11 Facts About “Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts” That Left Us Stupefied

In 2022, Harry Potter fans were jubilant because the documentary film Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts was released. Our favorite actors reunited to celebrate the first Harry Potter film. And viewers got an opportunity to travel back in time and learn some backstage secrets.

At Bright Side, we decided to learn the secrets of this film, and also find out what things were left off-screen.

The reunion evening was held at least twice.

Thanks to the efforts of the creators, the audience got the impression that the actors met and exchanged their memories under the cameras during just one evening. However, if you look attentively at the actors, you can see that the scenes were filmed on more than one day. For example, throughout the film, Emma Watson’s manicure changes as well as the number of rings on her fingers.

Some fans came up with a theory that Rupert Grint didn’t take part in the filming. And they proved to be right.

Attentive viewers came up with a theory that Rupert Grint wasn’t present at the reunion of the actors. They assumed that Rupert was shot separately, and it was patched into the master frame later.

The fact is that the filming of the reunion was carried out in London when Rupert Grint, according to fans, was supposed to be in Toronto working on the series Cabinet of Curiosities. And since the end credits of Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts had the names of specialists from Canada, the audience concluded that the footage with Rupert was filmed in Toronto. Soon this information was confirmed by the creators.

It wasn’t that easy to cast Daniel in the starring role.

At the beginning of Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts, film director Chris Columbus mentioned that the production team had to spend a lot of time finding the right actor to play Harry Potter. The problem was solved when Chris turned on the adaptation of David Copperfield and saw Radcliffe there.

In fact, Columbus’ colleagues didn’t want to approve Daniel: they wanted another candidate. They discussed the actors’ auditions for a long time and couldn’t make a choice. At some point, the crew decided to just go home, sleep on it, and reconvene.

“The other kid was terrific and very vulnerable and very Harry-looking, but besides that, Harry was going to become a very powerful kid too,” the casting director said. “And Daniel had both sides. So we chose him.”

The twins fooled everyone again.

Harry Potter fans will surely remember the moment in the movie Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone where the Weasley twins pulled a prank on their own mother. They made her doubt her ability to distinguish between her own sons. At platform 9 3/4, Fred declared, “Honestly, woman, you call yourself our mother? Can’t you tell I’m George?”

It’s unknown whether it was intentional or accidental, but the filmmakers misled viewers of the film when they showed twin actors James and Oliver Phelps. When they appeared together in one of the scenes, the credits at the bottom of the screen showed their names the other way around. On his social media page, Oliver Phelps reacted to this incident like this, “I guess after all those pranks over the years somebody decided to get their revenge.”

Emma Watson’s childhood photo was shown in the film. But in reality, it was the photo of another actress.

When the life of little Emma Watson was described in the film, they showed her childhood photo. But after the film was released, fans spotted a mistake. This is not the photo of Emma Watson, but of Emma Roberts.

Watson laughed at this mishap. She posted this photo on her social media page with the caption, “I was not this cute.” Roberts replied with a compliment saying, “I don’t believe that!”

Jason Isaacs thought through Lucius Malfoy’s look, to the smallest detail. And he didn’t even want to play this character.

When Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts was filmed, Jason Isaacs tweeted, “Don’t you dare start the party without me.” In the film, the actor told us that he intended to play Gilderoy Lockhart, but the film director asked him to read the lines of Lucius Malfoy. The actor didn’t like the idea of playing a villain again, so he was reading through gritted teeth and was deeply bitter. And that was exactly what the film director wanted.

After landing the role, Isaacs decided to create Lucius’s appearance. He suggested that his character should have long white hair, which was different from the moviemakers’ idea. Jason imitated his drama school teacher to get the patronizing manner of speech. And his cane deserves special attention. According to the actor’s idea, it was hollow. There was a hiding place inside where he carried his magic wand, and he pulled it out of there when his enemy least expected it.

Helena Bonham Carter and Bellatrix’s fake teeth

Bellatrix Lestrange is ​​one of the most memorable villains in the Harry Potter film series. Both her behavior and appearance haven’t left anyone indifferent. Just remember her sinister smile. On the set of Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts, the actress even brought her character’s false teeth in a bag and tried them on again.

But few people know that it was Helena Bonham Carter’s idea that her character have such a frightening smile. “So the rotten teeth were my idea, because she had been in prison so long. I wanted her to be sexy and revolting at the same time,” the actress said. Thus, Bellatrix’s teeth revealed the nature of the character. Helena had to wear this prop almost without taking it off, so that she could get used to them and speak clearly in front of the camera.

Robert Pattinson didn’t join the reunion but he also didn’t miss the opportunity to recall his appearance in the Harry Potter film series.

The actor who played Cedric Diggory didn’t take part in the filming of Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts. The reason for this could be his ambiguous relationship with Daniel Radcliffe, which the latter called “strange.” Daniel said, “We basically only communicate through journalists. But everyone assumes we’re kind of great mates.” Perhaps Pattinson’s absence has nothing to do with Daniel’s statement, and he was just busy with another project.

One way or another, Robert was happy to recall his work in the movie Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. He also explained why Cedric Diggory held his wand in such a strange way. “So I’m holding it like with 2 hands, like I’m in a Die Hard movie,” Pattinson recalled. Also, the actor came up with the idea of Cedric being introduced by jumping out of a tree. Eventually, Pattinson used this idea in Twilight.

Emma Watson confessed that she had feelings for Tom Felton, and this is what happened next.

In the film, Emma Watson confessed that she used to have a crush on Tom Felton, who played Draco Malfoy. One day, teachers asked child actors to draw what they thought God looked like and Tom drew a girl with a backward cap on a skateboard. When little Emma saw this, she irrevocably fell in love with her colleague.

In a recent interview, Watson was asked if she was embarrassed to talk about her childhood crush on Tom Felton in front of the cameras? Emma replied that she had already discussed it with Tom and had come to the conclusion that it was sweet.

Rupert Grint wasn’t as lazy as it might seem from the film director’s story.

There was a funny moment discussed in the film. While working on Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, the film director asked the Big Three to write essays about their characters. Daniel and Emma completed the task, and the actress even showed up with around 16 pages of text. And Rupert didn’t write anything, making the excuse that Ron wouldn’t have done it either.

It may seem that Grint was just lazy but, in fact, the actor had a good reason to ignore the director’s task. He was the oldest of the 3 and was preparing to take his high school exams. He simply didn’t have any free time to write an essay. But, we must admit, he did make up a nice excuse.

Robbie Coltrane lives in a cabin, just like Hagrid.

Perhaps one of the most emotional moments of the reunion was Robbie Coltrane’s speech, which he delivered with tears in his eyes, “My children’s generation will show the films to their children so you could be watching it in 50 years’ time easy. I’ll not be here, sadly, but Hagrid will.”

Remarkable is the fact that the actor has become a real hermit, almost like his character. Despite being one of the highest-earning actors in the franchise, Robbie lives in a rented barn in the hills of Scotland. The actor leads a secluded life and is not interested in social events.

Did you watch Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts? Which moments seemed the funniest to you? And which moments made you cry? Tell us in the comments below.