mtv.com, 19 November 2007
By Shawn Adler

A celebrated author of "Travel With Trolls" and "Gadding With Ghouls," an Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defense League, for goodness sake's, a FIVE TIME winner of "Witch Weekly's" Most Charming Smile Award - Gilderoy Lockhart is one heck of a wizard (Just ask him). But if Kenneth Branagh had his way, he'd be one thing more?

"Harry's dad!" the actor joked, laughing about his experience reading the seventh novel while hoping for big things from his character so that he could return to the series. "I think everybody who had even been in one [of the movies] was keeping their fingers crossed when that seventh book came out. Am I Harry's dad? Could I be Harry's dad?! I felt like writing a note to JK to say, "Have you ever considered this as a plotline?"

Of course, for all we know Lockhart is still roaming the halls of St. Mungo's, practicing his autograph and chatting with the Longbottoms - exactly where he was last time we saw him in "Order of the Phoenix." For his part, Branagh expressed disappointment that filmmakers didn't keep that sub-plot in the movie.

"It would have been nice to have been in [Phoenix]. He was quite a popular character, Lockhart. There was no one quite like him," Branagh said. "[But they never called] to my deep disappointment."

Not that Lockhart would remember it anyway, his mind a total blank after a memory charmed that backfired. Branagh, though, remembers a time when he was almost much more involved with the series than even Gilderoy could ever aspire to be.

"I was in the running to direct the one that Alfonso Cuaron did ["Prisoner of Azkaban"]. It was while I was working on the second one," he revealed. "They all felt for a minute, maybe it'd be great if Ken did one. It didn't work out. It would have been interesting."

"I think there is a limit to what a director can bring to the films for reasons I'm sure you can imagine," he continued. "[But] The thing that really drew my interest was working with those kids. I liked them very much. I thought perhaps that their potential hadn't yet been realized, or at least I felt they were hungry and were about make huge strides as actors."

So would he still like to direct "Deathly Hallows," maybe throw his hat into a discussion which already includes Guillermo del Toro among others?

"I think they've now just got such a great bunch in the stable between Newell, Cuaron, Yates, and Columbus that they'll probably choose from the ones that have already done one," he said, squashing any chance he'll come back. "[And they?ll] do very nicely indeed."