HARRY POTTER MEMORIES
”I was thrilled that I was going to get time out of school and more time on a film set, because I enjoyed [the 1999 BBC miniseries] David Copperfield. But I wasn’t at the time as swept away by the Harry Potter phenomenon as other kids were. The full implications didn’t mean as much to me at the time, though over the 10 years that followed I had great fun playing the part.” —Daniel Radcliffe
”When it came time to shoot the big kiss between Ron and Hermione, Rupert [Grint] and I cracked under the pressure. We were just dying from laughter. It was quite hard to take it all so seriously, but we also knew we had to do it right, because we had only been building up to this moment for 10 years and seven films. I think we got there at the end. I was nervous and giggly, but it was good.” —Emma Watson
”The first thing I shot was the very last scene of the first film, when we’re all on the train and leaving Hogwarts and going home. It was my first time anywhere near a film set. There were so many people and so much going on. It was very confusing, and very overwhelming, and yet also really, really exciting. From the very first time Chris Columbus said, ‘Action!’ I was just on this amazing high.” —Rupert Grint
”[My twin brother Oliver and I] actually didn’t find out who was going to play Fred Weasley and who was going to play George Weasley until the read-through. We had the scripts and everything. I honestly did prefer Fred, and that’s how it turned out.” —James Phelps
”Daniel is very inspiring to have on set because he’s a real workaholic. When you’re there for a long day, he’s the first one to boost morale and remind us all how lucky we are to be there.” —Tom Felton
”We all read the books when Jo [Rowling] released them, along with everyone else. It let us experience the books as readers and as fans, not just as people who work on the movie.” —Bonnie Wright
”I was an obsessive fan of the books and movies. I remember the day [director] David Yates phoned the house and said I’d be doing a screen test with Daniel Radcliffe. I was pretending to be like, ‘Yup, that’s fine.’ And I was freaking out inside.” —Evanna Lynch
”I wore a fat suit in [films] 3, 4, 5, and 6. And I had false teeth in 3 and 4. I didn’t mind it — until I was 14 or 15 and there were girls on set. I was a bit like, ‘Why me?”’ —Matthew Lewis
”My [filming] was always contained to seven weeks of the year. The rest of the time I was making other movies or directing. But as soon as I put that Snape costume back on, I sort of go, ‘Oh, yeah…I know you.” —Alan Rickman
