There was a lot involved when it came to making the Harry Potter films adapted from the novels by J.K Rowling. Like with any book-to-film adaptation, content was changed, cut, or added.

In addition, there are lots of facts you can find online about what happened behind the scenes when making the Harry Potter movies. But here I am going to give a select number of facts that stand out to me the most and why.

Below is the list:

1: Despite J.K. Rowling’s request for an all-British and Irish cast, exceptions were made for Americans Julianne Houghes and Eleanor Columbus

J.K. Rowling made this request so that the characters would remain authentically British and regional accents would be accurate. She also wanted to prevent any Americanizing of her content, including having any American actors play her characters and use fake British accents, even if they sound real.

In fact, 2 American actors were rejected from joining the cast. They were Liam Aiken, who was considered for Harry, and Robin Williams, who wanted to try out for Hagrid. But they were turned away because of the British and Irish-only cast policy.

Regardless of that, though, exceptions were made for Americans Julianne Hughes and Eleanor Columbus, who is the daughter of Director Chris Columbus – who is American. It actually sounds ironic to me that they would let an American direct the films, but only let British actors play the characters.

However, the reasons exceptions were given to Julianne Hughes and Eleanor Columbus was because they were very minor, non-speaking roles. Julianne Hughes was just an extra in the first movie, which technically doesn’t count as a character. Eleanor Columba played Hufflepuff student Susan Bones. She is a minor character in both the books and the films.

Eleanor Columbus only appeared in the first and second Harry Potter movies as Susan. And she gets no lines in either.

2: J.K. Rowling was considered for the part of Lily Potter 

Not surprisingly, she turned it down. Then the part of Lily Potter was given to actress Geraldine Somerville.

What I do find surprising was how J.K. Rowling likely did not tell the casting people the ages of Lily and James Potter. The seventh book and film reveals that they were only 21 when they died. Yet the actors who played them were in their 30s and 40s.

There is a rumor that the adults from that generation were aged up so that Alan Rickman could have played Snape. But it doesn’t make sense to me. Even as a 55-year-old playing a 31-year-old, Alan Rickman could’ve worn makeup to make him look younger.

The filmmakers could have considered actually aging up Lily, James, and their peers, making them at least 10 years older than in the book. But then maybe J.K.Rowling reminded them how it was important for Lily and James to die so young.

Hopefully, the HBO series will cast actors for Lily and James who actually are around or at least look 21. They did okay with that for the parts of Queenie and Tina Goldstein in the Fantastic Beast movies. Yes, they were actually in their early 20s – the characters.

3: Warner Brothers got sued by Russia for Dobby’s appearance in the Harry Potter Films

This happened back in 2003. The reason is because the Russian government thought the CGI design of Dobby looked kind of like Russian President Vladimir Putin – and in an offensive manner.

However, the lawsuit never actually made it to court. And even though Dobby wasn’t intended to look like Vladimir Putin, people can technically get away with public figures being portrayed as parodied versions.

4: The actress playing Moaning Myrtle was 37 to 40 in the films, despite playing a young teen student

While most of the child characters were played by actors close in age with them, Moaning Myrtle was an exception. Even though the character is only 14, the actress who played her, Shirley Henderson, was 37 to 40. That made her the oldest actress to play a Hogwarts student.

But I think she was way too old for the part. The crew even told Shirley Henderson to hide her age from the child actors. But once they found out, they were probably shocked. Their parents might have become uncomfortable, too.

5: The Goblet of Fire was originally going to be split in 2 parts like The Deathly Hallows

However, the Triwizard Tournament made the idea sound awkward for the crew. For example, the first task would be part of part one and the second and third task in part 2. I’m just making a guess about where each task would be.

But honestly, I am glad that The Goblet of Fire stayed in one movie.

Yes, a lot of content from the book enjoyed by fans were cut from the film, such as Hermione’s plan to free the house elves from slavery. But I feel like a 2-part movie would have been too much too soon.

I was even against the idea of Deathly Hallows being split into 2 films in the beginning. But then it worked out because I liked the second part more than the first part.

6: Alan Rickman, who played Snape, was offered to do the voice of Lord Farquaad in 2001’s Shrek

But not surprisingly, he turned it down to play the role of Snape in the Harry Potter films. So, the part of Lord Farquaad was given to John Lithgow instead, who is now going to play Dumbledore in the HBO Harry Potter series

I do still like to picture Lord Farquaad with Alan Rickman’s voice. And a funny coincidence is that the 2 characters look similar. There was even a post on X, formerly Twitter, saying, “Snape and Lord farquaad gotta be related.” And that cracked me up.

Conclusion

So, there you have it – my reactions to the Harry Potter movie facts that stand out to me the most.

If there are any reactions to facts not on this list that you would like to share, feel free to let me know in the comments below.