Nearly 20 years ago, the world was forever changed when Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone burst on to the scene.
The franchise helped to forever change the landscape of modern cinema .
To celebrate this monumental movie, I’ve managed to piece together 10+ Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone behind the scenes secrets that fans didn’t know. Get ready to yell “Expelliarmus!”
1. The film was released under a different title in the United States.
J.K. Rowling’s American publishers had their doubts about the title from the beginning. They felt that children in the States wouldn’t want to read a book with the word ‘ philosopher ‘ in the title.
Hence, it was changed to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone .
2. Daniel Radcliffe had to wear color contacts.
Much to his dismay! Daniel’s eyes are a bright brilliant blue, while Harry’s, on the other hand, are supposed to look like two jade pools — at least according to the books.
They were incredibly painful and he only wore them for the first film.
3. The film sparked severe outcry from the religious community.
Certain religious sects weren’t exactly thrilled about the use of magic and some of the underlying themes in the film as well.
The film was banned in several countries around the world.
4. Richard Harris turned down the role of Dumbledore — 3 different times!
A major caveat to signing-on to any role in the Potterverse meant that you were committing to be in the sequels as well. Which isn’t how Richard envisioned spending his twilight years.
In the end, he was persuaded by his granddaughter after she threatened to never speak to him again should he decline.
5. Daniel Radcliffe was the only little boy in the UK who didn’t want to be Harry Potter.
After Chris Columbus saw Daniel in the BBC’s version of David Copperfield , he knew he’d found his Harry.
But by that point, Daniel had already taken himself out of the running. He just didn’t want to be an actor anymore.
6. J.K. Rowling had a much darker vision in mind.
Author of the Harry Potter series, J.K. Rowling, originally wanted Terry Gilliam to direct.
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Can you imagine seeing Hogwarts through the lens of the man who directed Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas ? The thought both thrills and terrifies me.
7. Director Chris Columbus’ request to film at Canterbury Cathedral was denied.
I can’t say that this surprises me. Chris originally planned on converting the famous cathedral into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
His request was shot down due to what church officials called ” pagan themes .”
8. Tom Holland was the first choice to play Harry Potter!
Sadly, Tom was just too old at the time. He’d just finished doing Billy Elliot and was on the verge of turning 14.
So does that mean that in some alternate universe Daniel Radcliffe would be Spider-Man?
9. At one time, Steven Spielberg was attached to direct!
This one just hurts my heart! Supposedly Steven was reluctant to commit because he didn’t want to make a movie that was just for kids.
Really, Steven? What about Hook ? Or E.T. ? Aren’t those also kids’ movies?
10. Harry Potter came very close to being animated.
Supposedly after Steven Spielberg initially passed on the project, he presented the idea of combining the books into one long Pixar-style animated feature.
A suggestion that didn’t sit well with then-President of Warner Bros. Studios, Alan Horn.
11. It was Robin Williams’ dream to play Hagrid.
Robin wrote countless letters to Chris Columbus but it was all for naught. The production had a very strict British-only rule that was enforced at all casting levels.
Oh, what could have been…
12. The Great Hall seriously stunk.
All of the food that you see during the feast scenes in the Great Hall is real.
According to Warwick Davis (Prof. Flitwick), it wasn’t at all uncommon for the food to be left out for days at a time.
13. Emma Watson is wearing fake teeth in only one scene in the film!
The first scene that Chris Columbus shot was the final scene of the film — when they’re going home on the train. If you look closely, you can see that Emma Watson is wearing a set of fake teeth .
Chris Columbus quickly realized they not only hurt her mouth but made it nearly impossible to talk!
14. J.K. Rowling always knew that Alan Rickman would play Severus Snape.
The famed author hand-selected Rickman while the film was still in pre-production.
Rowling was such a devoted believer of Rickman’s ability to portray the character, that she even shared secret pieces of information about Snape that was never made public.
According to J.K. Rowling, she revealed the truth behind the word “Always.” to Alan.
Spoiler Alert! ” Always ” is what Snape says to Dumbledore when he asks if his Patronus always takes the form of Lily Potter’s — Snape’s fallen love!
