Lucius Malfoy initially seemed like such a simple character to pin down. The father of Harry's school rival Draco, he's clearly a bad'un from the off. But the reveal that he was and still is one of Voldemort's Death Eaters had a whiff of shock to it, while the subsequent disgrace of him and his family by the Dark Lord is definitely unexpected. This arc makes him one of the series more interesting villains (Bellatrix, for all her menace, is much more by the numbers). Jason Isaacs (Hello to...) did a bang up job portraying the character's fall and even added some significant elements to him; he suggested giving Lucius long hair. Before he was cast, however, Withnail himself, Richard E. Grant was considered for the role. Now that's an interesting what if; could he have matched Isaacs' menace? Bill Nighy was also rumoured for the part and eventually appeared in the series as Rufus Scrimgeour, the new Minister for Magic.
