"Harry Potter" Actors Reveal Off-Camera Drama

David Kronke
Los Angeles Daily News

November 16, 2001

Knebworth House, a 15th-century castle in Hertfordshire, England, is
best known for two things: In 1989, it served as Wayne Manor in Tim
Burton's blockbuster film Batman. Nearly two centuries earlier,
it was the home of Edward Bulwer-Lytton, who first penned the words "It
was a dark and stormy night."

Now, we're here to interview the
major players behind Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, based
on the wizard-world book by J.K. Rowling.

Harry Potter is an 11-year-old boy (portrayed by Daniel Radcliffe) who, as an infant, was spared by the wicked Lord Voldemort (who nonetheless slew his parents) and has become a legend in the world of non-Muggles (Muggles being humans).

In Sorcerer's Stone, Harry begins matriculation through Hogwarts, a mystical school for gifted young witches and wizards, filled with semi-giants, three-headed dogs, owls that attack, jelly beans of every imaginable flavor, and, naturally, life-threatening sinister forces.

"Harry's a really normal person, and he goes from being nothing to being something really huge," said Radcliffe. "He's an important part of people's worlds, and he's inspired a lot of people, including me."

Harry's superiors at Hogwarts include Dumbledore (Richard Harris), the headmaster; McGonagall (Maggie Smith), the transfiguration teacher; the sinister Snape (Alan Rickman), professor of potions; the querulous Quirrell (Ian Hart); and gentle giant Hagrid (Robbie Coltrane), who befriends Harry and his pals, Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson).

At Knebworth House, a drafty, ornate castle where none of the movie was actually shot, Sorcerer's Stone props are carefully laid in glass cases on the ground floor: a state-of-the-art Nimbus 2000 broom, along with balls of sundry sizes and shapes from Quidditch, Rowling's fanciful game that Potter producer David Heyman concedes is a little like Rollerball with broomsticks.

From Print to Film

With the Harry Potter book series (four of a projected seven have been published), Rowling has brought joy to children—and other fans—and, in the process, sold more than 100 million books worldwide.

Heyman and director Chris Columbus (Home Alone, Mrs. Doubtfire) speak in almost tremulous tones when discussing their attempts to appease Rowling, much as characters in the books quiver when discussing the powerful Voldemort. "The most terrified I was in the whole process was meeting Jo Rowling," said Columbus.

Heyman said that he was tense until Rowling finally saw the film: "When Jo came up and gave me that hug and said thank you, I could finally breathe a sigh of relief." Rowling has indicated her approval of the movie through statements issued by Warner Bros.

Heyman was a producer of modest means (The Daytrippers) when he purchased Rowling's book, long before it became a phenomenon. Once it did, however, Hollywood's A-list directors were vying for the job, offering their own, somewhat dubious, interpretations of Rowling's vision.

"They were horrifying," Columbus said. "I have to bite my lip a lot, because I heard a lot of suggestions that made my skin crawl: Casting Hermione as an American, combining the first two books. A computer-animated version with the voice of Haley Joel Osment [from The Sixth Sense] is about as bad as it gets."

Humor and Darkness

Talking about the movie's tone, Columbus (Stepmom, Bicentennial Man) acknowledged that the film is more lugubrious than Rowling's whimsical book. "The film does have some humor in it, but we definitely opted for a darker world," he said. At times, it got too bleak. "What was supposed to be the big surprise in the film was that Jo [Rowling] wrote a new opening, which was the death of Harry's parents," Columbus said. "We shot it, and when I saw it, I realized I couldn't open the film with that dark an image. The darkness needs to grow. So we moved that montage later in the film."

Columbus insisted that the cast be entirely from the United Kingdom, and that the movie strictly adhere to Rowling's book.

Steve Kloves (who received an Oscar nomination for his Wonder Boys script adaptation) wrote the script and is currently working on the sequels. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is already in production, with the same cast.

Heyman, too, felt the film needed to be almost reverentially true to the printed page. "As the books became more successful, the challenge grew because you had more people to please," he said. "You don't want to disappoint so many fans."

Many who worked on Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone were spurred on by a young fan: Heyman had younger siblings; Columbus, a daughter; Harris, a granddaughter who threatened never to speak to him again if he didn't play Dumbledore.

In Coltrane's case, it was his son, and Coltrane himself was keen to see a faithful adaptation. "I had breakfast with David Heyman and Chris Columbus," he said, "and we were kind of checking each other out, and I had decided, if I didn't think these were the right guys, I wouldn't do it. But I was utterly convinced."

The principles are reticent to discuss the shoot itself, fearing it will detract from the on-screen magic. All the players admit they know things that rabid fans don't know—specifically, what will happen in future books.

"Jo told people what's going to happen in books that haven't been written yet," Columbus said. "She's given each of us this information, and we're so loyal that we don't exchange stories of what's going to happen."

But Heyman hints: "If you look carefully at each of the actor's performances, particularly Robbie Coltrane or Alan Rickman, you'll get a glimpse of what will happen in the future."

Copyright 2001 Los Angeles Daily News