Alan Cumming had some choice words when asked to join “Harry Potter”.
“The Good Wife” star was in the running to play Professor Gilderoy Lockhart (the part went to Kenneth Branagh), but turned down the role by telling producers to”f**k off.”
In a new interview with The Telegraph, Cumming explained that a salary dispute caused the response.
“I didn’t turn it down,” Cumming said. “I told them to f**k off!”
“They wanted me and Rupert Everett to do a screen test, and they said they couldn’t pay me more than a certain sum, they just didn’t have any more money in the budget,” he explained. “And I had the same agent as Rupert, who of course, they were going to pay more. Blatantly lying, stupidly lying, as well. Like, if you’re going to lie, be clever about it.”
“I said, tell them to f**k right off,” he continued. “And thought, well Rupert’s going to get the part. They made him screen test, and I remember he brought his own wig. And then they f**king gave it to Kenneth Branagh, came out of the shadows.”
Hugh Grant was also offered the position but reportedly turned it down due to scheduling.
Elsewhere in the interview, Cumming opened up about HBO’s controversial show “The Prince”, which is a satirical take on an 8-year-old Prince George. Cumming, who voices Prince George’s butler, says the show isn’t “as mean as people think.”
When asked if he thinks the Royal Family will think it is funny, Cumming replied, “I don’t know,” he says, “If they appreciate satire, they might… It’s quite tender, actually – my character with George, it’s a really lovely relationship. It’s not as mean as people think.”
He also weighed in on Prince Harry and Meghan Markle leaving their working royal roles, saying he admires them for “removing themselves from a situation which they found abusive, not just keeping their heads down and staying in ‘The Firm’ and being bullied, which they obviously were. I absolutely have sympathy for them.”
