Daniel Radcliffe was left in tears on the set of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, according to his stunt double.
Radcliffe was just 11-years-old when he was cast as the titular wizard in the movie adaptation of the books by JK Rowling. The stories follow a young wizard as he bands together with his friends to beat evil wizard, Lord Voldemort.
Because of Radcliffe’s young age and inexperience, stuntman David Holmes, was recruited to perform his stunts for him. Holmes was 17-years-old and in Sixth Form when he got the gig.
Holmes was seriously injured and suffered a broken neck, which left him paralysed from the chest down and permanently disabled following an accident on the set of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in 2009.
“Dan and I became friends and he became comfortable with doing some of the minor stunts, or gags as they are called, himself,” Holmes wrote in an extract from his memoir, The Boy Who Lived, published in The Times.
“One of these took place as we shot the scenes in which the ghost of Voldemort passed through Harry towards the end of The Philosopher’s Stone, a moment that sends him to the floor.
“I had given Dan his own set of hip and back pads to mark the occasion, but during the set-up he’d taken the wrong position and was a couple of steps ahead of where he was supposed to be. Worse, I hadn’t noticed. As filming began, Dan fell back as planned, but smacked his head on the wall behind.”
Once the accident happened, Radcliffe was left devastated and in tears.
“When I looked down at him, his eyes were brimming with tears,” Holmes explained.
“My stomach lurched. Not only was I responsible for taking the whacks on Dan’s behalf, but I also had to check his safety whenever he was doing any physical work. Instead, I’d become distracted. The previous day I had busted a rib or two in a gag that had gone wrong.
“I had been nursing my own bruises and taken my eye off the ball.When it was decided we should stop for the day, Dan looked crestfallen.
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“That’s when I realised: Dan hadn’t been crying from the pain. He was worried that he wouldn’t get to complete his first ever gag.”
Radcliffe made a documentary on Holmes after the accident that left the stunt double permanently disabled. David Holmes: The Boy Who Lived was said to shine a light on the “tragic” incident that “turned his world upside down”. Holmes and Radcliffe also went on to create a podcast, Cunning Stunts, to raise awareness about the issues stunt performers face.
The Harry Potter books have sold more than 600 million copies worldwide, with the movies making a record-breaking $7.7bn.