“It was a ton of money”: James McAvoy Played the Biggest Gamble on His Career After Turning Down a Harry Potter Role But It Did Wonders For Him in the End
- James McAvoy turned down a major role in the Harry Potter franchise early in his career, a decision that ultimately benefited him.
- The role came with a substantial paycheck but also required agreement to conditions, which McAvoy wisely chose to avoid.
- McAvoy continues to explore diverse roles, expressing interest in comedy and sci-fi, while his latest film Speak No Evil receives positive reception.
Beginning an acting career at the age of 15, James McAvoy has gone on to deliver iconic performances across major franchises such as X-Men and Chronicles of Narnia. Yet, he willingly bowed himself out of being a part of another widely followed and fan-beloved pop culture series, Harry Potter, despite the offer of a prominent role.
As a matter of fact, the role did come with perks, but also with some major discomforts, on the professional front. Considering that McAvoy was then at the very start of his career, his acceptance could have swung him in any direction, but there may be reason to believe that he made a wise choice out of the gamble.
James McAvoy almost became a part of the Harry Potter franchise
In the early 2000s and without much on his portfolio, James McAvoy walked into an audition for the initial Harry Potter movies and to his amazement, was picked, alongside ten other actors, for the role of Tom Riddle aka Voldemort, as per his recent sort of hesitant disclosure on Josh Horowitz’s Happy Sad Confused talk show.
Although the plot was still in the planning stage, the X-Men actor weakly recalled that Tom Riddles was likely to appear as a flashback in the first movie or so. However, the studio’s substantially good enough paycheck also came with a retainer clause. The selected lot of actors had to stay on hold for months without taking part in any other productions.
It was right at the beginning of my career. I auditioned for it and I think they wanted to put me on a retainer. They offered me something. Like it was crazy. I’d hardly done any work and me, and, I think maybe 10 other actors or something like that they wanted to put us on a retainer so that they could hold us and keep us to choose later which who it would be.
Calling it “a really strange thing,” he also added,
They offered quite a lot of money for me. At that time, it was a ton of money, like 440,000 or something.
McAvoy then called on his agent, who advised against it. Acting on the same, he passed on the role and did not sign on the retainer, also losing the cash offer. While he initially went on to star in a play for “£275 a week,” it would soon become clear why his choice was always on the right track.
James McAvoy shines a light on his possible future projects
After passing on the Harry Potter role, James McAvoy soon found his breakthrough by playing Mr. Tumnus in Disney’s 2005 fantasy live-action, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. The global spotlight after this landed him projects like The Last King of Scotland and Atonement, both of which went on to become his career highlights.
Not long after, he helmed his most widely recognized franchise role as Charles Xavier aka Professor X. Staying in the comic book universe for four movies, however, did not deter him from starring in M. Night Shyamalan’s projects like Split and Glass. All of these added to his $20 million net worth and resounding recognition.
In the same interview, McAvoy also touched upon his future projects. While brushing off a part in the upcoming Harry Potter reboot series, he however expressed his desire to star in more comedy and sci-fi roles, with the latter being more in line with his Frank Herbert’s Children of Dune miniseries. Finally, as of this immediate moment, his latest flick, Speak No Evil thriller-drama is airing in cinemas, amid sound reception.
The Harry Potter series is available to stream on HBO max.
