History of Harry Potter Castings

When it comes to the Harry Potter films, it seems everybody is desperate to be in them. Thanks to the filmmakers having held more open castings than any other, that dream has become a reality for a lucky few.
I would like to thank CBBC Newsround to be the returning reporter for all these casting calls, and it is thanks to them that some actors got their roles.

In 1999, J. K. Rowling sold the film rights of the first four Harry Potter books to Warner Bros, for a reported £1 million. Rowling insisted that the entire cast be British, in keeping with the cultural integrity of the book, and according to rumours, intended for the role of Harry to be taken by a newcomer.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

Casting Process Began Early 2000 Cast Announced August 2000

Susie Figgis was appointed as casting director for the first film, working with both the director, Columbus, and Rowling in auditioning the lead roles of Harry, Ron and Hermione. Open casting calls were held for the main three roles, and only British children being considered. The principal auditions took place in three parts, with those auditioning reading a page from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, then if called back, improvising a scene of the students' arrival at Hogwarts, and then reading several pages of the script in front of Columbus. Scenes from Columbus' script for the 1985 film Young Sherlock Holmes were also used in auditions.

On July 11, 2000, Susie Figgis, the principal casting director, left production, complaining that Columbus did not consider any of the thousands of children they had auditioned "worthy":

"The casting process - which looked at 40,000 applications after a single BBC Newsround appeal - was so lengthy, it apparently led the casting director, Susie Figgis, to pull out in frustration."

This Guardian Report tells us how in July 2000 they had ten actors to choose from yet the director and casting director had different ideas to whom should play the roles.

On August 8, 2000, the virtually unknown Daniel Radcliffe and the newcomers Emma Watson and Rupert Grint were selected from thousands of auditioning children to play the roles of Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley. It was announced in the British Newspaper, the Guardian:

"But, yesterday, the tale of Warner Bros and the Search for Harry Potter was finally completed with the announcement that a relatively unknown British boy had been chosen ahead of a raft of Hollywood veterans to star in the much-hyped film about the best-selling boy wizard."

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Production Began November 2001

There were no open auditions for the second installment of Harry Potter, as only new adult characters were new to the plot, such as the character of Gilderoy Lockhart.

However in this interview, director Chris Columbus said;

"Radcliffe, Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley), and Emma Watson (Hermione Granger) become more comfortable in their roles and in the motion picture process, and Chamber of Secrets gave Columbus and the cast the opportunity to "play with it a little more this time around." Columbus rehearsed very little with the children since many had little acting experience and he didn't want to lose their spontaneity. Instead, he drew upon past experiences from Home Alone and Mrs. Doubtfire, and met with the young actors in an office, reading through the lines with them to make sure the dialogue and situations worked and also to get them comfortable with their characters. Source

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Production Began Early 2003

Again no casting calls for any major characters were issued for the third film, however there were a lot of opportunities for children to work as extras, as seen here. Throughout these early films there were many calls for extras as child extras are often hard to come by. However casting director Jina Jay worked hard to get all the new adult characters cast, including Gary Oldman.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Casting Process Began Early 2004 Cast Announced May 2005

As usual, the film casters called open castings for extras however, as new characters were needed, the first of more open castings were held.

Firstly, they searched for the Patel Twins in late 2003. They had an open casting call for the girls on 21st December 2003 as shown in this report.

Fiona Weir came on the scene as the new Casting Director in search for a young man to play Viktor Krum, the Bulgarian Quidditch player who is the love interest for Hermione. The part was won by for Stanislav Ianevski.

"He had only auditioned for Potter after being spotted by Fiona Weir, a casting director who prompted him to attend an acting workshop, which resulted in his casting as Viktor Krum, a Bulgarian character in the Harry Potter series. He was selected from 600 others, most of whom had auditioned in Sofia, Bulgaria." Source

And then in February 2004, there were Open Auditions for the character of Cho Chang. Much hype ensued, due to Cho Chang's role as Harry's love interest. It was essential that the girl was Asian in appearance as stated in report. Around 3000 hopefuls turned up!

In May 2005 the first official picture of Katie Leung was released:

The Potter insider who spoke to The Mirror said Katie was "pretty and bright" and that she had a "glittering career ahead of her".

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Casting Process Began Early 2006 Cast Announced 2006

There was a long time during the pre-production of the fifth Harry Potter film that officials stated that there would be no open castings. In September 2005, Newsround reported:

"A spokesperson for Warner Bros. has also told CBBC Newsround that there are no plans to hold open castings but members of the casting department are currently visiting schools across the UK to try and cast the role of Luna Lovegood."

After this, Newsround repeatedly reported that the search for the girl to play Luna Lovegood was over, and that the casting announcement would be announced soon.

It was extremely surprising that following these announcements, an open casting call for Luna Lovegood was to be held on the 14th January 2006 in London. In an interview with the casting director, Fiona Weir explained what they were looking for:

"Fiona also told Newsround that some girls that they've already seen are still being considered for the part: "We've visited schools up and down the country and we've met some brilliant girls. But holding an Open Call is just a way of us making sure that there isn't anyone that we might have missed."

It was only a month before filming was due to start, so it was incredibly lucky that they managed to find the perfect girl to play Luna thanks to this open audition. It was announced that 14 year old Evanna Lynch from Ireland had won the part. Why not see her first interview here.

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Casting Process Began Aprox. During Filming of Harry Potter 5 Cast Announced November - December 2007

As usual, with a new Harry Potter film, comes a truckload of new characters! Of course, some are a mix of adult roles that are given to professional and well known actors such as Jim Broadbent, who is playing Professor Slughorn.

This time around, there was not one, but two open castings for two separate characters;

"Warner Bros are holding open auditions to find two teenagers to play the roles of a young Voldemort - otherwise known as Tom Riddle - and Lavender Brown." You can see the announcement for the casting call here at the Newsround website from June 2007.

Take a look at the images in the gallery of the fabulous turn out for the Lavender Brown auditions and the Tom Riddle auditions, both in July 2007.

The cast actors for these roles weren't revealed until November - two months after filming for the film had started! Unfortunately, the casting directors decided against using an actress from the open casting call, but used an already professional actress, Jessie Cave. Since the actress was 20 when filming was started, it is obvious she did not attend the casting call as the age limit was 15-18! However, newcomer Frank Dillane who can be assumed to have been chosen from the casting call, won the role of Tom.

There are many characters crucial to the plot in the Half Blood Prince that weren't necessarily needed for the earlier films. This means characters such as Katie Bell and Romilda Vane had to be cast. There were discussions that perhaps an open casting would be held but as the characters weren't necessarily principal to the plot, producers decided against wasting time and effort on an open casting. These roles went to professional actors and actresses.

The role of Cormac McLaggen, the cocky rival to Ron for Hermione's affections was given to Freddie Stroma (who's previous credits include Casulty). Check him out below:

The younger sister of Stephanie Leonidas (MirrorMask 2005), Georgina Leonidas was cast as Katie Bell and the Katie's friend, Leanne, was won by Isabella Laughland (pictured below) who is represented by the BWH Agency.

The late Robert Knox was cast as Marcus Belby, whilst 18-year-old Louis Cordice (pictured above, right) is to play Blaise Zabini, a Slytherin student who dislikes muggle-borns. My thoughts are with the family and friends of Robert Knox, the actor who was killed after finishing filming Harry Potter 6 as Marcus Belby.

You can see the original casting announcement for these characters at this Newsround Report. Only the age of Louis is given but it can be assumed most of these actors will be between the ages of 18 - 20. Although these actors aren't what I'd class as "straight from school" actors but they are all fresh actors no doubt worthy of a big break! We look forward to any future castings to be made for the final films.