Alfonso Cuaron reveals how friend Guillermo del Toro convinced him to direct 'Harry Potter'

Los Angeles, May 23 (PTI) Oscar-winning Alfonso Cuaron has an interesting story about how his director-friend Guillermo del Toro convinced him to board "Harry Potter" after his breakthrough coming-of-age drama "Y tu mama tambien".

The Mexican filmmaker, known for films such as "Gravity" and "Roma", said he was confused to receive the offer to direct the third installment of the franchise, "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" and he told del Toro about it, who ended up calling his compatriot an "arrogant a******" for his lack of interest in the movie based on J K Rowling's book series.

"I was confused because it was completely not on my radar,” Cuaron told Total Film.

"I speak often with Guillermo (del Toro), 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 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 a******'".

"Harry Potter" film producer David Heyman told Total Film that "Y tu mama tambien" actually was the reason why Cuaron was offered to direct the Warner Bros film.

"Y tu mama tambien", a coming-of-age story about two teenage boys who go on a road trip with a woman in her late twenties, has explicit depiction of nudity and drug use, while "Potter" films fall into the PG rating category.

Heyman said, "I'd seen 'Y tu mama tambien', which I loved, and I oddly thought he'd be the perfect director for the third Potter. That’s not what some might think. Can you imagine what some thought Harry, Ron and Hermione would get up to, having seen 'Y tu mama tambien'?” But there was a thematic connection that Heyman found interesting.

"'Y tu mama...' 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." PTI BK BK BK