If we watch all eight Harry Potter movies back to back, that is, over the span of a
little less than 20 hours, we will see our favourite wizards grow up right before our
eyes. Remember how, movies one to eight, the Potter
saga gets progressively darker, as more adult and violent topics are explored?
In an eerily similar way, the tone of on-set issues the Harry Potter cast and crew went
through over the years of filming darkened significantly as well.
Emma Watson was on the verge of quitting the franchise. Beloved actors quietly battled
cancer. Mythical goblins turned into very real sex offenders… In other words, you’d
better stay seated for this one! Don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube
channel for more RumourJuice magic! Now, let’s explore the inevitable behind-the-scenes Harry
Potter tales that saw the light of day in interviews or news headlines.
As we all remember, the characters in Harry Potter start their adventures at the age of
11. What happens when you put a lot of kids in one place? Most likely, an outbreak of
head lice, the most common problem that schools also face. The filming of Harry Potter and
the Chamber of Secrets had to be postponed when child and adult actors alike started
scratching their heads on set. Of course, everyone was checked and treated before the
filming resumed.
In contrast, here’s the issue that the Harry Potter franchise ran into when The Deathly
Hallows - Part 1 was released. There was… a rather adult-oriented scene. Yeah, that
one where Ron Weasley hallucinates Harry and Hermione embracing and kissing. No body parts
were shown, but it is heavily indicated that the pair are actually nude. Lots of parents
weren’t too happy about this moment in the movie. But then again, ten years on, Harry
Potter had long stopped being kid-friendly.
Oh, and our favourite Ron - actor Rupert Grint - was kicked out of the room when the kissing
scene was being filmed. The golden trio, Emma Watson, Daniel Radcliffe and Grint, became
great friends thanks to Harry Potter. That’s why Grint found it weird to witness Emma and
Dan kissing. Eventually, Emma Watson had to kick him out of the set for all the disturbance.
One of the first heartbreaks the universally-liked Hermione Granger actress, Emma Watson, ever
experienced while filming Harry Potter was when her pet hamster Millie died. Emma must
have been 10 or 11 at the time. But she honoured Millie in her speech as she accepted her Britannia
Award at the age of 24. At least we now know that Millie got a proper send-off. The set
decorators built a custom-designed, velvet-lined coffin for the tiny fluff.
Emma’s other heartbreak was caused by Draco Malfoy… er, we mean, Tom Felton. In a 2011
interview with Seventeen, the actress revealed that she used to harbour a huge crush on Felton
during the filming of the first two Harry Potter films. Who wouldn’t - Felton was
slightly older, had a skateboard, and had that ”bad boy” vibe. Imagine a young Emma
Watson checking their filming schedules to see if Tom would be coming in for work that
day. The feelings were not mutual, as Tom saw Emma as a sister figure.
But the hamster and Tom Felton episodes weren’t the ones that almost made Emma quit the role
of Hermione. It was because she wanted her normal life back. By the time Watson started
doing the fourth movie, her filming schedule was so terrible she felt like a prisoner.
“I get told what time I get picked up," Watson confessed in 2010. "I get told what
time I can eat, when I have time to go to the bathroom. Every single second of my day
is not in my power.”
While Harry Potter himself, Daniel Radcliffe, was never on the verge of quitting the series,
he dealt with the immense pressure in his own way.
Over the years, Dan has opened up about the drinking problem he’d developed while being
the face of a huge franchise. It got so bad he drank every night.
"I have a very addictive personality. It was a problem", Radcliffe explained to Heat magazine.
"People with problems like that are very adept at hiding it. It was bad.”
He never drank while on set, but he did have days when he would come in while still hungover.
“I can point to many scenes where I'm just gone. Dead behind the eyes," Dan confessed.
Radcliffe also had the stamina to try his hand at different projects while still on
Harry Potter. In 2007, for instance, he was involved in the West End revival of the drama
Equus. As the main character, Radcliffe had to appear nude on stage, night after night.
Overall, Radcliffe talks pretty openly about his past issues or questionable behaviour,
including having slept with a number of his female fans.
"I was always very nervous about the groupie thing," Daniel told The Mirror. "I like to
like somebody before I sleep with them. You know you're going to have to talk to them
afterwards, even if it is a one-night stand." We’re happy to say that Daniel has quit
drinking, and has been in a long-term relationship with fellow actress Erin Darke.
The thespian world in Britain is famously small. This can lead to some really awkward
situations! So get this: Professor Gilderoy Lockhart cheated on professor of Divination,
Sybill Trelawney, with none other than Bellatrix Lestrange. In normal people speak, the story
goes as follows: Kenneth Branagh was once married to Emma Thompson. The golden duo of
the British cinema appeared in several renowned movies together, like Much Ado About Nothing,
Look Back in Anger, Dead Again, and Peter's Friends. While they were still married, Branagh
went on to direct and star in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. It can be said that he started
both the new project... and a new love affair with co-star Helena Bonham Carter, which,
as is widely believed, ended his marriage with Thompson.
So how was it, starring in the same mega-franchise as your ex-husband’s ex-lover? In 2013,
Emma Thompson sat for an interview with Sunday Times. She described herself and Bonham Carter
as slightly mad and a bit fashion-challenged - probably the qualities that made Branagh
fall in love with both of them. The actress went on to say that she just didn’t have
the energy to hold on to something that happened in the past.
"Helena and I made our peace years and years ago," Thompson said.
Classy and professional!
Another example of high professionalism was displayed by the excellently cast Minerva
McGonagall, that is, Dame Maggie Smith. The actress was diagnosed with cancer in 2007,
at the age of 73. She underwent chemo and radiation therapy as she was filming Harry
Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Like a true Gryffindor, the actress powered through feeling
nauseous and dizzy during work. If you haven’t heard of it, it’s because Dame Maggie Smith
doesn’t talk much about the gruelling and very personal experience.
“I think it’s the age I was when it happened. It knocks you sideways. It takes you longer
to recover, you are not so resilient,” Dame Maggie said.
She was reported to have made a full recovery and, although she is wary of taking up theater
roles, she still does movies! And we can enjoy her performance in Downton Abbey, one of the
most well-received period drama television series ever.
Tragically, not all Harry Potter on-set stories are about full recoveries. In 2009, Daniel
Radcliffe’s stunt double, 25-year-old David Holmes was preparing to film the Deathly Hallows
installment. As he was rehearsing a flying scene that involved an explosion, he was flung
into the wall and broke his neck. The accident left him paralysed from the torso down, with
only limited movement in his arms and hands. And yet, as David recalls, his first thought
was not for his own well-being, but about bothering his parents
“My first thought was: ‘Don't ring Mum and Dad, I don't want to worry them,’ “ David
says. And his immediate fear wasn’t about not being able to walk again. “It was all
the other stuff, like not being able to dance again or have sex.”
But the injury didn’t break the stuntman’s spirit. He was determined to emerge a winner
in these dire circumstances. He has taken up driving a modified race car, has launched
a podcast that helps people with similar injuries, and now resides comfortably in the automated
home of his dreams. David fondly remembers his pre-injury days
on the set of Harry Potter: “It was an amazing experience. ... The cast
and crew were like a second family and I remain in touch with a lot of them to this day.”
Like David notes, the Harry Potter cast and crew formed lifelong friendships in the span
of 10 years. But it’s unlikely that they remain in touch with actor Nicholas Read who
portrayed one of the goblins in the movies. In 2010, he performed a sex act under a juggler's
hat. On a train. In front of a teenage girl. Every sentence makes this story worse. The
17-year-old victim said in a court hearing that she felt "trapped" sitting next to Read.
She was courageous enough to report the incident to the police. In 2019, Read exposed himself
at an amusement arcade by pulling his trousers down… Really not helpful career-wise.
Read wasn’t the only Harry Potter cast member who had a serious run-in with the law. Jamie
Waylett portrayed Draco Malfoy’s lackey Vincent Crabbe in six out of eight Harry Potter
films. Fans were confused when they could no longer spot the prominent Hogwarts bully
in the last two movies. Here’s what happened. In 2009, Waylett was arrested for marijuana
possession. He allegedly had eight bags of cannabis in his car - and had more marijuana
plants growing in his family home. The lad was ordered to pay a fine and serve six weeks
in a correctional facility. He also lost his job as Crabbe. Two years after the marijuana
incident, Waylett was again arrested in 2011 for participating in the infamous London Riots.
There was photographic evidence of him holding a petrol bomb and drinking from a stolen bottle
of champagne. This is how the real-life Vincent Crabbe found himself in prison.
We’ve talked about Harry Potter-related injuries, riots, alcohol problems, and it’s
time now to talk about a financial scandal. According to his former agent, Devon Murray,
who played student Seamus Finnigan in all eight films, was a joy to work with… But
he failed to fulfil his contractual obligations, which resulted in a massive commissions' fee.
Murray ended up paying close to $300,000 to his former manager. Note that previously,
the actor bragged on Twitter about spending all his money on drinks, cars, and girls.
Whoops.
Tragic, cringe-inducing, funny real-life stories won’t make the Harry Potter universe any
less magical. But now we know a bit more about what went on behind the scenes!
Which is your favourite Harry Potter-related story?