"I wrote what I wanted, not realizing that my books would become so popular" - JK Rowling. The total circulation of her Harry Potter novels exceeded 300 million copies, many times more than the number of editions of any other children's publication. Each story describes one year in the life of a wizard boy. All seven parts have become bestsellers and have been translated into many languages because have readers all over the world. Let's find out interesting and even funny facts about how the adaptation of the beloved Harry Potter series of books took place.
1. During the first Potions class, Snape asked Potter what would come out of mixing asphodel root powder and wormwood tincture. Interestingly, in the language of flowers of the Victorian era, asphodel means a lily, symbolizing endless regret, and wormwood - the grief of loss. The professor probably meant that he was bitterly sorry for the death of Harry's mother, Lily, whom he loved unconditionally all his life.
2. Daniel Radcliffe wore 160 pairs of glasses throughout filming, the first and last of which he kept as a keepsake. Rupert Grint left himself a sign with the number of the house on Privet Alley, and Watson - the cape of her heroine and the flywheel of time.
3. Tom Felton, who played the role of Draco Malfoy, endlessly dragged sweets and rolls from the buffet during the filming. As a result, they decided to sew up the pockets of his suit so that he would not be distracted from the filming process.
4. Emma Watson had three stunt doubles while filming the Wizard Boy scene, while Radcliffe only had one.
5. According to the actors, due to the fact that they were growing faster than the film was made, they had to make casts of teeth - in case their milk teeth fall out and you need to make false prototypes for the realism of the frame.
6. The huge hall, in which the characters of the film often dined, was one of the real film sets. It was so huge that 22 London double-decker buses could easily fit inside it. This set was one of the main ones during the filming, so they decided to lay out its floor with York stone, which allowed it to successfully survive the test of time and not fall apart during constant walking. And about 100 tons of plaster were spent on finishing the walls of the hall.
7. On the set of the first part of the film, all the food on the tables of the Hogwarts hall was real! So, director Chris Columbus tried to recreate the holidays the same as they were depicted in the book. And he definitely succeeded! The downside was that the prepared food spoiled quickly and the actors had to endure the terrible smell of spoiled goodies. On the set of the next parts of the film, food was frozen or they made dummies that could not be distinguished from real dishes.
8. A lot of floating candles in the school created a special unique atmosphere in the large hall. The props were hung on wires, after which the wiring was hidden from the eyes of the audience using computer graphics. However, when the candles were burned for a long time, generating intense heat, the wires melted and the burning candles fell on the tables with food and on the heads of the actors. After that, they decided to replace real candles with special effects.
9. Hogwarts, seen for the first time on the screens, greatly impressed both the audience and the actors themselves. Its layout was made on a scale of 1:24, and more than 40 people painstakingly worked on its creation for 7 months. Such careful development has helped to capture many small details, such as the lights in the castle towers and vegetation. As the plot developed, the layout had to be modified, which each time took an average of 3-4 months.
10. Fictional elf character Dobby was made using graphics. On the set, his body was replaced with a large stick, and his face - with a tennis ball. So the actors had to talk with this stick and ball during the filming.
11. An incredible amount of handmade props were created for filming, such as 17,000 hand-signed chopstick boxes. Each wand used in the film is unique. 250 body casts were developed for different scenes, 120 previously non-existent objects, and about 200 creatures were created.
12. Thomas Sangster auditioned for the role of Ron Weasley but was not the right age. They did not take him, preferring Rupert Grint.
13. Not only was Potter so significantly different from his peers, but he was also endlessly told that he had his mother's eyes, the color of which in the book is green. In the film, this could not be made, since Radcliffe is allergic to contact lenses. It was decided to leave Harry's eyes blue, and for good reason, because the actress who played the role of Harry's mother also has blue eyes. As a result, the similarity coincided!
14. It was a break in the filming of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" due to the final exams of the main actors. The break cost Warner Studios a tidy sum - 5 million dollars.
15. Weasley's father's flying blue car from Chamber of Secrets was based on the memoirs of author JK Rowling, who drove the same Ford in her youth. During the filming of the Whomping Willow scene, 14 identical cars were destroyed.
