Oscar-Winning Harry Potter Director Who Emma Watson Claimed “didn’t have much patience” With Young Cast on $795.6 Million Epic

Warner Bros. Pictures’ Harry Potter film series is regarded as one of the biggest and most commercially successful film franchises. The film series is based on J.K. Rowling’s fantasy novel series and stars Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint as the leads. The franchise, to date, holds a very special place in everyone’s heart.

Four directors, including Chris Columbus, Alfonso Cuarón, Mike Newell, and David Yates, have worked on the series. The films launched the careers of young Radcliffe, Watson, and Grint, along with other cast members. Emma Watson shared her experience of working under different directors over ten years of filming.

Filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón was ‘confused’ about directing Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Mexican filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón, who directed the film adaptations A Little Princess and Great Expectations, directed the third installment of the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, in 2004. Upon release, Cuarón’s direction was highly praised by the critics and the audience, and the movie is often credited with making a notable shift in the tone and directing style.

In 2024, in speaking to Total Film, the director shared that he was confused when he was offered to direct the third installment of the Harry Potter series. His most recent work at the time was his Spanish-language s*x drama; Y tu mamá también, and he wasn’t familiar with the Harry Potter world. He explained,

I speak often with Guillermo del Toro, and a couple of days after, I said, ‘You know, they offered me this Harry Potter film, but it’s really weird they offered me this.’. He said, ‘Wait, wait, wait, you said you haven’t read Harry Potter?’ I said, ‘I don’t think it’s for me.’. In a very florid lexicon, in Spanish, he said, ‘You are an arrogant a**hole.’

At the Telluride Film Festival in 2018 (via Variety), Cuarón revealed that del Toro convinced him to read the books, which he found interesting in the end, and finally decided to direct the movie. Producer David Heyman had shared with Total Magazine that he had the hunch that Cuarón was the right person to direct the film. He said,

I’d seen Y Tu Mamá También, which I loved, and I oddly thought he’d be the perfect director for the third Potter movie. I felt he could make the show feel, in a way, more contemporary. And just bring his cinematic wizardry.

Not only did the movie open up to great reviews, but it is regarded as one of the best Harry Potter movies in the franchise. It went on to earn two nominations at the 77th Academy Awards for Best Original Music Score and Best Visual Effects. It grossed about $795.6 million at the box office (via Box Office Mojo). Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is not the only of Alfonso Cuarón’s work that has been recognized by the Academy.

His science fiction drama Gravity, starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney, was nominated for 10 awards at the 86th Academy Awards, including the Best Director award, which he won. Alfonso Cuarón also won an Oscar for his 2019 semi-autobiographical movie Roma at the 91st Academy Awards. Roma became the first Mexican entry to win the Best Foreign Language Film award.

Harry Potter star Emma Watson reveals Alfonso Cuarón made the cast step up

Emma Watson, who portrayed the role of Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter series, in her interview with JoBlo, was asked about her experience of working under four directors over ten years of working on the franchise. She said that it was interesting to add different directors who have signaled differently. Watson added,

Alfonso Cuarón wasn’t going to do any of the kiddie directing stuff. He was like, ‘Get up there and do it.’. He didn’t have much patience for ‘yes wide, look terrified.’. He wasn’t going to do any of that, so he made us step up.

The actress added that Mike Newell and David Yates also helped the cast to step up, but initially, it was Alfonso Cuarón who helped the most. During a conversation with Interview Magazine, the actress confessed that Cuarón is one of the people she has enjoyed working with the most. She added that she has a real thing for Mexican directors.

Emma Watson has also shared in an interview with IGN that the filmmaker asked all three of the leading cast members to write an essay on their characters ahead of filming. She said he wanted them to share their characters’ feelings and thoughts, how they’ve changed in three years, and more. She said she wrote a 16-page essay about Hermione Granger.

Watson enjoyed giving the director a little look into her character’s head and noted that his approach took the series in a new direction.

The Harry Potter film series is available to stream on Peacock, MAX, and Apple TV.