Fans were left in tears after watching the Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts reunion, which included an emotional tribute to all of the films’ actors that have sadly passed away ‘too soon’.
The feature-length special featured interviews with cast and crew, who reflected on their time working on the hugely popular movie franchise, based on the books by J.K. Rowling.
But towards the end, viewers found themselves welling up as the stars paid tribute to their former colleagues who have since passed away, including Alan Rickman, Helen McCrory, Richard Harris, Richard Griffith and John Hurt.
Emma Watson said: “It’s obviously amazing to be back, but it’s so I guess shocking that so many people that we both thought would be around for much longer than they have been, like Helen, Alan, Richard and...”
As she trailed off, Rupert Grint added: “Yeah, they’re like family. You grieve in the same way. Just too soon.”
Later in the segment, Daniel Radcliffe also said: “I feel really lucky to have some little bit of touch with the amount of amazing people that just passed [...] I’ll be very old one day, saying ‘I knew that absolute legend!’"
RICHARD HARRIS
Emma Watson: “Richard Harris was such a special, warm person. He was so twinkly.”
Director Chris Columbus: “Well, Richard was classic. Probably one of the funniest men I’ve ever met. He was this devilish 11-year-old trapped in a 70+ year-old man’s body.
“He just had that glint in his eye – which made him the perfect Dumbledore, by the way.
“He was brutally hilarious.”
RICHARD GRIFFITH
Producer David Heyman: “Richard Griffith was just delicious as Mr Dursley. He embraced his wickedness with such verve and passion.
Daniel Radcliffe: “His passing was the one that’s affected me the most because he was generous with knowledge – he just wanted to share everything with you.”
HELEN MCCRORY
Jason Isaacs: “Helen McCrory played my wife. I said, ‘I think I’ve just met the best actress I’ve ever seen in my life'. I feel lucky to have worked with her and shared so much frankly adolescent laughter on set.”
Tom Felton: “She taught me a lot. [TEARING UP] See, I can’t even say it. She had this ability just to sort of show such empathy in her eyes. It was a real treat to work with her.”
ALAN RICKMAN
Emma Watson: “Alan Rickman never talked to me like a child. He always took my thoughts and opinions very seriously, which I was always very touched by."
Ralph Fiennes: “Alan was a very dear friend, and we had that final scene – his final scene […] I was a little intimidated by him, his precision, his expert delivery of lines. We sort of went toe-to-toe in a funny way - Snape and Voldemort. Two actors can relish metaphorically fencing with each other; Alan was a magician in that way as an actor.”
Topics: TV and Film, Harry Potter
Jess Hardiman