Mexican filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón has revealed that his friend, director Guillermo Del Toro, once called him an “arrogant asshole” after he considered turning down the chance to direct Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban. In an interview with Total Film, Cuarón admitted that he was “confused” when producer David Heyman offered him the opportunity to direct the film in 2004. Fresh off the success of his 2001 drama Y tu mamá también, Cuarón was initially hesitant to take on the blockbuster franchise. But it was Del Toro who convinced Cuarón to take the job.
“I speak often with Guillermo, and a couple of days after, I said, ‘You know, they offered me this Harry Potter film, but it’s really weird they offer me this’,” Cuarón recalled in the interview with Total Film. “He said, ‘Wait, wait, wait, you said you haven’t read Harry Potter?’ I said, ‘I don’t think it’s for me.’ In very florid lexicon, in Spanish, he said, ‘You are an arrogant asshole.’”
Producer Heyman was impressed by Cuarón’s work on Y tu mamá también, and believed he would be the perfect director for the third Harry Potter film. Cuarón ultimately accepted the job, and his darker, more sensory approach to the franchise is now widely regarded as a turning point in the series. Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban stars Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, and Gary Oldman, and marks its 20th anniversary this year.
Yesterday, Oldman spoke about his role as Sirius Black in the film while promoting his latest effort Parthenope at the 77th Cannes Film Festival. Despite previous comments expressing disappointment in his performance in the film, Oldman now considers the experience to be “extraordinary.”
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