Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was the first novel released in 1997, although the first movie wasn’t made until 2001. Due to the books being extremely popular, the movies were an immediate success. Even though the books were well known, the cast was actually made up of novice actors because J.K. Rowling demanded that the majority of the cast be British with the exception of numerous Irish actors. Although it wasn’t long before the Harry Potter actors became a household name.
These actors were seen as one character for over ten years, so it’s always interesting when photos surface of the cast acting out of character or doing fun stuff on set. Here are 20 rare photos of the cast of Harry Potter.
20 RIP Cedric
You probably remember Cedric Diggory from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Cedric and Harry were both Hogwarts Triwizard Champions. However, during the third and final task, Cedric was killed by Lord Voldemort. Cedric took Cho Chang to the Yule ball, and this is them filming the second task which took place in Hogwarts’ lake.
19 Underwater Christmas
This picture is also from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. The second task had the champions retrieving something dear to them from the Merpeople in Hogwarts’ lake, so I’m sure the cast spent a ton of time underwater. What a fun way to celebrate Christmas and to have fun while working!
18 Triwizard Tournament Champions
The triwizard champions weren’t exactly what anyone would consider friends, so it’s a little odd to see them smiling and taking a picture together. In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, they compete against one another to be the ultimate champion, and there’s even a little relationship drama with Ron and Hermione!
17 Ron's Worst Nightmare
In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Hagrid finally says goodbye to Aragog, king of arachnids. From several other movies in the series we know that Ron is deathly afraid of spiders. Although when you look at the behind the scenes photos, Aragog doesn’t really seemed too intimidating, does he?
16 The Invisible Thestral
After Harry Potter witnessed Cedric die, he was able to see the Thestrals, which everyone thinks are invisible. Well, everyone besides Luna. Luna is an odd character to begin with, but even this behind the scenes photo looks a little weird. It’s amazing how they bring the whole movie together!
15 Gills For Harry
When Harry was taking part in the triwizard tournament and needed to swim in Hogwarts’ lake for an hour, he took gillyweed to give him gills and allow him to breathe underwater. Obviously there isn’t a plant that can actually give him gills, and the prep work looks quite extensive.
14 You Don't Look Like Yourself, Dobby
This doesn’t look like the Dobby we all know and love from the Harry Potter movies! If you ever wondered how they filmed Dobby, here you go! This is actually at Dobby’s funeral, so I’m pretty sure no one is supposed to be laughing. But I’m sure they’re allowed a moment of fun in between filming.
13 Final Touches
Here are the final touches being put on Buckbeak. Buckbeak is a dangerous Hippogriff who takes his time to warm up to someone, and you definitely don’t want to touch him unless he gives you the sign that it’s okay. Although, he doesn’t look like he’s very intimidating in this picture!
12 The Intimidating Basilisk
You might recognize the basilisk from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets although it looks a little different in this picture. The basilisk was a mixture of props and CGI, and the final scene is amazing. It’s almost hard to imagine that this prop is the same basilisk seen in the movie.
11 Fake Background
Hogwarts is a beautiful place and there were many breathtaking scenes throughout the series. But Hogwarts is obviously not a real place, and there’s no way every background could be real. They often had to use screens so they could insert the beautiful background into the scenes at a later time.
10 Hermione And The Boys
Here we have Draco and his buddies, Crabbe and Gregory, along with Hermione, Harry, and Ron. Since this group didn’t exactly get along, it’s a little weird to see them all posing for a nice picture together. Although I didn’t realize that Hermione was surrounded by a bunch of boys for most of the movies!
9 Planning The Shot
It’s easy to get lost in the flow of the movie and think how easy it all looks to put together. In reality, each and every scene takes a ton of planning. The cast puts in a tremendous amount of work memorizing lines and making sure every scene is perfect.
8 Hanging From A Tree
In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Ron, Harry, and Hermione get into trouble with the Whomping Willow. In an attempt to get into a hole under the tree, they get caught by the tree and it gives them quite the rollercoaster ride. It’s interesting to see behind the scenes!
7 Floating Books
In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, we see Hermione putting books back onto several shelves without actually climbing any ladders. While some thought it was the work of CGI to float the books onto the shelf, it’s actually something else entirely. All Hermione has to do is pass the books to the hands.
6 Smile For The Camera
Bellatrix Lestrange is a dark witch and a strong supporter and follower of Lord Voldemort. She’s also a little crazy. Bellatrix wants to kill Harry Potter on multiple occasions so it’s a little weird to see the two of them so chummy in this film. They are great actors, that’s for sure!
5 Back In The Day
The Harry Potter movies take place over the span of ten years, so the cast changes quite a bit from the beginning of filming to the end. The Hogwarts students were really just children when they began working on the movies, and it’s fun to take a look back at them in the beginning!
4 A Rare Snape Smile
I’ve watched all of the Harry Potter movies and I don’t think Snape smiled once, so seeing this picture is definitely a rare sight. Alan Rickman, who plays Snape, is an incredible actor who was able to stay in character throughout the series. And it’s only in behind the scenes photos that we are able to see him break character.
3 Am I Seeing Double?
There are quite a few dangerous stunts that take place throughout the Harry Potter movies. And while the actual actors put in a lot of hard work, it would have been impossible for them to pull off all the stunts without a stunt double. It’s amazing how the stunt double looks so much like Harry!
2 The Crew
Now here is the ultimate crew in all its glory! Harry, Dumbledore, Bellatrix, and Lord Voldemort together in a room and not trying to kill each other is unheard of in the Harry Potter films so this picture is probably considered a rare artifact. We probably won’t be seeing this again!
1 Is That You, Hagrid?
It’s hard to figure out what you’re looking at in the photo, but it’s actually Hagrid’s stunt double. Although, his stunt double isn’t quite as large as Hagrid is (so they have to fill out his clothes with padding). But then that leaves his normal size head looking even smaller than normal!
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