Guillermo Del Toro told Alfonso Cuarón he was “an arrogant asshole” for considering passing on Harry Potter

Alfonso Cuarón has admitted in a new interview that Guillermo Del Toro called him “an arrogant asshole” after he considered passing on directing Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban.

In an interview with Total Film, published today in their May 23 issue, Cuarón recalls his hesitance over the offer made to him by producer David Heyman.

At the time, Cuarón was fresh off the acclaim that followed his 2001 drama Y tu mamá también. Unlike his friend and fellow Mexican filmmaker Guillermo Del Toro, he was relatively unfamiliar with the book and film property. “I was confused because it was completely not on my radar,” he recalls.

“I speak often with Guillermo, and a couple of days after, I said, ‘You know, they offered me this Harry Potter film, but it’s really weird they offer me this’,” he added.

“He said, ‘Wait, wait, wait, you said you haven’t read Harry Potter?’ I said, ‘I don’t think it’s for me.’ In very florid lexicon, in Spanish, he said, ‘You are an arrogant asshole.’”

The Total Film feature commemorates the 20-year anniversary of the film, which saw the franchise’s trio – Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson – collide with Gary Oldman and a darker, more sinister tone compared to the first two films.

Producer Heyman tells Total Film that he chose Cuarón after watching Y tu mamá también. “I oddly thought he’d be the perfect director for the third Potter,” Heyman says.

“Y tu mamá también was about the last moments of being a teenager, and Azkaban was about the first moments of being a teenager. I felt he could make the show feel, in a way, more contemporary. And just bring his cinematic wizardry.”

Yesterday (May 22), Oldman spoke about his role as anti-hero Sirius Black in the film while promoting his latest effort Parthenope, directed by Paolo Sorrentino, at the 77th Cannes Film Festival.