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Jamie Campbell Bower ruined his Harry Potter audition after telling a dirty joke

5 September 2022, 14:43

Jamie Campbell Bower learns what a Vecnussy is

By Katie Louise Smith

"There was again, this sort of, like air of just like silence after I said it. And I was like, 'Well... f***ed that up.'"

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As well as his iconic roles in franchises such as Stranger Things, Twilight, The Mortal Instruments, we all know Jamie Campbell Bower in the HPCU (Harry Potter Cinematic Universe) as young Gellert Grindewald... But did you know he initially auditioned to play actual Harry Potter?

Speaking to host Josh Horowitz on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Jamie spoke about his experience auditioning for the lead in Harry Potter back in the day – and how he completely messed up the entire thing thanks to one very dirty joke. A joke far too dirty for a 14-year-old kid.

Jamie Campbell Bower's Harry Potter audition was cut short after he told a dirty joke. Picture: Steve Granitz/Getty Images, Warner Bros. Pictures

Recalling the time he was selected as a potential candidate for the role of Harry after producers came to his school looking for kids to star in the films, Jamie detailed his chaotic meeting with director Chris Columbus.

"I went to go and meet Chris Columbus in London for the first Harry Potter, and they'd asked us to prepare a joke," Jamie said. "And I had just heard this joke about a fairy-- like, the reason why the fairy sits on top of the Christmas tree, and it's a really, like, dirty joke, because it's about the Christmas tree up somebody's bottom."

Of course, the joke didn't go down too well in the room. Jamie continued: "And I told this joke in the audition, and there was again, this sort of, like air of just like silence after I said it. And I was like, 'Well... fucked that up.' [Laughs]"

Jamie Campbell Bowers shows how he does his Vecna voice

Somewhere in the multiverse, in a timeline where Jamie Campbell Bower never told that dirty joke and was immediately cast as Harry Potter, changing the course of pop culture history forever... Daniel Radcliffe is Vecna.