Can you believe it’s been 19 years since the first Harry Potter film has been released? Being an avid fan since reading the books in elementary school, I can’t believe that much time had passed since the Wizarding World had been put on the big screen. It feels like just yesterday I was watching the films for the first time!
To celebrate this magical achievement, Tom Felton (who notably played Draco Malfoy in the films) held a virtual home party livestream with Veeps. A portion of the proceeds from the ticket sales would also be going to The Liv Project, a foundation that is determined to stop youth suicide. A Potter celebration plus raising money for a good cause? What could be a better combination!
He didn’t host this alone however, but invited many of his Potter cast mates as well! Once I got word this event was being put on, I knew I had to attend, but if you missed out, no worries! Below are some highlights from the it that I found most memorable!
- So Many Magical Cast Members!
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Tom managed to get the majority of the cast to attend the reunion, which certainly added to the nostalgia of the event!
This included James and Oliver Phelps (Fred and George Weasley), Bonnie Wright (Ginny Weasley), Chris Ranken (Percy Weasley), Evanna Lynch (Luna Lovegood), Joshua Herdman (Gregory Goyle), Louis Cordice (Blaise Zabini), Alfred Enoch (Dean Thomas), Jason Issacs (Lucius Malfoy), Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley), and Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter). He even got director and producer Chris Columbus to attend as well, which was another great addition!
All those who attended shared what 19 years later meant to them and how the Wizarding World has affected their lives. Many of them discussed things like interactions with fans at conventions, seeing the continuous growth of the community, and how important the values of love and acceptance shown in the series are in present day. Hearing everyone reflect on their experiences certainly got me nostalgic! - Emma Watson Was Not Present
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However, what shocked me the most was the Emma Watson, who played Hermione Granger in the films, was absent from the event.
This was certainly odd, seeing as she and Tom had seemingly been hanging out quite frequently the past couple of years, both of them posting a variety of photos on Instagram together as recently as August of 2019. She even got together for the holidays last year with Tom and some other cast members as well. The pair was even speculated by some tabloids to be dating, but the two of them said they were single in November of 2019.
Many fans like myself are puzzled by this. Tom had posted a photo with him, Emma, Dan, and Rupert to his Instagram story the day before the event, so people assumed she would be present along with the rest of the trio.
While I was never one to believe they had anything romantic going on, this makes me wonder if something went sour in their friendship for her not to attend. Or perhaps she was just busy working on upcoming projects, seeing as she has been visbily inactive on her Twitter since August of this year. Either way, it will be intresting as time goes on to see if the two of them reconnect or if they keep their distance.
- Lots of Music
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Tom is quite the musician, so it was only fitting that he sang during his livestream! He performed a variety of originals and covers, all of which were amazing! The only thing that would have made it better was if he covered “You’ll Be Back” from Hamilton (seriously go listen to his cover it’s great).
- Finding Out About “Go-Again Grint”
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Rupert was apparently quite the laugher on set, ruining scenes from Dumbledore’s funeral in Half Blood Prince, to where Ron and Harry meet on the Hogwarts Express in The Sorcerer’s Stone.
In fact, he and Dan had to shoot the train scene seperately after some time because they would make eachother laugh so much! If you watch this scene being shot in this behind the scenes video, you can certainly see this was the case, since both of them were having a little too much fun.
Because of his constant laughter, Rupert was often called “Go-Again Grint” due to all the retakes he would need to complete to get a scene right. While I’m surprised this hadn’t been mentioned another time since the films had been shot, it’s quite a fun fact!
- The Truth Behind The Infamous Great Hall Scene
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Behind the scenes secrets are my favorite things to learn about films, so I thought it was super intresting to learn how the Great Hall scene in Sorcerer’s Stone was shot! It is quite an iconic scene after all. Knowing that it was actually the actors geniune reaction to seeing the set for the first time as Tom mentions here makes it even more special!
- Malfoy Family Love
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If you have been keeping up with Tom and Jason Issacs on social media, you would know the two of them have quite a close relationship. While they both played father and son in the Harry Potter series, the two of them think of each other the same way in real life, often referring to one another as “father” or “son” respectively. When I met Jason myself in 2017, he even made a comment that Tom hadn’t been living up to the family name because he was too nice to fans.
On this 19th aniversary, Jason got very heartfelt on his relationship with Tom, as you can see from the video above, saying that seeing him grow throughout the years has been one of the best things to come from his experience on the films. If that doesn’t tug on your heartstrings a bit, I don’t know what will.
- Future Reunion Next Year?
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Last but not least, Dan gave a hint that next year will probably bring even more nostalgia for the 20th aniversary of the first film’s release, saying that, “we will be doing a lot of reminising probably in various forms next year.”
I really hope this remains true and hopefully can be done in person. Some cast members usually get together at conventions or Universal Orlando for their Celebration of Harry Potter event each year, so 2020 has certainly felt odd without them. While this livestream certainly made up for it, I think most fans would agree that nothing is the same as seeing the cast together with Hogwarts castle in the background at the theme park. Pertaining that group gatherings are a go in late 2021, perhaps that can happen!
I hope this little highlight reel made you up to date on what you missed at the recent Potter reunion! Now I’m off to go binge the movies during my Thanksgiving break ⌁☍