10 Most Unusual Demands By Harry Potter Actors

WhatCulture

Would Voldemort have been the same without Ralph Fiennes' input!

Transcript

00:00 There have been movie franchises with impressive cast lists before, and there will be in the

00:05 future, but it's hard to imagine any quite being able to match the sheer star power of

00:10 the Harry Potter world.

00:12 If you think of a big British acting name, chances are they had a role to play at Hogwarts.

00:18 Within the cast list the size of your arm, there came different dynamics, and even some

00:22 demands from the actors themselves.

00:25 These ranged from major changes to the characters they were playing, to something as little

00:29 as a background aesthetic that would probably be missed by the majority of the audience.

00:33 So with that in mind, I'm Ellie with WhatCulture here with 10 most unusual demands made by

00:39 Harry Potter actors.

00:41 10.

00:42 Jason Isaacs changed Lucius Malfoy's aesthetic

00:45 There have been a plethora of bad guys introduced to the world of Harry Potter over the years,

00:50 with varying success.

00:52 One of the most evil and downright detestable is the wizarding supremacist Lucius Malfoy.

00:58 His evil sneer and vicious stance, even towards children, was brought to life expertly by

01:03 Jason Isaacs, but it wasn't just the villain's on-screen presence that the actor had a hand

01:08 in.

01:09 After seeing the initial design for the Death Eater, he had a handful of changes he wanted

01:13 to make to truly stamp his mark on the franchise.

01:16 In the first instance, before Isaac's input, Malfoy was to sport short brown hair and a

01:21 pinstripe suit, something that was changed by the actor immediately.

01:26 To up the anti and pure evil of the despised villain, he was given his trademark long blonde

01:31 locks as well as his cane, also at the actor's suggestion.

01:35 Isaacs, joining the franchise that already housed Alan Rickman, the face behind several

01:40 infamous villains such as Hans Gruber and the Sheriff of Nottingham, decided his antagonist

01:45 needed to have something different to truly set him apart in the wizarding world.

01:49 And it's fair to say that his changes certainly helped in this department.

01:54 9.

01:55 Ralph Fiennes Wanted a Hook on Voldemort's Wand

01:58 Not only is Lord Voldemort the main villain for the Harry Potter series, but he has gone

02:03 on to become one of the most iconic cinematic villains of an entire generation.

02:08 Even if you haven't seen the movies, you know the name.

02:11 Naturally, a lot went into the creation of such a character, and his look was designed

02:15 and brought to life on the big screen, but Ralph Fiennes was still able to bring something

02:20 more to the table than merely his incredible talent.

02:23 Much of the former Tom Riddle's appearance was based around the aesthetic of a snake,

02:27 a theme that is present throughout the entire franchise.

02:31 Fiennes wished to add to that with Voldemort's movements, and so requested a specially made

02:35 wand to make it happen.

02:36 Simply, there was a small hook added to the character's trademark wand that allowed

02:41 the actor to hold it while moving his hand more fluidly in something of a slithering

02:45 motion without having to close his hand around it.

02:48 This was just one of the many, many details that went into making Lord Voldemort as memorable

02:53 and iconic as he came to be.

02:56 8.

02:57 Daniel Radcliffe's Sleeping Bag Placement

02:59 Some of the demands on this list come from huge name actors who wanted to improve the

03:04 movie or their character with an idea or a suggestion.

03:07 This one, however, comes from a young boy whose request had absolutely nothing to do

03:11 with the movie itself.

03:12 Instead, this came in the name of fancying one of his co-stars.

03:16 There is a scene in The Prisoner of Azkaban where the students of Hogwarts are littered

03:19 across the floor in sleeping bags, with Daniel Radcliffe using the opportunity to ask to

03:24 be placed next to the girl he had a crush on at the time.

03:27 We've all been there, head over heels and willing to do anything just for a conversation.

03:31 But the story gets so much better when you add the fact that Alan Rickman and Michael

03:36 Gambon were even more immature than the young star.

03:39 Radcliffe had his wish granted and was in position when Dumbledore and Snake walked

03:43 past and activated the fart machine they had hidden in Radcliffe's sleeping bag.

03:49 Perhaps he wished he was further away from the girl when those noises started coming

03:52 from his general area.

03:54 7.

03:55 Alan Rickman's Rules Surrounding His Car

03:58 With the school setting of the Harry Potter series, there came the balance of young actors

04:02 and seasoned veterans of the profession.

04:04 There was still some excellent chemistry between these two groups, but of course there were

04:08 struggles as well.

04:09 Working with children brings with it a certain amount of challenges, whether it be childish

04:13 behaviour, the forgetting of lines, or the kind of attention span that can send some

04:17 kids into a frenzy.

04:19 Alan Rickman found a certain difficulty with two of the Hogwarts students while filming

04:22 The Order of the Phoenix.

04:24 By the time the fifth movie came along, Rupert Grint and Matthew Lewis were less boys and

04:28 more growing into young men.

04:30 And while this may have stopped some of the childish behaviour, there will always be a

04:34 mischievous side to them at this age.

04:36 In this instance, it was spilling milkshake on Rickman's car.

04:40 This resulted in the two receiving a ban from the Snape actor of being within five metres

04:45 of his brand new BMW.

04:47 The fact that Rickman himself was a wonderful man suggests that this was done more in jest

04:51 than anything else, but you certainly wouldn't have wanted to test this theory, would you?

04:56 6.

04:57 Jason Isaacs Asked For Lucius Malfoy To Be Released From Prison

05:00 It can potentially be a double-edged sword when an actor joins a still-growing franchise.

05:06 Of course, there is every chance of the series taking off, much like the Harry Potter series

05:10 ultimately did, but at the same time, there is no guarantee that a particular character

05:15 will stick around.

05:16 When The Philosopher's Stone released in cinemas, the books series had only been released

05:20 as far as The Goblet of Fire.

05:22 Similarly, when Jason Isaacs joined the franchise for The Chamber of Secrets, no further source

05:27 material had made it onto the shelves.

05:29 As the books eventually did continue to release, the actor playing Lucius Malfoy was disheartened

05:34 that his character's role was being so diminished by being incarcerated.

05:38 So much so that he didn't see himself returning to the franchise at all, until he actually

05:42 met JK Rowling in person.

05:45 Isaacs essentially ambushed the author and begged for his character to be released and

05:49 given a bigger role in the final book.

05:51 To this request, Rowling promised Malfoy would not only be released in the first chapter

05:56 of the Deathly Hallows, he would have a big role to play in the final book.

06:00 Isaacs signed up to the movie immediately.

06:03 5.

06:04 Emma Thompson and Helena Bonham Carter couldn't work at the same time

06:08 By and large, the cast of Harry Potter gelled and worked like a well-oiled machine for the

06:13 duration of the franchise.

06:15 That much is evident by the reunion special released at the beginning of 2022 and the

06:19 fact that the likes of Emma Watson and Rupert Grint are still so close after all these years.

06:25 However, this is one of the largest casts in recent memory, and it would be all but

06:29 impossible for absolutely everyone to get along.

06:32 In fact, hidden within the talented group of actors was a painful love triangle that

06:36 affected who could and couldn't be on set at certain times.

06:40 The three actors in question are Emma Thompson, Helena Bonham Carter, and Kenneth Branagh,

06:44 who played Professor Trelawney, Bellatrix Lestrange, and Gilderoy Lockhart, respectively.

06:50 Branagh and Thompson's marriage ultimately came to an end when the former had an affair

06:54 with Helena Bonham Carter, years before the Harry Potter franchise ever began.

06:59 In terms of working on the movies, this didn't affect Branagh's time on set as he was the

07:03 only one of the three to appear in the Chamber of Secrets.

07:06 However, due to their history, for the filming of The Deathly Hallows Part 2, Emma Thompson

07:11 only came onto set on the days Helena Bonham Carter did not.

07:15 4.

07:16 Emma Watson Asked For More Books In Hermione's Bedroom

07:19 For the most part, the casting department for the Harry Potter movie series knocked

07:23 their job out of the park.

07:26 And every character was perfectly cast, but none more so than the golden trio - Daniel

07:31 Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint.

07:34 The trio embodied their characters when they were first cast, and over the course of their

07:38 childhoods got to know them better than anyone else.

07:41 Arguably the greatest example of this was Emma Watson.

07:45 Her considering leaving the franchise to pursue her education is surely the most Hermione

07:49 thing she could have done, right?

07:52 One of the most infamous and important Hermione scenes in the entire franchise comes at the

07:56 beginning of The Deathly Hallows, when she obliviates her parents to protect them.

08:01 This was the first real look of the Granger's home in the franchise, and Emma Watson immediately

08:05 saw that it wasn't quite right.

08:08 Upon seeing her character's bedroom, Watson observed that there should be more books than

08:12 were originally there, given just how much Hermione loved to read.

08:16 Of course, she was correct, and the set designers responded to her wish straight away.

08:20 3.

08:21 Emma Watson didn't want to hug Rupert Grint or Daniel Radcliffe

08:25 Part of the appeal of the Harry Potter movie franchise - arguably the biggest part of the

08:30 appeal - is the relationship and chemistry shared between the golden trio of Harry Potter,

08:35 Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley.

08:38 This stretches to the actors as well, but it wasn't always perfectly smooth sailing.

08:43 Remembering that for the majority of the filming they were still children, they were asked

08:47 to do a lot of things that may have made them feel awkward or embarrassed.

08:51 One such incident came at the conclusion of the Chamber of Secrets, where Hermione was

08:55 supposed to sprint across the Great Hall and hug both Harry and Ron.

09:00 The young Emma Watson was simply mortified that director Chris Columbus would ask her

09:03 to do something like this in front of everyone, and so they settled on a hug for Daniel and

09:09 an awkward handshake with Rupert instead.

09:12 Even the hug itself lasted less than a second to spare Watson any more embarrassment than

09:15 necessary, and had to be made to seem longer in post-production by freezing the shot for

09:20 a couple of seconds.

09:21 2.

09:22 Daniel Radcliffe's Parents Were Against Filming in Prague

09:26 With actors so young on the film sets of Harry Potter, often they were too young to truly

09:31 make decisions for themselves.

09:33 There were, of course, times that the youngster's parents got involved and made demands on behalf

09:37 of their famous kids.

09:38 There was talk after the release of The Goblet of Fire for the Harry Potter franchise to

09:42 be moved to the Czech Republic.

09:44 Based in Prague, and able to boast the fact that the first Mission Impossible movie was

09:48 shot there, Varendorf Studios would have potentially seen a huge boost by introducing the production

09:53 of The Order of the Phoenix.

09:55 However, with a soon-to-be 16-year-old son, the parents of Daniel Radcliffe took a strong

10:00 stance opposing such a move.

10:02 Understandably concerned about their son's life in the limelight, they reportedly felt

10:06 a move to the Czech Republic would be the wrong thing for young Radcliffe.

10:11 The main reason was to keep him away from Prague's growing reputation for the sex industry.

10:15 It's easy to see why this demand was made, and luckily Radcliffe's clout extended enough

10:20 to his parents that the movie stayed in the UK.

10:23 1.

10:24 Ralph Fiennes didn't want a prosthetic nose

10:27 Now we have already discussed the serpentine aesthetic of Lord Voldemort when he debuted

10:32 in The Goblet of Fire through to his death in The Deathly Hallows Part 2, but this goes

10:36 far deeper than just the way he holds his wand.

10:39 More so than the milky white skin tone and the bald head, the most striking part of Voldemort's

10:44 appearance is the fact that he lacks a nose.

10:47 Ralph Fiennes of course does not lack a nose, and so movie magic had to happen in order

10:51 to bring the look to life.

10:53 The two general options for this would have been practical effects - removing the nose

10:57 through the use of relatively heavy prosthetics - or CGI effects, in which the actor's nose

11:01 would simply be removed from the shots in post-production.

11:05 Fiennes made sure it was the latter.

11:08 A fantastic actor, Ralph Fiennes didn't want a prosthetic nose getting in the way of his

11:12 process, and so he made sure his face was unimpeded to allow himself his full facial

11:17 range while bringing the terrifying villain to life.

11:20 And that concludes our list.

11:22 If you can think of any other examples that we missed, then do let us know in the comments

11:26 below.

11:27 And while you're there, don't forget to like and subscribe and tap that notification bell.

11:30 Also head over to Twitter and follow us there @whatculture and I can be found across various

11:34 social medias just by searching Ellie Littlechild.

11:37 I've been Ellie with What Culture, I hope you have a magical day and I'll see you real

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