The stars of Harry Potter paid tribute to their late co-stars in the Return To Hogwarts reunion special.
Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint reunited with filmmaker Chris Columbus and other cast members for the HBO Max special – which is available to stream on NOW TV and watch on Sky Max from today.
During the reunion, Emma, who played Hermione Granger in the film franchise, said: “It’s obviously amazing to be back, but it’s so shocking that so many people that we thought would be around for much longer than they have been [aren’t here].”
Rupert, who played Ron Weasley, added: “They’re like family. You grieve in the same way.”
Daniel, who played Harry Potter, said: “I feel really lucky to have some little bit of touch with the amount of so many amazing people that have passed. I’ll be very, very old one day saying, ‘I knew that absolute legend.'”
Alan Rickman, who played Severus Snape in the movies, died in 2016 after a private battle with cancer.
Emma said: “Alan Rickman never talked to me like I was a child. He always took my thoughts and opinions very seriously, which I was always very touched by.”
Ralph Fiennes, who played Lord Voldemort in the films, said: “Alan was a very dear friend. 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, with Snape and Voldemort. Two actors can relish metaphorically fencing with one another like that. Alan was a magician in that way, as an actor.”
Richard Harris played Albus Dumbledore in the first two Harry Potter films, but he sadly died in 2002 after a brief battle with Hodgkin’s disease.
Director Chris Columbus said of the late star: “Richard was classic, probably one of the funniest men I’ve ever met.”
“He was this devilish 11-year-old trapped in a 70-plus-year-old man’s body. He just had that glint in his eye, which made him the perfect Dumbledore.”
Helen McCrory, who played Narcissa Malfoy, died last year at the age of 52 following a private battle with cancer.
Tom Felton, who played her on-screen son Draco in the films, said in the reunion special through tears: “She taught me a lot. She had this ability to show such empathy in her eyes. It was a real treat to work with her.”
Jason Isaacs, who starred as Lucius Malfoy, recalled meeting Helen for the first time, saying: “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 with her on the set,” he added.
