Daniel Radcliffe Reveals the Harry Potter Cast Was Pitched a Wizard of Oz Remake

File this under alternate-universe casting: during the height of Potter-mania, someone pitched Daniel Radcliffe on a Wizard of Oz remake where he would play a karate-kicking Cowardly Lion. Yes, you read that right. He passed. Quickly.

The pitch that went nowhere

Radcliffe says the idea hit his inbox when he, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint were still busy saving Hogwarts. The plan was to roll the trio straight from one iconic fantasy into another, with a very offbeat twist on Oz. He remembered the details on a recent Hot Ones appearance with host Sean Evans, and you can hear the lingering disbelief in the way he tells it.

"One of the worst ideas I've ever heard, during Potter, somebody came to us and I think asked, like they wanted to cast all three of us, me, Emma and Rupert, in a remake of Wizard of Oz, where Emma was Dorothy. I can't remember what Rupert was, and I just remember that I was gonna be the lion, but also he knew karate. I was like a karate kicking cowardly lion. And I remember I was like 14 or 15, and I was like, 'I don't know a lot about the world, but this is a bad idea, and it should not be made.'"

That is a teenager with excellent instincts. The trio clearly stuck with the robes and wands instead of clicking their heels to a different wizard.

• Proposed casting: Emma Watson as Dorothy, Daniel Radcliffe as a martial-arts-savvy Cowardly Lion, Rupert Grint in an unconfirmed role

Radcliffe calls it one of the worst pitches he ever heard, and honestly, hard to argue. A karate Lion might work in a sketch. Building a whole movie around it? Bold. Also: no.

Some ideas belong in the vault. This one stayed there, and the timeline is better for it.