Entering Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 (in theaters July 15), the filmmakers behind what’s certain to be one of the biggest films of the decade faced the challenge — and daunting pressure — of finishing strong, of sticking the landing, of simply not screwing up the ending. But director David Yates had more to sweat than just making sure that the final battle between Not-a-boy/Not-yet-a-man wizard-in-training Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) and He Who Must Not Be Named/OH, BOO! IT’S VOLDEMORT ALREADY! (Ralph Fiennes) was certifiably magical. The climactic novel in J.K. Rowling’s blockbuster book series actually ends with an epilogue set 19 years after the Harry/Voldy apocalyptic wand duel, a memorable coda with the huge emotional moments worthy of a tissue or two. (Our guess is that most of you have read the book at least once – but SPOILER ALERT! nonetheless.)
The epilogue has married couples Harry and Ginny (Bonnie Wright) and Hermione (Emma Watson) and Ron (Rupert Grint) at Platform 9 and 3/4, sending their children off to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Yates first shot the scene at King’s Cross railway station in London during the middle of production on Deathly Hallows — Part 2 (filmed concurrently with Deathly Hallows — Part 1 over the course of 261 days), with Radcliffe, Watson and Grint made-up to look like the adult versions of their characters. Yet late last December, several months after shooting what they thought were their final moments together, the actors were summoned back to King’s Cross for a re-do. “I didn’t want older actors,” says Yates. “If you spent seven movies with these guys, you know these kids, and you want to end with them. We ended up with a scene that for all sorts of reasons, not just the make-up, just didn’t work. I asked the studio to have a second pop at it, with a very simple solution — simple make-up, which may be enhanced slightly with special effects — that’s really charming.”
Thus, shooting the epilogue — or rather, reshooting the epilogue — marked the official Last Harry Potter Thing That The Harry Potter Kids Ever Shot, and Yates says that in retrospect, it was only fitting; if he had to do it all over again, the director says he would have planned from the start to shoot the epilogue at the end of production. According to producer David Heyman, the new version of the scene was effective and affecting enough to change their minds about an idea for the filmmakers had about what to show on screen during the roll of closing credits. “We thought about a nostalgic look back at how the kids have grown over the previous films,” says the producer. “We decided against it because this ending captures all of that.” Heyman — who has produced all eight of the Harry Potter films and has a close rapport with Radcliffe, Watson, and Grint — says watching the young actors film the epilogue was emotional for him, not to mention surreal: “It was a funny day, seeing them made up to look in their late thirties. It really accentuated the reality of the situation. I knew it had been 10 years, but I didn’t realize they had aged that much.”
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Read more:
This Week’s Cover: Harry Potter’s Final Act
‘Harry Potter’ cast talks their favorite scenes and how Remus Lupin was originally kinda gay
‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 1′: What’s Changed?
Can this movie just come out already?! Stop teasing us!
Seriously!
What did they do about Emma’s hair? She had lopped it off into that “pixie cut” back in August. So did they leave her with the short hair? Did they get a wig to match what her hair had looked like? Perhaps CGI hair?
i think they gave her a short wig – shoulder length.
seriously, thats your question? Yeah, cause what her hair looks like 19 years from now is the biggest thing.
Emma finished the movie before she cut her hair
maybe they shot it be4 she cut it
I would have ditched this scene altogether. Scenes where actors are made to look older with unconvincing makeup never work.
And faced the wrath of millions of devoted Harry Potter fans? It would have been impossible for them not to include the epilogue.
Well, their first crack at it was so bad they reshot it. It’s a hard thing to pull off.
That scene has to be there. You have to show that what these kids went through was worth it – that there’s a payoff that makes up for everything they were deprived of. I can vividly remember how incredibly satisfying that scene was to read and it should be as satisfying to see.
I agree. I know that when HP7 first came out a lot of people were split on the epilogue. For me, seeing Harry who I felt like I practically raised, happy was beyond priceless. It was the most satisfying ending I’ve ever read in a book series.
could not agree more, outside of what Liz said, i’d add that after 7 books and knowing there was no 8th book coming the epilogue gave me exactly what i wanted: what happens with harry, ron, hermione and ginny…i wanted that info…ending with the battle at hogwarts would have left me wanting more and even more sad to know i wasn’t gonna get it.
I love the epilogue and I think it’s needed, because it ties the series together and ends it where it all began (King’s Cross). But I’m REALLY glad they re-shot the scene, because the pictures that leaked of the cast in heavy makeup was not good at all. It made all of them look like they were in their 50s not their mid-30s. Most thirty year olds still look like they’re in their 20s, so the makeup doesn’t have to be that heavy. I’m hoping and praying that they get it right, because the last scene of this 11 year long series can’t end with bad makeup and bad wigs. It can’t. Of all the scenes, this is the one that I’m the most nervous about, because aging actors is always extremely hard in movies.
From what I heard from people who saw the sneek screening in Chicago a few weeks back, the make-up is much more subtle and believable now.
Oh my God, there would be a Harry Potter revolt if they didn’t include the epilogue. Like the HP movies have left out major things in the past, but the epilogue was THE best part out of the whole series, because it concluded nicely a decade of adoring fans, beautiful writing, and a magical [excuse the pun] story.
Yeah, there’s no way they could leave it out. I’d rather have it look crappy but still have the scene rather than no scene at all.
Well, Benjamin Button worked ok….
Look, they are not exactly supposed to be 60 years old. They are around 36 or 37 in the coda. Minor make up should more than handle this!
Clearly NMO hasn’t read the books. The epilogue at the end of Deathly Hallows is the resolve to a huge series! They’d be NUTS to not include it in the movie.
Well, their first crack at it was so bad they reshot it. It’s a hard thing to pull off.
The differences between my 18 year old self and my 37 year old self are there, but subtle. I think the key is to not overdo it…which sounds like the course they ultimately took.
…and corrected.
‘The epilogue has married couples Harry and Ginny (Bonnie Wright) and Hermione (Emma Watson) and Ron (Rupert Grint) at Platform 9 and 3/4, sending their children off to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.’
How it must have KILLED Kloves, Yates, Heyman and the rest of this bunch of Harmonian filmmakers to shoot that scene. I wonder if Jo Rowling realises the pain it caused them. Bloody woman!
I think that’s why it was one of the first scenes they shot during the 17-month long Deathly Hallows shoot. If they had saved it for the end, no one would have got through it.
LOL, I know right? It must have hurt them to actually write something JK Rowling penned. I’m surprised they decided to include it in, what with the way they’ve completely ignored Ginny’s character and build up and how Harry feels for her. I won’t even touch on how they’ve butchered Ron’s character.
*rolls eyes* You seriously need a life. Feel free at any time to simply read the books.
I do read the books. I simply wanted my favorite characters translated properly on the screen. They weren’t. You seriously going to tell me they were?
Oh please. Let’s be real here, Ginny’s character and Harry’s feelings for her were never built up in the series. She was a background character until she was forced upon us as Super!Ginny in HBP and the same for Harry’s so called feelings for her. She had no character build up we were just supposed to all of a sudden see her as awesome – which she never was.
I think the Ginny in the books is much more compelling than the one in the films. But the same can be said for all the characters. JK Rowling’s level of character development is astounding, so it would be impossible for the filmmakers to include everything. I’ve always lamented the fact that Hermione’s S.P.E.W storyline was cut from the films.
Mike, get over yourself. Ginny was an awesome character in the books and one I loved to see evolve over time. She didn’t just appear out of nowhere. In the films, yes, and Harry hardly even pays attention to her. But in the books, she’s a wonderful character.
SS: Ginny barely present (understandable)
COS: Ginny mildly present (plot device/victim)
POA: Ginny barely present (thanks for caring about her being possessed)
GOF: Ginny mildly present (biggest deal was her date with Neville)
OOTP: Ginny highly present (shyness is gone and she’s like the third Weasley twin)
HBP: Ginny highly present (now telling Hermione off and virtually taking her place as Hermione is de-emphasized)
DH: Ginny mildly present (after the opening, she’s gone from most of the book until the end)
As for the epilogue, it seems like that was written many years ago and was pulled out of a drawer and put in as-is. I mean, this is the author who put a full description of Blaise Zabini into HBP after fanfic writers couldn’t decide if Blaise was a he or she. But Neville and Luna, two characters that gained popularity over the years, aren’t present in the epilogue, even mentioned? And Harry naming a child “Albus-Severus” is just wrong I think.
Neville is mentioned in the book — he’s professor of Herbology at Hogwarts. The Potters tell the kids to “send Neville our love” or something like that.
I actually didn’t really like the epilogue in the book. While I would have been left dying to know what became of Harry and the gang in the future, I think it would have been so much more powerful if she had just left it at the last scene after the Battle of Hogwarts.
I completely agree. HATED the epilogue. It ruined the entire series for me.
Of course, I’m one of the very few that felt Harry should have ended up with Luna. Rowling did develop their friendship and they had many things in common.
He should not have ended up with Ginny. Hate her.
Great job Doc! I can’t wait to see it. I think the way they eventually approached the filming of the epilogue was brilliant. Changes in appearance between 18 and mid 30s are so much more subtle than betweent mid 30s and 50! Trust me! An epilogue was absolutely critical, after this many years and movies, the need for closure is that much more pronounced. It’s natural to want to see into the future a bit and ensure beloved characters are safe and flourishing. It also leaves things open… :>) Still miss you and Dan and all things Lost!
Lost! Sigh…soon Harry Potter will be over too. Two of my very favorite shows…
I AM THE BIGGEST HARRY POTTER FAN IN THE WORLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I hope they don’t screw up this last movie like the have the other 7.
Purist is a dumbass purist.
You haven’t liked the last 7 films? I wouldn’t get my hopes up if I were you.
Didn’t Emma Watson have her hair cut last December?
Wigs….
Actually, leaving her hair short would have been a good way to demonstrate her age progression!
She had it cut back in August.
I’m still annoyed that they left the handshake between Dudley and Harry in pt. 1 I’d have been so sad if they left the epilogue out. Please don’t screw this movie up.
I agree! That was really the only part I was unhappy with in the second movie.
It is in the Blu Ray extras.
Yes, None, but it SHOULD’VE been in the original, and it SHOULD’VE been woven into the movie on Blue Ray, NOT as an “extra”.
Anyone else wish they had left the retrospect of the kids aging in the credits as origionally planned? Its a little cheesy, but its how I always pictured the final movie ending.
It is cheesy so I can see why they didn’t have it, but I hope they have something on the DVDs.
Oh, you can bet they’ll have *something* on the DVD. Even if it is cheesy, it’s a must for a series like this.
All the Harry Potter movies are all brilliant, so excited for the part 2 of deathly hallows!
I just want to get it over with these films, they’ve sucked since the fifth one and they completely butchered part 1. Just wanna move on being an adult.
I always enjoy seeing the movies, but always end up thinking I wish they’d stuck to the book. Give it 5-10 years and the BBC will do a proper adaptation. I’m very glad they’re keeping the epilogue. It’s only right we get to see Harry happy despite what Kloves thinks.
Only if Rowling lets the BBC do an adaptation, which she won’t because she has been very happy with the movies and has approved all the scripts in advance. By necessity, there are always differences in books adapted into movies. They are two very different storytelling mediums, and most authors understand that.
I liked the first two films, then they started sliding downhill. My family watched DH pt 1 on ONDemand last night and we all agreed we wasted our $4. It was dreadful compared to the book. I agree, let the BBC do a terrific series to do these books justice.
The BBC is not going to do adaptations. They don’t have the rights (and the books won’t go into public domain until long after you’re dead), and they would be waaay too expensive for the BBC to do even if they did have the rights. And the first two movies were the worst of the lot.
Really? I thought Part 1 was one of the best of the series, as far as accuracy was concerned. There was just the problems caused by directors in the past (not emphasizing Dobby, Mundungus, the shard of glass Harry sees “Dumbledore’s” eye in) that made it not as accurate.
Wow. Couldn’t disagree more. I felt it was more in line with the books than any of the others…
wow…really? as far as sticking to the books, DH1 was probably the most similar out of all of the movies! obviously, they had to leave out some parts that were not in previous movies.
Most folks would say just the opposite. The first two movies, directed by Columbus who line reads kids instead of letting them actually act, where the worst of the lot. Sure they looked nice (Goblet was the best visually) but they were cardboard on the character front
The BBC could never, ever afford to adapt the books. Each movie cost in the neighbourhood of $200 million.
my brother felt that way, bnut only because he felt it slow, and was looking for more action. The action is in part 2, 1 builds the story and gears us up for what i expect to be an intense and fast paced part 2.