J.K. Rowling and the Boy Wizard, both share a very humble beginning. The author was unemployed and living on state benefits as she completed her first novel. So also, the first book was rejected by many publishers before Bloomsbury finally published it by reportedly paying a mere £10,000 for the rights to Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone.
When Scholastic published the first book in The US, it changed the name of the first book from The Philosopher's Stone to The Sorcerer's stone ostensibly to better suit the taste of the American readers. The change was done much against the wishes of J.K. Rowling who lacked the muscle to oppose the change being a virtual nobody at the time.
But by the time the first book was adapted into a movie, the books had already become an international phenomena and Rowling now had the clout to control her creation. She very effectively used this clout to demand a strictly British Cast for the movies and she has been successful so far, thus giving employment to most of the British Screen Actors Guild.
She nonetheless allowed the inclusion of many Irish actors such as the late Richard Harris as Dumbledore, and for casting of French and Eastern European actors in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire according to the nationalities of the characters from the book.
Her fierce opinions about keeping Americans out of her films has caused a lot of heart burn among the Americans as reflected in the views and opinions expressed on websites and blogs across the net.
One school of thought is that the Americans would never be able to perfect the accent needed for the very British children's adventure stories set around the boarding schools. In this respect, the movies get the essence of the quintessential British boarding school genre with its elderly school masters, vast dining halls, competing sports houses, dormitories, train stations and children's fascination with sweets. The films even stage the broomstick-bound equivalent of a soccer game. Followers of this school of thought argue that the Americans would never sound English and make for the critics to have a field day.
Another school of thought is that the exclusion of American actors from the cast smacks of Euro-Racist attitude as well as hypocrisy - a direct result of the pompous attitude of the haughty British.
If an American can never sound truly English then by the same rationale, should Brits never play Americans then? Because not every Brit can pull off a straightforward American accent either.
The argument may soon be put to an end.
Warner Bros have invited Madonna's daughter Lourdes (nicknamed Lola), an American to play a role in the next Harry Potter movie - The Half-Blood Prince. Lourdes is only 11 but she might just be able to break the stranglehold of the British actors on the Harry Potter Movies.
Zulekha Alam is an enthusiastic Harry Potter fan and the webmaster of the Harry Potter Fansite http://www.harrypotterandthedeathlyhallowsstore.com Visit the website for comprehensive information on the Harry Potter phenomena including Harry Potter Books, Movies, DVDs and other Harry potter Products. In particular please visit http://www.harrypotterandthedeathlyhallowsstore.com/harrypottermovie5.html for information regarding the latest Movie and its DVD version to be released shortly.
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