12 Stars Who Auditioned for Harry Potter Movies: From Henry Cavill to Robin Williams and More

Enola Holmes 2 actor David Thewlis originally auditioned for Professor Quirrell's role in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. However, he ended up playing Remus Lupin in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and the four final films in the franchise.

"I was directing my own movie [Cheeky] when [the offer for Lupin] came through, and I'd actually cast Ian Hart in my movie so obviously I wasn't bitter. He said, 'Who're you playing'? And I said, 'Lupin,' and he said, 'Well, you gotta do it, that's the best part in the book,'" Thewlis told Moviehole in 2004.

In an interview with Empire, Eddie Redmayne confirmed he auditioned to play Tom Riddle while he was still at a university but never got the chance to do it.

"I properly failed and didn't get a call back. Over the years I always hoped I might be cast as a member of the Weasley family, but unfortunately not," he shared.

Redmayne, however, got the chance to lead the Fantastic Beasts franchise as Newt Scamander.

"I'm sensing some Batman rivalries," Henry Cavill joked after losing both Cedric Diggory and Edward Cullen's roles to Robert Pattinson, who played Bruce Wayne's character in the DC Extended Universe.

Jamie Campbell Bower admitted to ruining his Harry Potter audition for Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone installment after sharing an awkward gag.

"I had just heard this joke about a fairy, like, the reason why the fairy sits on top of the Christmas tree. And it's a really, like, dirty joke, because it's about the Christmas tree up somebody's bottom," Bower said on the "Happy Sad Confused" podcast. "And I told this joke in the audition, and there was again, this sort of air of silence after I said it. And I was like, 'Well, f----- that up."

Bower was up to play the titular role in the franchise, but it went to Daniel Radcliffe.

Jude Law almost had a different fate in the Harry Potter franchise as he nearly played Gilderoy Lockhart's character. However, the creators decided to give him a different role since he was too young to portray the temporary Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts.

Liam Aiken nearly became The Chosen One, according to casting director Janet Hirshenson.

In an interview with HuffPost, Hirshenson said Aiken was tested for the titular role. However, author J.K. Rowling only wanted British actors in the cast.

Richard E. Grant impressed the Harry Potter team, which is why he was considered for the role of Lucius Malfoy. However, Isaacs ended up playing the character.

Like Aiken, Robin Williams also became a victim of the all-British rule in the Harry Potter cast, getting rejected from playing Hagrid and Lupin.

"But it was a British-only edict. And once he said no to Robin, he wasn't going to say yes to anybody else, that's for sure. It couldn't be," Hirshenson said of director Chris Columbus.

He revealed that Williams, who died in August 2014, reached out to Columbus but still did not get the chance to become part of the film series.

Even Saoirse Ronan failed to secure a spot in Harry Potter.

During an October 3 appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, the Little Women actress shared a past role she regretted not being able to play.

"But I had gone up for Luna Lovegood in Harry Potter years ago," said Ronan. "Because it was like the Irish character, so they got everyone Irish in, like half Ireland come and audition."

She reportedly knew she was not going to get it because she was too young, but thankfully, she still experienced being part of the franchise when she read out a scene.