Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film)/Trivia

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Trivia about Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film) includes:

• Acting for Two: Ian Hart played Quirrell and provided the voice and motion capture for the wraith of Voldemort (Richard Bremmer was not the voice, he portrayed Voldemort in the flashback to the death of Harry's parents).
• All-Star Cast: When making the film, Columbus commented, "I put together a list of my dream cast. And every one of them said 'Yes.' That never happens."
• The Cameo:
  • Maybe. Rumor persists that die-hard Real Life Harry Potter fan Drew Barrymore has an uncredited cameo in the film.
  • Chris Columbus cast his own children in various nonspeaking background roles. Most famously, his daughter Eleanor is Susan Bones, who is seen in nearly every crowd scene.
• Creator Cameo: Averted by choice. For the Mirror of Erised scene, Chris Columbus offered J. K. Rowling a cameo as Lily Potter. She politely refused, saying that it was best left for a real actor, and didn't want people to think she had written some Self-Insert Fic.
• Market-Based Title: Thanks to Scholastic Books deciding that American school children wouldn't understand what a "Philosopher's Stone" was, the film was forced to follow their lead with two different titles (and numerous double-shoots and two different edits), one for the US and one for everywhere else.
• Never Work with Children or Animals: As Katie Couric pointed out in a TV special about the making of the film, Harry Potter breaks both rules rather spectacularly. Chris Columbus has said that the film is full of cuts because the kids would so often ruin takes by laughing, looking into the camera, etc. He was therefore quite impressed that the main trio had progressed enough to be able to do The Oner in later films. And, of course, the UK's child actor laws provided the inconvenience of only being able to use their lead actors for four hours per day while they were still underage. The Great Hall scenes were especially difficult, as they combined the difficulty of working with children and the difficulty of working with crowds.
• Promoted Fanboy: Rupert Grint, as he had an obsession over being Ron once he realized how many similarities he had to the character.
• So My Kids Can Watch: The late Richard Harris took the role of Dumbledore at the insistence of his grandchildren.
• What Could Have Been: The adult casting:
  • Sean Connery was offered the role of Dumbledore, but turned it down because he's not a fan of the fantasy genre. Patrick McGoohan was also considered, before Richard Harris was cast.
  • Tim Roth was cast as Snape, but ultimately dropped out to play General Thade in Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes. Talk about a bad career choice...
  • Rik Mayall had a role in the first film playing prankster poltergeist Peeves, but it ended up on the cutting room floor, never to be seen again.
  • David Thewlis, who would eventually play Lupin, originally auditioned for the part of Professor Quirrell.
  • Terry Gilliam was handpicked by Rowling to direct, but he was quickly replaced by Chris Columbus after butting heads with the Warner Brothers.

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