A documentary film focused on David Holmes, a stunt performer who was injured on the set of the 2010 film Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part One, leaving him paralyzed from the chest down. Holmes spent years as the stunt double for Daniel Radcliffe on the Harry Potter films. Radcliffe is participates in the documentary The Boy Who Lived, which will tell the inspirational tale of Holmes’ recovery and successful life, post tragedy. But as chance had it, Deathly Hallows director David Yates was a guest on our ReelBlend podcast the day that the documentary was announced, and we were able to get his thoughts on Holmes, Radcliffe, and the documentary.
Film director David Yates hopped into the Harry Potter series for the final four films, starting with 2007’s Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. He stayed in the Wizarding World for three Fantastic Beasts films, but is detouring into tough drama for the pill-pushing Netflix original Pain Hustlers. On the day he joined us, news of The Boy Who Lived hit the wire, so the ReelBlend hosts asked Yates to comment on David Holmes and his accident. The director lovingly remembered the stunt performer,
Film director David Yates hopped into the Harry Potter series for the final four films, starting with 2007’s Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. He stayed in the Wizarding World for three Fantastic Beasts films, but is detouring into tough drama for the pill-pushing Netflix original Pain Hustlers. On the day he joined us, news of The Boy Who Lived hit the wire, so the ReelBlend hosts asked Yates to comment on David Holmes and his accident. The director lovingly remembered the stunt performer,
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Short filmTranscript
00:00 In the past couple of days, the story came out about David Holmes and the documentary
00:04 that Daniel Radcliffe is putting.
00:07 And Daniel Radcliffe is, for people who don't know, Daniel Radcliffe's stunt double on Deathly
00:12 Hallows was paralyzed.
00:14 And there's a whole documentary coming out where Daniel Radcliffe's going to be in the
00:17 documentary with David Holmes.
00:20 I'm just curious, your perspective on that.
00:22 I didn't know this story.
00:23 I don't even remember if this was ever, I think maybe it came out in Tom Felton's book,
00:26 I think it was.
00:27 What was your perspective on that story and do you remember the day?
00:31 I'm assuming you do, but just what are your memories of that particular story?
00:34 I didn't know this.
00:35 Oh, gosh, yeah.
00:36 David is an extraordinary man and a graceful, bright, and he was very loved in the community.
00:45 And he was an amazing stuntman that sort of relic, you know, being a stuntman is an extraordinary
00:51 job.
00:52 And the people who do that generally are very committed.
00:56 It takes years and years and years to train.
00:58 You have to go through so many hoops and different disciplines, horse riding, swimming, gymnastics.
01:06 It's a real trial to even get admitted into the union to be able to do stunts.
01:14 And David was basically Dan's stunt double.
01:20 And there was a terrible accident.
01:22 I was on the main unit.
01:23 This was on the second unit stunt, you know, on the day.
01:26 I heard that it had happened and it was a wire pull, something that we did often.
01:34 And Greg Powell, who was involved, who was sort of the stunt wrangler, if you like, he
01:41 sort of did all of the stunts, was with David when it happened.
01:44 And I heard about it happening on a walkie talkie and David was rushed to hospital.
01:51 And so, yeah, he was paralyzed after this terrible accident and has kind of navigated
01:58 away through that with extraordinary, you know, it's been really, really difficult.
02:04 And, you know, Daniel has always been close to David and has always supported him and
02:13 been a good friend to him throughout those movies and subsequently.
02:18 So I'm really looking forward to seeing the documentary.
02:20 I think it'll be hard watch.
02:26 And David, in my experience, I've spoken to him two or three times in the last couple
02:32 of years and he came to the music recording on The Last Beast film.
02:39 And he's just a really graceful, wise soul who's dealt with this tragic accident with
02:46 such, you know, I know it's not been easy for him.
02:50 And he's had some real ups and downs, but he's dealt with it in a really sort of inspiring
02:55 way, I think, even though I know it's not been easy for him.
02:58 But he's a remarkable man.
03:00 And I'm sure the documentary is going to be not just a homage to him, but also to that
03:06 profession and the risks that they take for us to entertain us, to help us build our stories.
03:15 We ask a lot of them and the health and safety protocols generally are really good and effective,
03:22 but occasionally things go wrong.
03:25 And we all do our very best to make sure those standards are maintained.
03:31 But on this particular day, it was the timing of the pool and the sort of communication
03:37 between Greg and David.
03:40 I'm not absolutely sure quite how it, but we changed all our stunts after that.
03:45 It was horrible what happened to David.
03:50 And I'm looking forward to seeing the documentary.
03:52 Well, and it's not, you know, obviously the idea of an Oscar is somewhat hollow, but we
03:59 all keep arguing that there should be some recognition, you know, for the work that goes
04:03 into that union and on those films.
04:06 And so I hope that there's some change on that side as well, too.
04:10 I agree.
04:11 And I think I'm not sure where, I've heard that often said often that, why aren't we
04:17 recognising what these people do for us?
04:22 It's enormous.
04:23 It's an enormous contribution.
04:25 And yeah, so I think it's worth, yeah, I should check in with that.
04:30 [BLANK_AUDIO]