James Mcavoy Says He Turned Down 'A Ton Of Money' As He Rejected Role In Harry Potter

James Mcavoy, most popular known for movies like X-Men, has revealed that he turned down the role of young Voldemort. He also added that he was offered a hefty amount to play the role of Tom Riddle, but he declined the offer. The films featured Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Stone in the lead roles.

James Mcavoy on denying to play young Voldemort in Harry Potter movies 

It Chapter Two star James McAvoy says he was offered a hefty sum to play a young version of the primary antagonist Lord Voldemort, whose real name was Tom Riddle, in the Harry Potter movie series. The Scottish actor, known for starring in popular movie series such as X-Men and Unbreakable trilogy, said he turned down the role in the first film Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone because of how much time it would have required. During his appearance on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, when the actor was asked if he would want to portray a character in Harry Potter or Star Wars franchise.

James McAvoy said: "Almost, yeah, I can probably say this one. The very first movie, I think it was...who is the, is it Tom Riddle in the first one, yeah? But he's like in it... for like a scene in a flashback or something like that? And they had, I simply remember it was right in the beginning of my career."

James Mcavoy refusing to play young Voldemort in Harry Potter movies

The 45-year-old said he auditioned for the role and the makers wanted to put him on a retainer basis. "And they offered me something like - it was crazy, I'd hardly done any work - and me and I think maybe 10 other actors or something like that - they wanted to put us on retainer so that they could hold us and keep us to choose later. For me, at that time, it was a ton of money, it was like 40,000 pounds or something like that, and I'd done very little work," he added.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, released in 2001, was helmed by Chris Columbus. It featured Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint in the lead roles. The character of Tom Riddle played a major role in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the second book and movie in the franchise. Christian Coulson eventually played the role in the 2002 film.

(With inputs from PTI)