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Daniel Radcliffe was originally lined up for the leading role in All Quiet on the Western Front, according to the film’s producer Lesley Paterson.
The German-language war film starring Felix Kammerer has impressively dominated awards season and looks set for more success as it has been nominated in nine Oscar categories.
However, the critically-acclaimed film could have been very different as producer Lesley, 42, has revealed that Harry Potter star Daniel, 33, originally agreed to work on the project.
Lesley said they did not originally think they would be able to make the war epic as a German-language film so planned to cast a high profile English actor as the lead.
She told The Mirror that Daniel agreed to play the main character, German soldier Paul Bäumer, back in 2011 soon after wrapping up on the Harry Potter franchise.
Casting: Daniel Radcliffe was originally lined up for the leading role in All Quiet on the Western Front, according to the film’s producer Lesley Paterson
Success: The German-language war film starring Felix Kammerer has dominated awards season and looks set for more success as it has been nominated in nine Oscar categories
The Scottish producer said she had hoped his high-profile signing would convince bosses to back the World War One film, but Daniel’s name did not rake in the funding needed.
She told the publication: ‘When we optioned the book 16 years ago, the landscape was so different, there’s no way you could have done a German-language, film and raised any money for it.
‘So we decided pretty early on, we would probably have to pitch it as English speaking with German accent.
‘And we thought: “What names are going to raise finance?” and at that time, Daniel Radcliffe was coming off the back of Harry Potter.’
Lesley explained that Daniel ‘loved’ the script and the team were thrilled at signing the star, raising their hopes that they were finally going to get the film made.
However, she said they quickly realised the ‘wonderful’ actor wasn’t right for the movie and his name unfortunately didn’t raise the finances they needed.
The team finally secured funding from Netflix after director Edward Berger signed on and they decided to cast all-German speakers in the adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque’s 1928 novel.
Austrian actor Felix was then cast in the leading role, while Daniel Brühl also took on a supporting role in the critically-acclaimed movie.
Lead: However, the critically-acclaimed film could have been very different as producer Lesley, 42, has revealed that Harry Potter star Daniel, 33, originally agreed to work on the project
Plans: Lesley (pictured) said they did not originally think they would be able to make the war epic as a German-language film so planned to cast a high profile English actor as the lead
When asked how The Lost City star Daniel would feel about the film’s incredible success, Lesley said he would be ‘so supportive’ and think it was ‘amazing’.
MailOnline has contacted Daniel’s representatives for comment.
Olympic triathlete Lesley bought the rights to the classic German book All Quiet On The Western Front and spent 16 years trying to get the film off the ground, all the while having to raise money to keep renewing the deal.
She recently told The Daily Mail’s Alison Boshoff: ‘I did the script in English and [writing partner] Ian Stokell and I did a lot of historical research, which is how we came up with the Armistice storyline. We approached a lot of German directors and didn’t get anywhere,’ she told me.
‘Eventually we got the script to Edward Berger, who said he wanted to do the German story in the German language.’
She added: ‘He made changes to the script in English, taking it back closer to the book — and then Edward himself translated the whole thing into German.
‘As a film it has an unusual perspective, both inside the conflict and outside it, and I think that is what helps it to be so powerful.’
All Quiet On The Western Front has now secured a slew of nominations at the Oscars after sweeping the BAFTAs with an incredible seven wins including Best Film.
The war film has been put up for nine nominations at the Oscars, drawing with The Banshees of Inisherin and being beaten only by Everything Everywhere All at Once, which has nine nods.
Celebrities will flock to the iconic Hollywood Boulevard on Sunday evening for the 95th Academy Awards – one of the biggest nights of the year for film.
The Oscars will be hosted by chat show host Jimmy Kimmel and are being held at the regular venue of the Dolby Theatre.
Acclaim: The team finally secured funding from Netflix after director Edward Berger signed on and they decided to cast all-German speakers, with Austrian actor Felix nabbing the lead role
All Quiet On The Western Front has already had an impressive awards season run and lead star Felix recently revealed he was thrilled when he discovered the film received 14 BAFTA nominations.
With its impressive stack of nods, the film equalled a record for the non-English language film holding the most nominations in BAFTA’s history.
The Austrian actor reacted to the incredible news in a gushing post shared to Instagram at the time.
He penned: ‘Thank you BAFTA!!! This is amazing! Congratulations to the best director @eeedwardberger, the most wonderful @lisychristl29a and amazing @h.merker and of course to my partner in crime @albrecht.schuch and the whole fanatastic team of this movie. See you in London.’
