably assumed that he had an easy way into the Harry Potter franchise as a friend and colleague of director Chris Columbus. Despite the filmmaker being American, that latitude didn’t extend as far as the ensemble cast.
In fact, Williams tried twice. He pitched himself to play Robbie Coltrane’s Rubeus Hagrid in the first instalment and then again to embody David Thewlis’ Remus Lupin in the third, by which time Columbus had handed the directorial reins over to Alfonso Cuarón while remaining on board as producer.
The rule was simple: “No American actors in this film,” Columbus reiterated. When he spoke to Williams for a second time, it was the conversational equivalent of tapping on the sign: “It’s all British. There’s nothing I could do.” As it turned out, that wasn’t strictly true.
For the most part, Americans were almost completely absent from all eight Harry Potter films. One exception was Verne Troyer, who played Griphook in the opening chapter. The other had a whiff of nepotism about it, with Columbus’ daughter Eleanor appearing as Susan Bones in the first two movies, although she didn’t get any dialogue.
Williams’ nationality automatically banned him from Harry Potter, but it would appear the rules are being relaxed for the reboot after the first major name added to the streaming series was John Lithgow, who was born and raised in New York.
