Tilda Swinton Rejected A Harry Potter Role For A Very Personal Reason

Besides being responsible for making household names out of Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson, the “Harry Potter” franchise was a treasure trove of U.K. talent that either roamed or attempted to invade the halls of Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. And yet, plenty of actors turned down the “Harry Potter” franchise. One major name that never made it past the gates was Scottish star, Tilda Swinton. When picking through the stellar cast that would teach these heroes-in-the-making, Swinton’s name was considered for the part of Divination professor Sybill Trelawney, who debuted in “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” (aka the best “Harry Potter” film in the franchise)which instead went to Emma Thompson. Swinton, however, declined the role for a very valid and personal reason.

Speaking to Scot MagazineSwinton revealed she was against a core element of the franchise — the school that Potter and his magic pals attended — having spent a lot of her childhood in a boarding school. “That’s why I dislike films like ‘Harry Potter’ which tend to romanticize such places,” she explained. “I think they are a very cruel setting in which to grow up and I don’t feel children benefit from that type of education.” As a result, Swinton never swished a wand in the franchise that would go on to make billions. But while this iconic role was passed to someone else, there was another that Swinton would take on a few years later within a magical world that she would come to regret taking on.

After passing on Potter, Tilda Swinton would eventually sign on to join a different billion-dollar franchise, the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Unfortunately, she would be met with a much more heated reaction. In 2016’s “Doctor Strange,” Swinton took on the role of The Ancient One, a revered and powerful figure in the Marvel Universe who helped Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) become the heroic master of magic we know him to be. The only issue with the character is that in the comics, The Ancient One was a 500-year-old Asian man, and fans understandably spoke out about Swinton’s casting.

Audiences didn’t let the whitewashing of such an important character in Strange’s history go unchecked, and it was years later Swinton herself told Variety she should’ve reconsidered taking on the part. “I remember at the time having a question mark in my own mind, and being attendant to the public response to the idea that a Scottish woman will be playing this character, and being aware that there was no resistance at all — there was widespread welcome — which shifted at a certain point, for very good reasons with which I had an enormous amount of sympathy.” Thankfully, Marvel has made a conscious effort in-house to rethink major characters going forward, with Kevin Feige admitting it was a bad idea. Now The Ancient One is nothing more than a past misstep that the comic book movie powerhouse, and Swinton, doesn’t plan on repeating.