Liam Aiken was almost cast as Harry Potter

A long forgotten rumor was brought back up recently by TheThing.com, where Liam Aiken was reported to be the favorite to star as Harry Potter in the movie adaptations, instead of Daniel Radcliffe. 

While Radcliffe would go on to become the iconic Potter in all eight movies, even though back then no one had any idea the seven book series would be turned into eight movies, the first choice that director Christopher Columbus wanted was the also fairly unknown Liam Aiken. Columbus and Aiken had worked together on the movie Stepmom, which had a cast headlined by Susan Sarandon, Ed Harris, and Julia Roberts.

While his acting chops would not have been a problem, the biggest obstacle to most Potter fans would have been the fact that Aiken was an American actor, and not British. If Aiken had been casted, this could have opened the door for other roles to be given to non-British actors. This became a sticking point for J.K. Rowling, but could have turned out very differently if Aiken had been given that coveted spot.

As for Radcliffe, if he had not gotten the role back in 2000, then there is almost no question that he would not have had the chance to do a play such as Equus, or arthouse indie films like Swiss Army Man, or more recently, Guns Akimbo. Both films are wildly original and out of the box movies, and it would have been a shame to not have gotten those.

For Aiken, he went on to do another young adult book adaptation, starring as Klaus in the first depiction of Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events. He was most recently in The Emoji Movie, and has several projects lined up in the future. However, it is fascinating to think about what could have happened if he had been cast as Harry all those years ago.

Did you know Aiken almost became Harry Potter? How do you think he would have done? Let us know in the comments below!