A fun time to talk about your old projects is when you’re talking about your new projects, as evidenced by Chris Columbus’s recent remarks about the world of Harry Potter, which he first brought to the screen with Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. In a new interview with The London Times, the director reveals that he still has a great relationship with the young trio of stars he originally cast for the 2001 film. However, the anti-trans views of author J.K. Rowling has made his dream of adapting the stage play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child with the original Potter cast an impossible one.
“It’s never going to happen,” Columbus told writer Kevin Maher. “It’s gotten so complicated with all the political stuff. Everyone in the cast has their own opinion, which is different from her opinion, which makes it impossible.”
Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint have all been vocal about their support for the trans community, which Rowling has dedicated vast amounts of time and her considerable wealth to attacking with glee. While Columbus said that he has not spoken to Rowling in over a decade or so, he’s still in touch with his cast: “I keep very close contact with Daniel Radcliffe and I just spoke to him a few days ago. I still have a great relationship with all the kids in the cast.”
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In the interview, Columbus once again mentioned his lack of excitement about the upcoming Harry Potter series being made for HBO, saying that “I’m anxious to see what they do. But from what I’ve seen already they’re basically doing the same thing we did, only [because they have eight episodes] they get to do more of it.”
He also didn’t have much enthusiasm for the new adult cast being brought in, especially after the passing of Alan Rickman, Maggie Smith, and Robbie Coltrane, all of whom he cast in their iconic roles as Professor Snape, Professor McGonagall, and Hagrid. (Those roles will be played by Paapa Essiedu, Janet McTeer, and Nick Frost in the HBO series.) “When Richard Harris passed away and Michael Gambon took over as Dumbledore — that transition, even back then, was difficult for me. So now it’s difficult imagining anyone else in these roles.”
At least one original Harry Potter movie cast member is crossing over to the series, though: HBO announced over Labor Day weekend that Warwick Davis would be reprising his role as Professor Flitwick.
