 In an interview at the time of the films first screening,  Kevin Whately (qv) said that he had to step in at short notice.  The reason he gave was that Alan Rickman (qv) had been set to play  Wolf, but his work on  _Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)_ (qv) overran.  However, the films producers say that Rickman, though he was on a  list of names, never agreed at any point to be involved.