The Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone movie faced filming difficulties due to its cast, and the upcoming HBO remake will likely face the same problems. The series promised a book-faithful TV adaptation that would take about ten years to complete, and this will mean quite a commitment for the young actors cast to play the Hogwarts students. HBO will need to put a lot of time and thought into choosing these lucky kids—especially since the Harry Potter movies notoriously struggled to get usable performances out of the actors when they were young.
The Harry Potter movies took the world by storm, and this was majorly impactful to the actors who first took up their roles when they were hardly old enough to understand how this fame would affect their lives. Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, and the other child stars grew up on the set and learned much about their craft from the legendary adult cast that surrounded them. Of course, in the early days, such as in Sorcerer’s Stone, their acting chops weren’t entirely up to snuff, which made the film difficult for the director to pull off. The same is likely to be true for the Harry Potter reboot.
Child Stars Made The Harry Potter And The Sorcerer’s Stone Movie Harder To Produce
During the 2022 reunion special Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts, director Chris Columbus reflected on how difficult it was to wrangle the cast of 11-year-olds while filming Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. The stars were so excited to be “in Harry Potter” that they could hardly deliver lines without giggling or displaying their enthusiasm, even if the scene was supposed to be mysterious and solemn. This meant repeating take after take with as many cameras on Radcliffe, Watson, and Grint as possible, hoping that something would be useable for post-production.
Of course, this is to be expected of child actors and is the reason for the old Hollywood cliche “never work with children or animals.” Still, it’s entirely unavoidable with a story like Harry Potter. As the years passed and the actors matured, their professionalism improved—so installments like Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban onward had much smoother sailing. However, with the upcoming HBO series starting back in year one, the newest Harry Potter director will learn precisely what Columbus had been talking about.
The Harry Potter TV Remake Will Be Even More Challenging For Young Actors
Children working in the movie industry have always been a topic of debate. Once grown up, these young actors often have a lot to say about the pressure that was put on them when they were still at such a vulnerable age. A significant pride of the Harry Potter movies is that the now grown-up cast has had a lot of positive things to say about how they were managed on set. Directors like Columbus might have pulled out their hair from time to time trying to get the perfect shot of three children at once, but it’s clear that they were always allowed to be kids. The question is, will the Harry Potter remake be able to boast the same thing?
A TV series will mean hours, days, and weeks more work than was required from the original Harry Potter cast. The fact that HBO has promised a “book faithful” adaptation means that this will be a massive project for everyone involved, including the new child cast portraying Harry, Ron, and Hermione. The more work these kids do, the harder it will be for them to give their best performance—and with the fate of the Wizarding World resting on these young shoulders, a lot could go wrong.
Shows Like Stranger Things Prove Young Actors Are Capable (But Set The Bar Higher)
Naturally, the Harry Potter reboot won’t be the first TV series to depend on the performances of child stars. Netflix’s massively popular Stranger Things saw mind-blowing performances from actors who started about the same age as Harry Potter‘s Golden Trio in year one. In fact, it’s hard to deny that the acting of stars like Millie Bobby Brown in season 1 completely blew that of Radcliffe and co. in Sorcerer’s Stone out of the water.
The first Harry Potter movie is beloved and iconic, but audiences gave the young actors a lot of grace, and looking back, it’s clear they were inexperienced. However, as the years have gone by, shows like Stranger Things have really raised the bar, so it’s unlikely that the same level of grace will be given to the newer versions of Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Because of this, audiences are likely to see much stronger performances from the new Golden Trio, which on its own, is exciting. Still, this is a lot of pressure for any kid, and hopefully, the cast of the Harry Potter TV series will still be given the freedom to be children.
