Harry Potter SHOCK: Jason Isaacs ‘I was mightily p***** off by my Lucius Malfoy audition’

Following the huge success of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone in 2001, the sequel – Chamber of Secrets – got underway almost immediately.

The film introduced a number of new characters including Kenneth Branagh’s Gilderoy Lockhart and Isaacs’ Lucius Malfoy.

It now turns out that the latter auditioned for both parts.

Speaking with Digital Spy to promote The Death of Stalin, Isaacs said: “I didn’t audition for Lucius, I auditioned for Gilderoy Lockhart. I was mightily p***** off when they asked me would I mind reading for a different part.”

Isaacs continued: “I was about to go play Captain Hook [in 2003’s Peter Pan] and didn’t want to do two children’s villains. I went back in and read then went home.

“I said to my agent, ‘When they call, tell them no, thank you very much, I am about to go play Captain Hook’. He said, ‘Just think about it over the weekend’. I said, ‘No, I don’t want to think about it – it’s fun and lovely and flattering but I am not playing two children’s villains!’

“Over the weekend, everybody I knew called me – nieces, nephews, godchildren and then the parents.

“They all tried to persuade me to take the job – not because they cared about me but because they wanted to visit the set! So I took the job and thank god I did!”

Speaking with EMPIRE about his worst audition experience, Isaacs said: “He [director Sam Raimi] asked my thoughts on the script and we spent a day talking about it.

“Then he said, “What do you think about playing him?”

“I thought I was too young. I believe my agent’s words were, ‘You c***!’”