The Harry Potter films looked as if they were made with pure magic – but really it all came down to clever filmmaking trickery. Draco Malfoy star Tom Felton has just released his new book which delves into some of the film franchise’s on-set secrets. And he revealed that Daniel Radcliffe, the actor behind Harry Potter, used his childhood crush to help him perfect some of his most iconic film moments.
Felton’s new memoir, Beyond the Wand: The Magic and Mayhem of Growing Up a Wizard, just hit bookshelves and delivers a collection of secrets used in the Wizarding World.
In the book, he revealed that each of the young actors were allowed to bring photos to help with their acting while flying on broomsticks.
Flying became a key part of the Harry Potter series early on, so Radcliffe had a lot of time to sit around on the broom. Because of this, he needed a certain Hollywood star to urge him to act accordingly.
Felton recalled: “The broomstick was a metal pole fitted with a deeply uncomfortable bike saddle. They had a more elaborate see-saw device to move you up and down, left and right. They blew fans in your face to make it look as if you had the wind in your hair.”
A lot of the time, Felton recalled, a tennis ball on a long pole was used to grab the actors’ attention while playing out certain scenes.
“Sometimes there would be more than one tennis ball up there,” he added. “And as one looked very much like another, after a while they gave us more individual objects to stare at. We chose pictures of something or somebody close to our hearts.”
He revealed: “Daniel Radcliffe had a picture of a particularly beautiful Cameron Diaz.”
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Radcliffe said: “Juno Temple! I’ve worked with her, she’s gorgeous, and I wouldn’t mind saying her name.”
Meanwhile, Felton had a different kind of photo of desire for his broomstick flying scenes.
The seasoned fisher admitted he chose “a picture of an even more beautiful carp” to make sure his scenes were as good as possible. (Via Insider)
Not every moment of Felton’s memoir is filled with whimsy and wonder, however. Later in the book he opened up about his struggles with alcohol, and how he went to rehab to deal with his demons.
Felton confessed that the drinking eventually started to interfere with his work. He said: “I went from being not particularly interested [in alcohol] to regularly having a few pints a day before the sun had even gone down, and a shot of whiskey to go with each of them.”
His management team threatened to drop him from their roster, so they teamed up with Felton’s girlfriend to stage an intervention. Soon after he agreed to enter a rehabilitation facility in Malibu. But he “wasn’t yet ready” to admit he had a problem.
Instead, he broke out of the rehab centre and walked “several miles” to a bar in Hollywood. Along the way, someone stopped him and asked whether he considered if he “was really a rich man” in his life. (Via Cosmopolitan)
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