10 Roles You Didn't Know Robin Williams Almost Played

5. Rubeus Hagrid - Harry Potter Franchise

One of the major tussles in developing the Harry Potter franchise for the cinema was author J.K. Rowling€™s ideas about how the characters should be represented onscreen, and one of the few things she was adamant about was that the major characters be played, without exception, by British character actors. Rowling€™s insistence caused problems with studio Warner Bros, who were after name American actors to play the roles of Harry€™s teachers. In particular, Robin Williams had been earmarked for the role of the giant groundskeeper Hagrid. For his part, Williams had already noted several parts in the large supporting cast that he was very interested in playing, and was happy to include Hagrid as one of them. Only the writer€™s approval was needed: and Rowling refused to consider it, the role eventually going to another Rob, Robbie Coltrane, who would proceed to make it his own. We€™ve no doubt that Williams would have made a fantastic Hagrid and an even better Dumbledore, and there are plenty of other American actors who would have been equally good€ but it€™s a move of great integrity, and completely in character, for the by now very rich Rowling to want to support her own country€™s film industry in having her ideas and properties converted to film, even if it held back production of the films.