A close-up look at Rupert Grint's films Rupert Grint Filmography

SORCERER’S STONE – Behind the Scenes

Filming: 29 September 2000 – April 2001
Budget: $ 125 Million

Behind the Scenes

Rupert’s favourite scene to film: the Giant Chess Board.

The best day of Rupert’s acting career: Filming the Hogwarts Express scene as he got to eat sweets all day long.

When they met for the first time, Rupert Grint and Daniel Radcliffe took a walk to get to know each other.

Rupert recorded an audition tape on which he wore a skirt and did an impression of his female drama teacher, performed hip-hop/rap lyrics he wrote about how much he wanted the part of Ron Weasley and acted out a scene from the book.

At Rupert’s first audition, there were about 20 ginger kids in the canteen who looked similar to Rupert. He had to go through 6 or 7 auditions altogether. The day that Rupert and Emma were told that they got the parts, Rupert initially thought he went in for yet another audition.

Rupert and Emma learnt that they were cast in David Heyman’s office by Chris Columbus.

The press conference with the casting announcement took place on 23 August 2000, the day before Rupert’s 12th birthday.

To help Rupert overcome his “giggling problem”, Alan Rickman gave Rupert the advice to relax his face and not think of anything. It did not work.

Chris Columbus gave the young actors a situation and told them how to feel in it.

The young actors had a dialogue coach to help them with their “T”s.

Chris Columbus made the kids run on the spot before shooting the Chess Scenes so that they would appear to be out of breath.

Rupert was chosen to be Ron out of 40.000 applicants.

After seeing Rupert Grint’s self-made application tape, Rupert was invited to audition and eventually got the part. It would be his only “proper” audition for the following nine years and would earn him the roles in no less than twelve film productions.

All scenes in which “Philosopher’s/Sorcerer’s Stone” is being said had to be filmed twice: once for the US version (“Sorcerer’s”) and one for the rest of the world (“Philosopher’s”)

Rupert Grint and Daniel Radcliffe changed Robbie Coltrane’s cellphone to Turkish, and he had to ask hair designer Eithne Fennel to call her father to find out the Turkish words for “Change Language” to change it back.

Rupert described the quidditch match scenes to be filmed without having brooms, but the numbers 1, 2, 3 etc. representing the brooms, and moving in quick order so that their eyes moved along, following them properly from side to side.

The flashback scenes to Voldemort killing Harry’s parents were written by J.K. Rowling herself because, at the time, she was the only one who knew what had happened.

The Mirror of Erised scene and the Fluffy scenes were filmed in the same room of the Durham cathedral, albeit in different corners and from different angles.

Alnwick Castle is owned by the family called “Percy”.

Casting Director Susie Figgis left production in July 2000, because Columbus did not consider any of the thousands of children they had auditioned ”worthy”.

The first scene filmed was the trio’s departure from Hogwarts, the last scene of the film, filmed at Goathland Railway Station, UK, on 29 September 2000. It was the first of 169 days of shooting.

Rik Mayall, who played Peeves the Poltergeist, had to shout his lines off camera during takes, but the scenes did not appear in the movie.

Steve Kloves added some dialogue, most of which Rowling approved, but one line had to be removed as it would have contradicted an event in the then-unreleased Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

Filming Locations

Alnwick Castle, Alnwick, Northumberland, UK (First-years’ flying lessons, Wood explaining Quidditch, post-exams scene, post-Quidditch talk with Hagrid, Ron commenting on Hermione not having any friends, Hagrid dragging Christmas tree)

Australia House, Strand, London, UK (Gringotts Bank: interior)

Black Park, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, UK (exterior of Hagrid’s hut)

Christ Church College, St Aldate’s, Oxford, Oxfordshire, UK (Trophy room)

Divinity School, Bodleian Library, Broad Street, Oxford, UK (Hospital wing)

Duke Humfrey’s Library, Bodleian Library, Broad Street, Oxford, UK (Hogwarts library)

Durham Cathedral, Durham, UK (Mirror of Erised room, Fluffy’s room)

Durham Castle, Durham, UK (classroom/corridor scenes)

Glen Nevis, Fort William, Scotland, UK (landscape for Quidditch scenes)

Gloucester Cathedral, Gloucester, UK (Hogwarts: exterior scenes, corridor leading to the Fat Lady’s portrait, corridor to the girl’s bathroom)

Goathland Station, Goathland, North Yorkshire, UK (Hogsmeade station)

Harrow School, Harrow, Middlesex, UK (classroom/corridor scenes)

Lacock Abbey, Lacock, Wiltshire, UK (Voldemort approaching the Potter’s house)