12 Worst Casting Decisions In Harry Potter Movies
9. Ian Hart As Quirinus Quirrell
Given the roster of famous faces that walked the halls of Hogwarts, Ian Hart is one of the lesser-known stars. His brief appearance in the first film was memorable, but for all the wrong reasons. Camp to the point of ludicrous, Hart struts around the film's runtime like a live action version of Jafar from Aladdin, and will be remembered mainly due to that awful faux fainting scene
Yet, the story of Quirrell is supposed to offer up the first film’s big twist as he unwraps his turban to reveal a (semi) alive Voldemort. Even the director knew that this twist was lame to say the least, and Chris Columbus had several wizards in the Diagon Alley and Leaky Cauldron scenes wearing turbans in an attempt to keep it a secret. Anyone with two brain cells could see that Hart’s shaky acting was hiding a secret.
The transition from poor s-s-s-tuttering Quirrell was supposed to be a slow metamorphosis, but Hart seemingly flipped a switch to automatic bad guy. By the time we get to the final act reveal, there is no real menace in the actor's performance. David Thewlis (who went on to star as Lupin) had originally been considered for the role, and he would have definitely added a different - better - spin.