X-Men Star Told Harry Potter to 'F-ck Off' With Chamber of Secrets Role Offer

It's hard to imagine anyone other than Kenneth Branagh playing the narcissistic Professor Gilderoy Lockheart in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. However, it looks like the role was first offered to X-Men star Alan Cumming. Amazingly, the Nightcrawler actor revealed that he told the studios to "f-ck off" with their offer.

Cumming has taken many roles in his impressive career, most notably playing the mutant Kurt Wagner aka Nightcrawler in X2. His extensive resumé has even led to an offer to appear in the second Harry Potter movie but there were rumors that Cumming turned down the role.

Interestingly, Cumming's take on the offer isn't as civil as some fans believe. The GoldenEye star told The Telegraph that he didn't simply refuse to take the role.

"I didn't turn it down," Cumming said. "I told them to f-ck off!"

But why the aggressive response? Cumming stated that he shared an agent with Rupert Everett, who was also offered the role. However, he learned that Everett was being offered a bigger sum for the role than Cumming was.

"Like, if you're going to lie, be clever about it. I said, tell them to f-ck right off," Cumming said. He then admitted that he was expecting Everett to land the role and was shocked when it was given to Branagh.

We can't really blame Cumming for being upset about getting a smaller offer for the same role. Although it would have been a huge part of Chamber of Secrets, perhaps he was better off working on other projects instead. Likewise, Branagh's casting worked out well for Harry Potter.

Cumming's latest project is the musical comedy Schmigadoon! which airs every Friday on Apple TV+.

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