DAVID HEYMAN
For over a decade, DAVID HEYMAN made big-screen magic as the producer of the Harry Potter movies. Now, he tackles your questions, on every subject from wand-manufacturing to AWOL elves
The producer who steered Harry Potter to the big screen answers your questions.
EIGHT FILMS IN ten years. A sprawling cast incorporating newcomers and some of the greatest British actors of all time. Gigantic sets, teeming with magic. Its own ultra-sugary beverage. Across the ’00s and early ’10s, the Harry Potter movies were a formidable filmmaking force, taking the enchanting tales of the boy wizard and spinning them into epic British blockbusters that brought the Wizarding World to vivid life. While the Potter films came from four distinct filmmakers — Chris Columbus, Alfonso Cuarón, Mike Newell and David Yates — who each brought their own flavour to J.K. Rowling’s creation, the glue holding it all together was producer David Heyman. After reading an advance copy of The Philosopher’s Stone in 1997, he knew he had to bring it to the screen, and spent over a decade doing exactly that. We hopped on the phone with him (the Floo Network was down) to get answers to your Potter queries, no matter how leftfield or Butterbeer-based.
Is there something from one of the books that didn’t make it into the films that you wish had? SARA HORVOTA
We always left things out that were painful. We shot [Rik Mayall as Hogwarts poltergeist] Peeves in the first film and I loved his anarchy, but it didn’t fit. I love the Quidditch from the fifth book — Ron is so funny and it was good character development, but there just wasn’t a place for it. S.P.E.W. — the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare — was a wonderful part of the books, Hermione’s mission to protect these outsiders. Not being able to film the Quidditch World Cup [match] in Goblet Of Fire — that was more because it was so spectacular. The backstory of the Marauders, of James and
Sirius and Peter Pettigrew — that was such wonderful colour, and informed Harry’s
relationship with Sirius in a really interesting way. Those are things I missed. But I do feel like we made the right choices for the films we were making. Kreacher was almost cut from the fifth film, and Jo [Rowling] said, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you, because he does have a role to play later on.” So Kreacher remained, and thankfully he did because he was a significant House Elf.
Was there a moment when shooting the first film that you realised you truly had something special on your hands? LUKE MARTIN
I realised I had something special when I first read the book. I loved it. It moved me. I fell in love with it before it was published. I’ll never forget being on set that first day, filming the last scene of Philosopher’s Stone where Hagrid and Harry bid farewell at the railway station at Hogsmeade. Dan [Radcliffe] was wearing these contact lenses to make his eyes green, and he had an allergic reaction to them. His eyes were red and swollen and we had to take them out — we thought we may add that green digitally, though ultimately we decided not to because it felt artificial. But Dan’s eyes were puffy and red, and oddly it was quite appropriate for the scene where he was saying goodbye to Hagrid.
You gathered an amazing British cast for the films. Was there anyone you wished you’d been able to get into one of them that you weren’t able to? PHIL JEPSON
No. I had the great fortune of working with so many people who I’d admired for an age. Gary Oldman had always been one of my favourite actors. And Alan Rickman. Michael Gambon. Richard Harris. Imelda Staunton. David Bradley. I feel bad because I’m leaving so many out. It’s a hard one, because this country has so many great actors that would have fit quite well in our world, whether it be Judi Dench, Hugh Grant or Tilda Swinton. Every time I watch TV or go to the theatre or watch films, I look and see actors who I want to work with. “I wonder if they’d have been good in this or that?” And Potter is obviously a huge part of my life, so
I do wonder that, too.
Why was Winky the House Elf cut from the films? STUART BARBOUR
You’re condensing stories and trying to keep a narrative going. Winky was such a brilliant character, but like with S.P.E.W. you have to make difficult, uncomfortable choices. Other elements became more important in defining a more singular narrative, which is what we were trying to do. There just wasn’t room.
How difficult was recasting Dumbledore? CHRISTOPHER DALEY
It was really difficult. Richard [Harris] was my godfather. Richard was someone I grew up with. A vivid giant of a character. I went to see him in hospital when we were prepping the third film, and he said, “Don’t you dare recast me. I’ll be there.” And he couldn’t be. It was so painful in so many ways. In Michael [Gambon], I think that there was a slight shift in Dumbledore — embracing a little more of his eccentricity and hippie-dom, as it were. It may have lost a little bit of the physicality that Richard had, but Michael brought another side. Richard was brilliant. I mean, he became Dumbledore. He was Dumbledore. You knew that he would be there to protect you. But Michael brought other colours which I think were brilliant and highlighted different sides of Dumbledore’s character. Just a fantastic actor, with a little twinkle in his eye too. Richard had a particular twinkle. Mischievous. So too did Gambon.
Would you ever release extended editions of all the Harry Potter movies with all the scenes that were shot but didn’t even appear in the DVD extras? ILARIA INFANTE
That’s up to Warner Bros. When you leave scenes out, you leave them out for a reason. Partly it’s bringing down the length, but partly the scenes don’t fit within the arc or drive of the film. I know some scenes have been fitted in — ABC, who showed some of the films in the US, had extended cuts which included some of the deleted scenes. I never like those. I understand that fans may enjoy them, but for me, I always feel marginally uncomfortable in the sense that they’re not the film that we delivered. And there’s a reason why we delivered those. Nobody ever told us to cut out a scene — we did it of our own volition because it didn’t feel right, or it wasn’t best for the film we were making. I don’t mind having those deleted scenes accessible to people to have a look at, because some of them are good scenes — they just didn’t necessarily fit.
How many different scenes did you do on average for the wizarding portraits? SAMUEL HEILIGERS
I don’t know how many, but we did a lot. There were quite a lot of portraits on the staircase that don’t move, because to film them is time-consuming and costly. It requires a unit, production design, and actors. We painted a lot more than we shot. A lot of the people in the paintings are crew members, or friends of the art department. I’m a doctor in one, along with [Prisoner Of Azkaban cinematographer] Michael Seresin. Alfonso [Cuarón, director] did that one. I have a single portrait in the first film, and then
I’m in another one with my family. I’m in three portraits, spread out over my time working on the films.
What was your favourite little detail that you came across on set? SOPHIE COLES
The Gryffindor common room was my favourite set — it’s so warm, it just feels like a place you want to spend time in. In the common room was a notice board, and when you watch the films you can see there are little notes on it. We never go really close up, but every one of those notices is filled with writing that crew members or their children wrote. It’s incredible. From class schedules to names to events that are going on, to rules, things that you’d never see. It may sound excessive, but I think all that detail just contributed to making that world that much more real.
Which magical creature was the greatest challenge to create? CHARLOTTE AMMIRATO
Dobby. He’s quite a vivid and broad character, and to combine that with the vulnerability and pathos that it required was challenging. At that time, to get across that detail of character in animation and rendering was very challenging and unusual. Designing the Hippogriff was challenging in different ways. When you’re blending together these creatures which are more than one thing... Should it be two legs, four legs? How do they fly? We actually built a Hippogriff. The detail that [creature-effects designer] Nick Dudman and his team created — putting feathers in individually to create the wings and the body — was just glorious.
Are the wands actually real bits of trees or are they all fake? (My daughter asked this when she was five.) JOHN SON SINGH
A lot of them are moulded and made from fibreglass. We often make multiple versions of the wands so that you can have doubles using them, and also just in case they break. I have a version of Harry’s first wand from
The Philosopher’s Stone.
Did you ever consider Peter O’toole for Albus Dumbledore? DANIEL PECKETT
Yes. I mean, there were other people on that list, both when we were thinking about who should be Dumbledore the first time, and then when replacing Richard. Peter O’toole was definitely a name. It felt like it would have been a lovely honour to Richard, because they were friendly and there are striking similarities, but Alfonso wanted to go in a different direction. Peter