Distinguished English actors who have not yet been in a Harry Potter movie

[ElvisL1ves]

My daughter and I have been trying to think of names of English actors with distinguished careers who have somehow not yet been able to make their way into a Harry Potter movie. Either we have little imagination, or most of that community has already managed to cash in. There are, however 3 more opportunities to clear the list. Let's maybe say "distinguished" means having an Oscar (or even Baffie) nomination, or a knighthood/ladyhood, but feel free of course.

So far, we have Judi Dench, Joan Plowright, Anthony Hopkins, and Ian McKellen. Who else are we missing?

[Love Rhombus]

Derek Jacobi? Let him teach Potions :D.

[WhyNot]

Sir Ian Holm, Dame Helen Mirren and Sir Ben Kingsley (Kingsley would have made an awesome Voldemort, no?.

[RickJay]

She's young, but Kate Winslet has as impressive a career as anyone and hasn't been in a Harry Potter movie.

Oscar winner Jim Broadbent (who co-starred with Judi Dench and Winslet in "Iris") has not, IIRC, been in a Potter film.

[Harborwolf]

Sian Phillips

[appleciders]

I can't believe we gotten even this far without mentioning Patrick Stewart.

[Quartz]

Kiera Knightley, Patricia Hodge, Sir Donald Sinden.

[Walloon]

Jonathan Pryce (he's Welsh, but close enough).

[Walloon]

Oh, how could we forget Oscar-winner Paul Scofield?

[hammos1]

Ian Richardson, Sean Bean, Jennifer Saunders, Bob Hoskins, Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, Robert Carlyle, Daniel Day Lewis, Rowan Atkinson, Joseph Fiennes, Kathy Burke, Hugh Grant, Rachel Weisz, John Hannah, Ewan McGregor, Tilda Swinton, Kate Beckinsale, Orlando Bloom, Christopher Lee...

[Sage Rat]

I don't envision Sean Connery ever making an appearance. :p

[hammos1]

I see that the OP specified 'English' rather than 'British' but I'm going to carry on anyway...

Charles Dance, Michael Palin, Michael Caine, Billy Connolly, Edward Fox, Sir Richard Attenbrough, Joss Ackland, Brenda Blethyn, Jane Horrocks, Colin Firth...

[Fish Cheer]

I don't envision Sean Connery ever making an appearance. :pNeither will Roger Moore, I hope. And he's English to boot.

[Larry Mudd]

hammos1, the OP also specified "distinguished," in the context of acting.

Michael Palin, Billy Connolly, Jane Horrocks, Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, and Rowan Atkinson are all awesome and can have any number of superlatives applied to them, but they are none of them "distinguished actors." :D

Don't even bother to bring up Stephen Fry's performance as Oscar Wilde. That wasn't acting, and The Portrait of Dorian Gray is a roman a clef.

[mamboman]

Peter O'Toole and Patrick McGoohan.

mm

[Enterprise]

Brian Blessed, maybe? Loved him in Henry V...

[glee]

hammos1, the OP also specified "distinguished," in the context of acting.

Michael Palin, Billy Connolly, Jane Horrocks, Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, and Rowan Atkinson are all awesome and can have any number of superlatives applied to them, but they are none of them "distinguished actors." :D



Billy Connolly, in 'Mrs. Brown', was nominated for a BAFTA, a Golden Satellite Award and a Screen Actor Guild Award.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119280/awards

For 'A fish called Wanda', Michael Palin won a BAFTA.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095159/awards

[Wendell Wagner]

It's already been pointed out that it would have been better to ask about British actors rather than English ones. Indeed, it would have been better to ask about British and Irish actors, since some of the actors in the films have been Irish. That actually makes sense, since if you read the novels carefully, Hogwarts is supposed to be the wizard school for all of the British Isles. Similarly, Beauxbatons is supposed to be the wizard school for all of the French-speaking parts of Europe and Durmstrang is supposed to be the wizard school for all of the German-speaking parts of Europe and for some of Eastern Europe too. (Well, at times it appears that Beauxbatons is entirely female and Durmstrang is entirely male, which makes no sense, but then the entire Harry Potter series is pretty inconsistent.)

[Peter Morris]

Jeremy Irons
David Jason

[GraceTX]

Tim Roth. He would've been perfect for the role of Snape, but he passed on it to do that crappy Planet of the Apes remake. I'm hoping they'll forgive him and hire him to do some other HP movie roll instead.

[Rachael Rage]

(Well, at times it appears that Beauxbatons is entirely female and Durmstrang is entirely male, which makes no sense, but then the entire Harry Potter series is pretty inconsistent.) I think that's just the movie. In the book GoF she clearly mentions "Beauxbatons boys" - I think that is who the Padmil sisters end up hanging out with at the dance. I don't remember any Durmstrang girls, but perhaps they just didn't make the voyage to Hogwarts?

I would have some to add to the list but WhyNot and RickJay took mine. :)

[asterion]

I don't envision Sean Connery ever making an appearance. :p
Kinda a shame, that. Movies are always--well, something--with Sean Connery.

[NDP]

Albert Finney, Tom Courtney, Helena Bonham Carter, Julie Christie, and Emily Watson.

[Sublight]

How distinguished do you consider Malcolm McDowell to be?

[ISiddiqui]

Well there are a few juicy roles coming up, so I'd imagine this list gets trimmed some. At the very least, they'll get someone distinguished, I'd imagine for Scrimgeour, and perhaps Regulus Black, if he's fleshed out in the 7th book.