10 Most Unusual Demands By Harry Potter Actors
Would Voldemort have been the same without Ralph Fiennes' input!
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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
00:11 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
00:23 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.
01:50 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
01:59 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.
02:24 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.
02:49 This was just one of the many, many details that went into making Lord Voldemort as memorable
02:54 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,
03:32 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.
03:40 Radcliffe had his wish granted and was in position when Dumbledore and Snake walked
03:44 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
04:23 The Order of the Phoenix.
04:25 By the time the fifth movie came along, Rupert Grint and Matthew Lewis were less boys and
04:29 more growing into young men, and while this may have stopped some of the childish behaviour,
04:33 there will always be a mischievous side to them at this age.
04:37 In this instance, it was spilling milkshake on Rickman's car.
04:41 This resulted in the two receiving a ban from the Snape actor of being within 5 metres of
04:45 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 Asks for Lucius Malfoy to be Released from Prison
05:01 It can potentially be a double-edged sword when an actor joins a still-growing franchise.
05:07 Of course, there is every chance of the series taking off, much like the Harry Potter series
05:11 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.
05:39 So much so that he didn't see himself returning to the franchise at all, until he actually
05:43 met JK Rowling in person.
05:46 Isaacs essentially ambushed the author and begged for his character to be released and
05:49 given a bigger role in the final book.
05:52 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
06:09 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
06:20 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.
06:33 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,
06:45 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
06:55 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 on to 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
07:24 their job out of the park.
07:26 Almost 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
07:39 childhoods got to know them better than anyone else.
07:42 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
07:50 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
08:06 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.
08:21 3.
08:22 Emma Watson didn't want to hug Rupert Grint or Daniel Radcliffe
08:26 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.
08:52 One such incident came at the conclusion of the Chamber of Secrets, where Hermione was
08:56 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
09:04 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
09:16 necessary, and had to be made to seem longer in post-production by freezing the shot for
09:20 a couple of seconds.
09:22 2.
09:23 Daniel Radcliffe's parents were against filming in Prague
09:27 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, Warendorf Studios would have potentially seen a huge boost by introducing the production
09:54 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.
10:03 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
10:51 order 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
11:02 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.
11:21 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
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11:37 I've been Ellie with What Culture, I hope you have a magical day and I'll see you real