Harry Potter spin-off Fantastic Beasts could have featured Scott Pilgrim and Superbad star Michael Cera — until the actor turned down the opportunity to avoid getting “too famous.”
As revealed by Cera himself in a new episode of Louis Theroux’s podcast (thanks, Variety), Fantastic Beasts’ casting directors were keen for him to play a major part in the franchise that would have given the star years of work.
Ultimately, however, Cera said the time commitment and the high-profile nature of the franchise gave him “fear” — though he didn’t rule out joining another blockbuster series, such as Marvel, at some point in the future.
“I don’t even know if I was offered, I think I just declined to engage with it because I think it would be like probably six years commitment or something,” Cera said. “But also, I did sort of make a conscientious choice to limit my exposure a little bit, or just try and be a little more in control of it. And I felt like doing, especially little kids’ movies, I had a big fear of doing things that I would get too famous.”
It’s interesting to consider who Cera might have played, had he been a part of the Fantastic Beasts series — and presumably a major part, if he was asked to potentially sign up for six years.
Could he have been in contention for its lead role of Newt Scamander, which ultimately went to Eddie Redmayne? The two actors share some similarities, with both actors known for playing introverted or awkward characters, though its hard to imagine an American landing the particularly British main role.
Potentially, Cera could have been considered for Scamander’s down-to-earth American pal Jacob Kowalski, a more light-hearted role that would have fitted Cera’s background in comedy. Alas, Cera did not go into further detail.
“I think I’ve outgrown that particular feeling, but I think that’s what that was at that time,” Cera continued, suggesting he would now consider a role in a big movie franchise. “If a franchise came along now and seemed interesting, I don’t think on the grounds of it being a franchise I would storm out of the office or anything.”
After a trilogy of movies, Fantastic Beasts now looks to have been paused for the forseeable future, while Warner Bros. turns its attention to remaking the original Harry Potter books as a big-budget HBO TV show. Numerous actors have now been cast, including John Lithgow as Albus Dumbledore and Nick Frost as Hagrid, alongside the series’ core trio of kids. No word yet on Cera joining that cast, either.
Image credit: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
