Richard Harris says he turned down his starring role in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone three times. He only took the role of Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts School, because his 11-year-old granddaughter talked him into it.

Zap2it.com reports that the Irish actor had never read the JK Rowling when he was approached about taking a role in the film. "All I knew is that they kept offering me the part and raising the salary every time they called. I kept turning it down," said Harris.

Harris told Zap2it that he was aware of the huge box-office potential of the film, but at the age of 71 did not want to be roped into a series of sequels.

"Anyone involved has to agree to be in the sequels, all of them, and that's not how I wanted to spend the last years of my life, so I said no over and over again," said Harris.

However, Harris's granddaughter Ella, heard of the offers. "She said, 'Papa, I hear you're not going to be in the Harry Potter movie', and she said, 'If you don't play Dumbledore then I will never speak to you again,'" said Harris. That made up his mind and he finally agreed to the role, which only involved about three weeks work spread over a few months.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone opens nationwide in the UK on November 16.