Daniel Radcliffe had originally signed on for three films. After Prisoner of Azkaban , he had the opportunity to renegotiate his contract and, therefore, possibly leave the franchise if he wished, without risking a lawsuit from the producers.
And that’s precisely what he wanted to do.
In an interview with the daily newspaper The Guardian , the actor confided that he feared being typecast in the role of Harry Potter if he continued to film other films in the series.
“After the third film, I told myself that if I wanted to give up the role, it was now or never. There was still time for the producers to find an actor to replace me and take over the role. At the time, my big worry was that I wouldn’t be able to play other roles afterwards.”
In the end, the producers were able to reassure Daniel Radcliffe, and certainly also adjust his remuneration to convince him that he was making the right choice…
Emma Watson also wanted to leave the franchise at the same time, but not for the same reasons. For the young actress, the problem was school-related. She absolutely wanted to concentrate on her studies and considered that filming films would prevent her from having a satisfactory education.
To keep her in the cast, the producers promised to arrange her schedule so that she could study as much as she wanted.
She was therefore able to carry out her studies and the filming of the saga at the same time. And today has a university degree.