The Movies > Sorcerer's Stone Production Notes

HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER'S STONE
PRODUCTION NOTES, PART 2

In Harry Potter, as in all classic fairy tales, the hero confronts his wicked stepmother - or in this case, his Aunt Petunia. For this key role, the filmmakers cast one of Britain's most talented and respected stage actresses, Fiona Shaw. "I wanted to play one of the magical characters, but I soon realized that the Dursleys' world is more exotic and more frightening than the one Harry experiences when he leaves them," Shaw notes. "In being ordinary, the Dursleys are a very eccentric pair. Their failure with their own son is all the more apparent in the presence of Harry, a boy who is clearly gentle, very prestigious, civilized and a sort of natural knight, as opposed to Dudley, who is spoiled and hopeless. The Dursleys live on a knife edge of snobbery, aspiration and desperate disappointment that their son Dudley is not Harry."

For Shaw, the much-maligned Petunia proved to be a fun part to play. "Comedy always happens in the gap between who people are and who they think they are," Shaw explains. "The Dursleys have a house that aspires to being a very grand house, but is in fact a very small house. They're desperately keen to appear normal, but through Harry's eyes, we see that these people are monstrous in their normality."

Richard Griffiths plays Harry's anxious Uncle Vernon. Like Shaw, Griffiths sights a desire to be ordinary as the driving force in the behavior of his character. "Vernon distrusts Harry completely and is always concerned that he is going to do something strange at any moment," Griffiths says. "That is Vernon's biggest fear - he doesn't want anything strange happening that the neighbors might see. He is terrified that people will think there is something not right about him. The Dursleys want to be average and normal, and the fact that they have Harry Potter in their care is dreadful, as he is anything but ordinary."

The role of Dudley, the Dursleys' bumbling and spoiled son, is played memorably by Harry Melling. "Harry's understanding of his physique, his ability to be witty, his inventiveness and his imaginative commitment to every scene is remarkable," Fiona Shaw asserts.

"I thought playing Dudley would be fun because one minute he's sad, and the next he's happy and then grumpy," says the 12-year-old, who enjoyed this experience acting alongside Fiona Shaw, Richard Griffiths and Daniel Radcliffe, with only one reservation. "I'm really scared about what people will think of me, but I'm really looking forward to the film coming out."

A VISION OF DARKNESS AND LIGHT

While Columbus had no reservations about directing one of the most highly anticipated films in history, he was well aware that some questioned his ability to bring the darkness of Harry Potter's world to the big screen. "Over the years, people - particularly the media - have implied that I've gone soft because I've directed some sentimental films," Columbus says. "But based on my own personal life at the time, I felt that those were films I needed to make. Once I got those stories out of my system, I wanted to go back to where I was when I started out as a writer, which is a much darker place."

Of his early influences, Columbus says, "I've always been a big fan of British cinema, everything from David Lean pictures, comedies like Kind Hearts and Coronets, emotional dramas like A Man for all Seasons and particularly the Hammer Horror films, which I adored. I found them very atmospheric and evocative. I grew up watching these films, and they influenced my early writing."

Helming Harry Potter gave Columbus the opportunity to revisit the dark themes of early 1980s films he wrote but did not direct, like Gremlins and Young Sherlock Holmes. "Young Sherlock Holmes was set in a British boarding school and involved two pre-teen boys and a girl who solve a supernatural mystery," Columbus enthuses. "It was a sort of preparation for directing Harry Potter."

But Columbus is quick to commend the talented production team that brought the world of Harry Potter to life, particularly Oscar-winning production designer Stuart Craig, costume designer Judianna Makovsky and director of photography John Seale.

"This film is incredibly collaborative, and it's been the highlight of my career for several reasons, mostly because I've worked with such talented people. My cinematographer, John Seale, and production designer, Stuart Craig, in particular, understand the richness and complexity of Harry Potter's world. In Hogwarts, we strived to create a realistic, magical place, a school that the viewer would believe actually existed."

Columbus envisioned a rich, warm palette for the film. To this end, he and Heyman hired three time Academy Award winner Stuart Craig. "Stuart Craig is one of the finest production designers living," Heyman says. "There is no one who designs with such taste and elegance. We wanted Harry's world to feel like it really exists. Stuart made Hogwarts, with all its splendour, seem like a place that truly feels real."

For the all-important role of cinematographer, the filmmakers tapped multiple Oscar nominee John Seale. "We had loved John's work in a variety of films from Witness to Dead Poets Society, and we knew he would give Harry Potter a fantastic look," says Heyman. "For instance, Chris wanted low light in the interiors, as there is no artificial light in Hogwarts.

John was particularly attentive to this and lit the set with torches and candles. He has this incredible energy and works at a remarkably fast pace, and yet he's able to retain tremendous depth and richness at all times."

Hiring the right costume designer was also crucial. "Beyond the sets and the lighting, we wanted a bit of madness and eccentricity, which Judianna Makovsky has created," says Heyman. "For example, for Madame Hooch, the flying instructor, Judianna took classical professor's robes and added the black and white of a referee and then cut it in such a way it flows like the movement of a bird."

A MAGICAL EXPERIENCE

"Making Harry Potter has been the highlight of my career," Chris Columbus declares. "I've been able to shoot in some stunning locations and sets, and have been fortunate to have collaborated with the best, most talented crew of technicians and artists. This film is a culmination of the efforts and talents of a group of very dedicated, hard working people. I believe the results speak for themselves.

"The most difficult aspect of making Harry Potter was excising elements of the book that I wanted to put into the film," he continues. "If I had the opportunity, I would have made a seven or eight hour picture. My strongest desire was to make a satisfying film for every single one of the fans, a movie that truly captures the heart and the spirit of the book, without sacrificing any of its darkness, edge or character."

ABOUT THE CAST

Eleven year-old DANIEL RADCLIFFE (HARRY POTTER) beat thousands of hopefuls to secure the role he was quite definitely born to play. As director Chris Columbus says, "Dan walked into the room, and we all knew we had found Harry."

Daniel first appeared on our screens in December 1999 when he played the young David Copperfield in BBC television's production of David Copperfield. The drama, which was directed by Simon Curtis, also starred Dame Maggie Smith and Zoe Wanamaker, who now appear along side him as Professor McGonagall and Madame Hooch in Harry Potter.

Prior to filming Harry Potter, Daniel made his feature film debut as Jamie Lee Curtis' and Geoffrey Rush's screen son in John Boorman's The Tailor of Panama.

As well as being a firm fan of Fulham Football Club, Daniel is a big follower of Formula One Racing.

Newcomer RUPERT GRINT (RON WEASLEY) is 12 years old and is the eldest of five children. He has performed in school productions and with the local theater drama group. Recent productions include the role of the gangster Rooster in Annie and a production of Peter Pan. At school, he played the role of Rumplestiltskin in the Grimm Tales and Mystic Meg for a talent show!

Rupert auditioned for the role of Ron Weasley in Harry Potter after watching an appeal by the casting director on the BBC television show Newsround.

Harry Potter marks 10 year-old EMMA WATSON's (HERMIONE GRANGER) first foray into the world of professional acting, although her natural ability has been evident since an early age, with highly praised performances in several school productions.

Indeed, her talents first came to light in school plays in France and, when aged seven, Emma won top prize for poetry recital in her school's Daisy Pratt Poetry Competition for her year.

She went on to co-star as Morgan La Fay in the school's production of Arthur: The Young Years and then took one of lead roles in The Happy Prince.

JOHN CLEESE (NEARLY HEADLESS NICK) needs little or no introduction, having entertained the world for 40 years as a comedian, actor, writer, author, director, producer and generally very funny person.

It was perhaps in 1969 and the first series of Monty Python's Flying Circus that Cleese first shot to fame. The Pythons' unique brand of humor was to spawn three hit series, a UK and Canadian stage tour, a stage show at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane and at City Center, New York as well as a show at the Hollywood Bowl. The team made their first film in 1971, And Now For Something Completely Different, followed two years later by Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and in 1978 The Life of Brian.

In 1975, he created what was to similarly become a worldwide phenomenon, the television series Fawlty Towers. This was followed with a second series in 1979.

Cleese wrote, produced and starred in A Fish Called Wanda, co-starring Kevin Kline, Jamie Lee Curtis and Michael Palin, which was released in 1988. The film received an Academy Award nomination, an Italian Oscar and a Writers Guild of America nomination for Best Screenplay, and Cleese received a BAFTA Award for Best Actor, with the film being further nominated for Best Screenplay.

Other film credits include Clockwise; Romance With a Double Bass; The Strange Case of the End of Civilisation as We Know It; Time Bandits; The Great Muppet Caper; Privates on Parade; Silverado; Splitting Heirs; Mary Shelley's Frankenstein; The Jungle Book; Fierce Creatures (co-writer and co-producer); Out of Towners; Isn't She Great; The World is Not Enough; The Quantum Project and Rat Race.

In addition, Cleese organized the first Amnesty Concert A Poke in the Eye (directed by Jonathan Miller) in 1975 and directed The Secret Policeman's Ball again for Amnesty on stage in 1979. He then co-directed The Secret Policeman's Other Ball in 1981.

Other career highlights include BBC television's The Frost Report, The Frost Programme and At Last the 1948 Show, which in 1966 and 1967 first introduced him to UK audiences; the role of Petruchio in the BBC's adaptation of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew; LWT's Whoops Apocalypse and most recently the BBC's The Human Face.

Cleese was also the founder of the highly successful management training films company Video Arts (awarded the Queen's Award to Industry for Exports) and has written two self-help books, Families and How to Survive Them, and Life and How to Survive It (both with Dr. Robin Skynner), the first of which was made into a BBC Radio 4 series. He is a Cambridge graduate (MA), was rector of St. Andrew's University for three years (Honorary LL.D) and in 1999 he was appointed an Andrew D. White Professor-at-large to Cornell University.

ROBBIE COLTRANE (RUBEUS HAGRID) is one of the UK's most prolific and respected film and television actors, with a multi-award winning career spanning 20 years.

His illustrious film career to date boasts 26 films, including the James Bond films The World is Not Enough and GoldenEye, in which he played Valentin Zukovsky; Warner Bros. Pictures' Message in a Bottle; Buddy; The Pope Must Die; Henry V; Let it Ride; Absolute Beginners; Defense of the Realm; Mona Lisa and Nuns on the Run, for which he was awarded The Peter Sellers Award For Comedy at the 1991 Evening Standard British Film Awards.

Perhaps Coltrane is best known as Fitz in the internationally acclaimed and hugely popular television series Cracker. The three series of the phenomenally successful drama amassed an impressive array of awards, including two BAFTA Best Drama Series Awards in 1995 and 1996; the Royal Television Society Award for Best Drama; the 1993 Broadcasting Press Guilds Award for Best Series and the U.S. Cable Ace Awards Best Movie or Miniseries.

Coltrane himself was bestowed with a staggering array of awards for his portrayal of the tough, wisecracking police psychologist, Fitz. Incredibly, he won the BAFTA Award for Best Television Actor three years in a row (1994, 1995 and 1996); Best Television Actor at the 1993 Broadcasting Press Guilds Awards; a Silver Nymph Award for Best Actor at the 1994 Monte Carlo Television Festival; Best Male Performer at the 1994 Royal Television Society Awards; FIPA's Best Actor Award and a Cable Ace Award for Best Actor in a Movie or Miniseries.

Coltrane first came to our attention in Slab Boys in 1978 at the Traverse Theatre and at Hampstead Theatre, before in the early 1980s launching himself on an unsuspecting comedy scene with appearances on Alfresco, Kick up the Eighties, Laugh???, I Nearly Paid My Licence Fee and Saturday Night Live.

He went onto make star appearances in 13 Comic Strip productions and numerous television shows including Blackadder III and Blackadder's Christmas Special, as well as being nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Danny McGlone in Tony Smith's Tutti Frutti.

TO SORCERERS' STONE PRODUCTION NOTES, PART 3 >>