Many actors from the “Harry Potter” films faced tremendous difficulties behind the scenes.
Which “Potter” star struggled with drinking? Which one passed away in the middle of the series?
Was there really a love triangle on set? Let's take a closer look.
For his work as Harry Potter, Daniel Radcliffe became extremely famous during his childhood
and teenage years — a time when he was still trying to figure out his life and identity.
As he aged into his later teen years, Radcliffe started to drink
heavily. In a conversation with BBC Radio 4, he said:
"If I went out and if I got drunk, I'd suddenly be aware of there being
interest in that. It's 'Oh, Harry Potter's getting drunk in the bar.'"
To cope with the attention his drinking brought, Radcliffe said he would, quote,
"drink more or get more drunk."
As the years of filming the epic movie saga wound down, his alcohol consumption
took on a different tone, turning into a coping mechanism. Radcliffe later described it as a,
quote, "panic" — part of his fear over what he was going to do once the "Harry
Potter" journey was over. In 2010, after several unsuccessful attempts, Radcliffe quit drinking.
The supporting character who was arguably the most thoroughly embraced and adored by
fans of the “Harry Potter” franchise was Severus Snape — professor of potions at
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He instantly takes a disliking to Harry and
appears to secretly align himself with Lord Voldemort's growing army of menacing supporters,
but he's actually a covert spy. Ultimately, he’s a hero and a martyr, forever nursing a broken heart
over his one true love — Harry's mother Lily. Portraying Snape with layers of empathy, mystery,
and seething resentment was Alan Rickman — a character actor with a long history of charismatic
villains thanks to his parts in "Die Hard" and "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves." Though he was
able to complete his work in the “Harry Potter” series, Rickman's life was tragically cut short.
In January 2016, news broke that Rickman had died of cancer. That was also the first time
the public knew of his illness, which came as a tragic shock to many. He died at the age of 69
in London with his family and friends beside him.
Few actors ever make it to the level of fame that Dame Maggie Smith has reached.
In the “Harry Potter” films, she played tenacious and brilliant Hogwarts professor
and Gryffindor house leader Minerva McGonagall. This was a highlight in
a career that stretches back to the 1950s and includes dozens of films and TV series.
In her personal life, Smith has endured multiple health crises. In November 1988, according to
the New York Times, she had a bicycle accident while on vacation in the British Virgin Islands,
fracturing bones in her arm and shoulder. Upon her return home to England, doctors determined that
a previously diagnosed case of hyperthyroidism had progressed into Graves' disease — an immune
disorder and extreme form of the aforementioned condition. The disorder led to disfigurements
like eyeball protrusion, which lasted for a year and required surgery and radiotherapy.
In 2009, Smith told The Times that she'd been diagnosed with breast cancer two years earlier
after discovering a lump in her breast. Though she was, quote,
"flattened" by the diagnosis, her cancer eventually entered remission.
"Harry Potter" filmmakers needed an actor of high esteem to play Professor Albus
Dumbledore — the wise and kindly headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Not only was the character a mentor to Harry Potter and his friends, but he was also one of
the most respected figures in the magical world. They landed Richard Harris, the Irish performer
best known for such classic movies as "Camelot," "Mutiny on the Bounty," and "Unforgiven."
"That is one of my more brilliant ideas, and between you and me, that is saying something."
In August 2002, according to the BBC, Harris was hospitalized with pneumonia,
sparking rumors that the 71-year-old actor would be too ill to continue playing Professor
Dumbledore in the third “Harry Potter” movie, "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban."
His agent told the BBC that their client was on the mend and would be discharged
very soon. But only two months later, following a cancer diagnosis, he died at the age of 72.
Just hours before his death, Harris called Chris Columbus, who had directed the two
“Harry Potter” films in which he co-starred, to say goodbye and joke that he could not be recast.
Fellow Irish actor Michael Gambon took on the role of Dumbledore for the rest of the films.
Helena Bonham Carter's portrayal of the gleefully evil and casually murderous Death Eater
Bellatrix Lestrange in the latter "Harry Potter" movies is only one of the actor's many prominent
roles since the ‘80s. She also played Princess Margaret on "The Crown," earned an Academy Award
nomination for playing the queen mother in "The King's Speech," sang her way through both "Les
Miserables" and "Sweeney Todd," and was a core cast member in the cult classic "Fight Club."
Bonham Carter's large and well-connected family suffered a tragedy of tremendous scale
in August 2008. According to the Evening Standard, seven members of the Bonham Carter
extended family were riding in a van on a safari trip in Botswana. A tire blew out,
the driver lost control, and the vehicle rolled over multiple times.
Five of the seven Bonham Carter relatives were thrown from the van, and four died.
Literally dozens of the most famous and awarded British actors of the last few decades appeared
in at least one "Harry Potter" movie. The United Kingdom film and TV world is a relatively
small one, as not only had many "Harry Potter" performers appeared in projects together before,
but there were also some romantic entanglements that didn't end on the most cordial of terms.
For example, Emma Thompson, who played Professor Sybill Trelawney in the films,
was once married to Kenneth Branagh, who played Professor Gilderoy Lockhart.
The pair divorced in 1995 after Thompson discovered Branagh had an affair with
another “Harry Potter” star, Helena Bonham Carter, who played Bellatrix Lestrange.
The trio never really shared the screen together, but that's a lot of drama for one franchise.
Still, according to Thompson, despite the heartbreak, there was no awkwardness about
it by the time the “Potter” films came about. As she told the Sunday Times:
"You can't hold on to anything like that. Helena and I made our peace years and years ago."
In the HBO Max reunion special "Return to Hogwarts," Evanna Lynch discussed how she
won the role of sweet, loopy, spaced-out Ravenclaw witch Luna Lovegood in "Harry Potter and the Order
of the Phoenix" — her first-ever professional gig. Lynch, 14 at the time, essentially nailed
an open call audition and joined the cast of the franchise already in progress.
"Unfortunately all my shoes have mysteriously disappeared. I suspect Nargles are behind it."
Lynch was a big fan of the “Potter” books, and during a 2018 appearance on "Dancing
with the Stars," she revealed part of why they were so important to her. At age 11,
she developed the eating disorder anorexia, for which she was hospitalized.
The magical world of "Harry Potter" offered her a respite.
"Anyone who's had an eating disorder knows it completely takes over your life. The only
thing that could actually take my attention apart from that was the Harry Potter series."
The actor has since written extensively about eating disorders and body positivity,
both for The Harry Potter Alliance and in her memoir, "The Opposite of Butterfly Hunting."
A veteran of dozens of British films and TV series, Helen McCrory joined the “Harry
Potter” cinematic universe for its final three films, beginning with "Harry Potter and the
Half-Blood Prince." Her role was the supporting but complex character of Narcissa Malfoy, the
elite and subtly sympathetic mother of Slytherin bully turned potential evildoer Draco Malfoy.
McCrory was initially tapped for a much larger role in the “Harry Potter” universe.
According to Entertainment Weekly, filmmakers cast her as high-level villain and loyal Lord Voldemort
lieutenant Bellatrix Lestrange — Narcissa Malfoy's sister — in "Harry Potter and the Order of the
Phoenix." However, McCrory backed out of the movie when she learned that she was pregnant.
Producers still wanted to work with the actor and brought her into the franchise as Narcissa
for the sixth, seventh, and eighth movies. After “Potter,” though, her life was cut short.
On April 16, 2021, McCrory's husband,
actor Damian Lewis, released a statement on Twitter that his wife had died at home
following a, quote, "heroic battle with cancer." According to The Independent, McCrory's cancer
diagnosis was not public knowledge before her death from the disease. The actor was 52.
While the child cast of the "Harry Potter" movies were largely inexperienced actors,
the adult performers in the films were some of the U.K.'s most celebrated and recognizable.
That list of great British actors included Richard Griffiths who,
from the very beginning of the series, played Harry's abusive, non-magical Uncle Vernon. Apart
from "Harry Potter," Griffiths was best known for his role as Uncle Monty in the cult classic
"Withnail and I," and he won a Tony Award for starring in "The History Boys."
He'd later reunite with his "Potter" nephew, starring alongside Daniel Radcliffe in a 2008
New York production of "Equus.” Sadly, he's also joined the list of “Potter” actors gone too soon.
According to the Guardian, Griffiths underwent heart surgery in March
of 2013 at a U.K. hospital. Shortly after the surgery,
he suffered complications and died on March 28. The actor was 65.
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