J.K. Rowling has been catching some heat for the casting of Nagini in the upcoming Fantastic Beasts sequel lately, but there’s another actor who’s jonesing to be a part of the Harry Potter world at large.
On Wednesday, Macaulay Culkin cast his hat into the ring by sending a seemingly unsolicited tweet at Rowling that included a list of his relevant acting experiences and an assurance that he would be a welcome addition to the Potter universe.
“Hey @jk_rowling I’m with you!” the former child star wrote. “Nagini can be whatever she wants to be! She’s a strong woman/snake.”
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Controversy has arisen following the release of a trailer for Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, in which Korean actress Claudia Kim was cast as the human counterpart to Voldemort’s notorious pet snake, with critics calling foul on the decision to cast an Asian woman as the villain’s slave. (Rowling has countered that Nagini was always meant to be based off “the Naga," which are "snake-like mythical creatures of Indonesian mythology.”)
“Also, can you write me into the next movie?” Culkin continued. “I’m Macaulay Culkin (From Home Alone: The Movie) and I was also a Pagemaster (experienced with magic)...”
Culkin previously played the lead in 1994’s The Pagemaster, a children’s cartoon about a boy who is turned into an animated illustration and has to fight his way back to reality by conquering villains in a series of fairy tales.
Hey @jk_rowling I'm with you!
— Macaulay Culkin (@IncredibleCulk) September 26, 2018
Nagini can be whatever she wants to be! She's a strong woman/snake.
Also, can you write me into the next movie? I'm Macaulay Culkin (From Home Alone: The Movie) and I was also a Pagemaster (experienced with magic)...
The former Home Alone star even called upon his pal Dan Fogler, who stars in the Fantastic Beasts series, to help him land a part.
“Hey @mrdanfogler, put in a good word for me,” he tweeted, adding an incentive: “There’s a back rub in it for you. BTW it’s me Macaulay Culkin (From Home Alone 2/we’re friends in real life).”
It didn’t take long for Fogler to respond to Culkin’s plea, though in a rather unexpected way.
“Interesting … you do have the same colouring as a the Malfoy clan…” Fogler replied, to which Culkin showed that he was game for a tease. “While I may look like a Malfoy I’m actually a Gryffindor and my patronus is a Mastiff which is a dog,” Culkin tweeted. “So that’s cute! #MakeMeAWizard.”
And then, of course, there was unsolicited input from comedian Andy Milonakis, who chimed in with a hilariously on-point My Girl reference: “Don’t do it, he can’t even handle a bee sting.”
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