The final Harry Potter film was released twelve years ago, but the charm of Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint is still vivid in every Potterhead’s memory. The beloved trio made the franchise more magical, but the road to casting the actors was not smooth sailing.
Many actors were contending for the coveted roles of Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley based on J.K. Rowling’s famous children’s novels. There were many rules imposed strictly, such as an all-British cast down to the actors’ specific eye color.
Daniel Radcliffe And Emma Watson’s Conversation Proved They Were The Perfect Cast For Harry Potter
Casting director Janet Hirshenson revealed in an interview that before she joined the project, there were already a bunch of actors selected for the main roles. The parts of Ron and Hermione were already narrowed down, but Harry remains vacant. She explained via HuffPost:
“It was really specific on ages because there were several movies hopefully, so we could not go for a small 13-year-old to play anybody. They had to be at least the proper age of the character. And for Harry, to complicate things, I needed a blue- or green-eyed kid because part of Harry is his green eyes or blue-green, but they couldn’t be brown eyes, so that was another elimination thing.”
The search for the perfect Harry Potter continued, and director Chris Columbus found Daniel Radcliffe. He showed a tape of the actor from BBC’s 1999 version of David Copperfield to Hirshenson, but unfortunately, Radcliffe was not interested in the project.
After several screen tests and persistently convincing Radcliffe to join the audition, they finally found their Harry Potter. On the other hand, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint stood out amongst the candidates, and they were fairly easy choices.
The three young actors were called into Columbus’ office with no idea if they got the part. After a long suspense, they were told that they bagged their respective roles. The trio chatted for a while, and Watson asked Radcliffe if he liked the novels. He answered, “Yeah, I like WWF better.”
Watson gave a Hermione-like expression of disappointment, and the whole team just looked at them in amazement. Hirshenson added, “And we just all were like, ‘Whoa, this is them!’” She also recalled how Rowling had a smile on her face during their first table reading.
Casting Director Reveals Why They Chose Emma Watson
Hirshenson stated in the same interview with HuffPost how Emma Watson won their hearts during the auditions. There was another girl who was a strong contender for the role, but it was Watson’s presence that immediately arrested their attention. She shared:
“The character needed to be towards the annoying side at times, but not too annoying, so the other one we said, after a while she’s going to be annoying. But with Emma, after a while you’re going to love her all the more.”
Indeed, Watson’s performance as Hermione Granger exceeded both directors’ and fans’ expectations. Even in real life, the 33-year-old model and activist exudes the same brilliance and eloquence that her character is famously known for in the film.
Source: HuffPost
