REALITY CHECK

Why Guillermo del Toro Called ‘Harry Potter’ Director Alfonso Cuarón an ‘Arrogant Asshole’

Cuarón told Total Film he didn’t think “the Prisoner of Azkaban” was the right project for him until del Toro called him out.

Alfonso Cuarón was not initially interested in directing a Harry Potter film, according to his new interview with Total Film. Cuarón directed Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, the film series’ third installment, but when he was first offered the job, “I was confused because it was completely not on my radar,” he told the site. Cuarón told friend and fellow director Guillermo del Toro about the offer: “They offered me this Harry Potter film, but it’s really weird they offer me this,” he remembered saying. Del Toro was taken aback by his attitude towards the project at the time. “He said, ‘Wait, wait, wait, you said you haven’t read Harry Potter?’” Cuarón recalled. “I said, ‘I don’t think it’s for me,’” he continued before sharing the choice words del Toro said that made him change his mind. “In very florid lexicon, in Spanish, he said, ‘You are an arrogant asshole.’”