Movie reviews, production notes, and more! - "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets"

Movie Production Notes: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Notes provided by Warner Bros. Pictures The next installment in the Harry Potter series finds young wizard Harry Potter (DANIEL RADCLIFFE) and his friends Ron Weasley (RUPERT GRINT) and Hermione Granger (EMMA WATSON) facing new challenges during their second year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as they try to uncover a dark force that is terrorizing the school. Warner Bros. Pictures presents a Heyday Films/1492 Pictures production of a Chris Columbus film, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, starring DANIEL RADCLIFFE, EMMA WATSON, RUPERT GRINT, KENNETH BRANAGH, JOHN CLEESE, ROBBIE COLTRANE, WARWICK DAVIS, RICHARD GRIFFITHS, RICHARD HARRIS, JASON ISAACS, ALAN RICKMAN, FIONA SHAW, MAGGIE SMITH and JULIE WALTERS. Directed by CHRIS COLUMBUS from a screenplay by STEVE KLOVES, based on the acclaimed novel Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. ROWLING, the film is produced by DAVID HEYMAN. CHRIS COLUMBUS, MARK RADCLIFFE, MICHAEL BARNATHAN and DAVID BARRON are the executive producers. ROGER PRATT is the director of photography; STUART CRAIG is the production designer; PETER HONESS is the editor; and JOHN WILLIAMS is the composer. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets will be released in North America and the U.K. on November 15, 2002 by Warner Bros. Pictures, an AOL Time Warner Company. This film has been rated PG by the MPAA for "scary moments, some creature violence and mild language." HARRY POTTER and all related indicia are trademarks of and © 2002 Warner Bros. All Rights Reserved. Harry Potter Publishing Rights © J.K. Rowling. www.harrypotter.com / AOL Keyword: Harry Potter ~ ABOUT THE STORY Harry Potter (DANIEL RADCLIFFE) has not had a good summer. Not only has he had to put up with his overbearing Aunt Petunia (FIONA SHAW) and Uncle Vernon Dursley (RICHARD GRIFFITHS) and their dread of his magical abilities, but it seems as if Harry's best friends Ron Weasley (RUPERT GRINT) and Hermione Granger (EMMA WATSON) have forgotten him as they haven't replied to a single one of his letters. Then, suddenly and mysteriously, house-elf Dobby appears in Harry's bedroom and warns him of great danger if he should attempt to return to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Dobby is so eager to prevent the young Gryffindor from returning to Hogwarts, he has blocked all of Ron and Hermione's correspondence from reaching Harry. But despite the elf's mischievous efforts, the ever-determined Harry is rescued from the Dursleys' dreary clutches by Ron and his brothers with the aid of a flying car! and whisked into the warmth of the Weasley household. But when Harry and Ron are suspiciously prevented from entering Platform 9 æ and boarding the Hogwarts Express back to school, the boys take emergency action to avoid being late for the new term only to incur the wrath of Professor Snape (ALAN RICKMAN), who calls for their expulsion after they crash the flying Ford Anglia into Hogwarts' enchanted Whomping Willow tree. Meanwhile, news of Harry's first year heroism has spread throughout Hogwarts and he finds himself the center of much unwanted attention. His new fans include Ron's little sister Ginny (BONNIE WRIGHT); first year would-be photographer Colin Creevey (HUGH MITCHELL); and most irritatingly, the new Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor, Gilderoy Lockhart (KENNETH BRANAGH). Outshone only by his own vanity, Lockhart craves the attention that Harry shuns and is all too willing to associate himself with Hogwarts' young hero. But not even Lockhart can offer an explanation for the sinister new terror that is gripping the school. Now all eyes are on Harry, and his friends are beginning to doubt him. Everyone, that is, except Ron, Hermione and fragile young Ginny, whose focus has turned to her mysterious new diary. But Harry is not about to let his friends down and, with or without the support of Gilderoy Lockhart, he will confront the dark force lurking in his beloved school. ~ ABOUT THE PRODUCTION THE SECOND YEAR BEGINS Warner Bros. Pictures is pleased to announce the release of the feature film adaptation of the second installment of J.K. Rowling's best-selling novel series, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Published in 1998, Chamber of Secrets debuted at number one on the U.K.'s Whitaker BookTrack best-seller list, as well as making number one debuts on The New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal best-seller lists. Over 42 million copies of the novel have been sold in more than 42 countries worldwide (including over 17 million copies in the U.S. and Canada alone). Production on Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets commenced on November 19, 2001, at Leavesden Studios, Hertfordshire, and on location in England, just three days after the release of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, which shattered numerous box office records at the time of its release and went on to become the second highest grossing film of all time. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone also garnered three Academy Award nominations and seven prestigious BAFTA nominations, including Outstanding British Film of the Year. For most directors, completing the post-production phase of a feature film is an exhaustive and all-consuming process. Chris Columbus faced an even more daunting task throughout the summer and autumn of 2001, as he simultaneously supervised the editing of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and commenced a rigorous period of pre-production and planning for Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. "It was an intense time, but we'd learned so much on Sorcerer's Stone and I was very excited about taking all this knowledge into the second film," Columbus recalls. "It was challenging," producer David Heyman concurs. "Fortunately, we benefited from the experience of the first film and having many of our original production crew continue on through the second film, so we had a wealth of knowledge to draw upon." Another benefit of this demanding Chamber of Secrets schedule was that it kept the production team focused on the tasks at hand during a time of sensational success and media attention. "None of us had the chance to sit back and think about the success of the first film, which I think was good for everyone, particularly the kids," says Columbus. "By that point, the cast and crew had become like one big family. It was great that we could all share that sense of excitement, without losing our momentum, and carry it into Chamber of Secrets." Despite the hectic pace, from the outset Columbus and Heyman remained faithful to their ambitious vision for Chamber of Secrets and how it would differ from the first film especially in terms of structure, character and tone. "We devoted a good part of Sorcerer's Stone to setting up the world of Harry Potter," Heyman notes. "There was so much to introduce in terms of the magic, the settings and the characters. With Chamber of Secrets, we jump directly into the narrative and into the adventure." "Chamber of Secrets is darker and funnier and it takes Harry's character to a new place," Columbus explains. "The first film was about Harry realizing that he's actually a wizard. In contrast to the colorful and larger-than-life characters that surrounded him, Harry was somewhat passive and didn't come into his own until the third act of the film. In Chamber of Secrets, Harry exudes a lot more confidence and strength right from the start." Star Daniel Radcliffe relished taking on Harry Potter's "more proactive" Chamber of Secrets role. "The last line of the first film is like the beginning of the second film," observes Radcliffe, who counts Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets as one of his favorite books. "Harry says 'I'm not going home, not really,' because he's discovered his home is at Hogwarts and that is where he belongs. But when he returns to Hogwarts at the beginning of Chamber of Secrets, he discovers there's a real threat to his school and home and he's determined to protect it." Radcliffe also found that he was personally influenced by Harry's growth. "He had developed so much as a character, I had to develop myself too and now I have two instincts Harry's and my own. So when we were filming each scene, I asked myself 'How would Harry react to this?' and I tried to get that feeling across on screen." "Daniel took on an enormous responsibility when he was cast to play Harry Potter, and he has risen to the challenge and totally matured as an actor," Columbus enthuses. "He's become a real leading man in the truest sense of the word, as well as becoming a real hero and probably a bit of a heartthrob!" Over two years have passed since the now 13 year-old Radcliffe and costars Rupert Grint, 14, and Emma Watson, 12, were cast in their pivotal roles of Harry Potter and his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. "One of the wonders of this process for me has been to witness the maturation of Dan, Rupert and Emma," says Heyman. "The children seem more confident and able to draw upon a wealth of new experience for their characters. Yet, at the same time, they have maintained their enthusiasm, sense of wonder and their youthfulness." "It's remarkable to see how far they've grown not just physically, but in their acting," Columbus adds. "The kids' performances are more mature and, quite frankly, they are even better than they were in the first film." Emma Watson is pleased to note that she has grown both personally and professionally as a result of her experience working on Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. "I'd never done any professional acting before the first film and I was extremely nervous and didn't know anyone," she admits. "Now I know the people and my surroundings and I know what I'm doing, so I feel a lot more relaxed and can have a really good time. I've definitely improved as an actress and feel happier with what I'm doing on screen." For precocious Hermione Granger, the second year at Hogwarts brings about a marked change in her relationship with her fellow wizards-in-training. "Hermione becomes more friendly with Harry and Ron and she's definitely more easygoing," Watson discloses. "She is less obsessed with books and schoolwork and settles down a bit. And even though she softens, Hermione is still as fiercely loyal to her friends as ever." Like Harry Potter, the irrepressible Ron Weasley finds himself at the center of much of the Chamber of Secrets action. "I got to do a lot more fun things in this film, particularly with the flying car," Rupert Grint declares. "The scenes in Spiders Hollow were particularly scary as I have a big fear of spiders. When I saw Aragog [an enormous ancient spider who lives in the Dark Forest] for the first time, I wasn't acting I was genuinely scared!" CONJURING A STELLAR ENSEMBLE In keeping with the family tradition established on Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, the filmmakers reunited not only the original child cast for Chamber of Secrets, but also their stellar ensemble of the U.K.'s greatest adult actors. Reprising their roles from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone are acclaimed actors John Cleese (The World is Not Enough, A Fish Called Wanda, Monty Python) as Nearly Headless Nick; Robbie Coltrane (Nuns on the Run, GoldenEye, The World is Not Enough) as the gentle giant Hagrid; Warwick Davis (Willow) as the Charms teacher Professor Flitwick; Richard Griffiths (Sleepy Hollow, Naked Gun 2, King Ralph) as Harry's Uncle Vernon Dursley; Richard Harris (Gladiator, Unforgiven, Camelot) as Hogwarts' all-knowing Headmaster Albus Dumbledore; Alan Rickman (Truly Madly Deeply, Sense and Sensibility, Die Hard) as the enigmatic Potions Professor Severus Snape; Fiona Shaw (My Left Foot, The Butcher Boy, Franco Zeffirelli's Jane Eyre) as Harry's Aunt Petunia Dursley; Dame Maggie Smith (Oscar-nominated for her role in Gosford Park; Tea With Mussolini, Richard III) plays Dumbledore's loyal deputy Professor Minerva McGonagall; and Julie Walters (Billy Elliot, Educating Rita, Personal Services) as Mrs. Molly Weasley. Perhaps the most prominent of the new and exciting characters introduced in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is Gilderoy Lockhart, the new Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor, played by the multi-talented actor, writer and director Kenneth Branagh (Hamlet, Much Ado About Nothing, Dead Again, Shackleton). According to Columbus, Kenneth Branagh was the only man for the job. "Ken is one of the great stage and screen actors of our time, and a great filmmaker," Columbus attests. "He's a perfect fit for our all-British ensemble, and he's one of the few younger actors who can hold his own against the likes of Richard Harris, Maggie Smith and Alan Rickman. I couldn't conceive of anyone else playing Gilderoy Lockhart." "Lockhart is amongst the most challenging roles in either of the two films," Heyman elaborates. "We needed someone who could be both annoying and charming, who would embrace Lockhart's narcissism, be hysterically funny, and still keep him grounded in reality. Ken did all we asked of him and more. He's absolutely fantastic." While he relished playing the part of the ostentatious phony, Branagh did not take the role lightly. "It was nerve-wracking, because I was aware that Chamber of Secrets is a major film with huge audience expectations and that fans already had a very established idea of who Lockhart is," Branagh says. "He's very flamboyant, rather vain and terribly narcissistic. So he's a delicious character to play, ferociously irritating and charming, but we had to convince audiences that he could have done all the things he claims. We had to make him plausible. I trusted Chris Columbus and his comic timing implicitly." "Whereas Ken Branagh is the nicest man on earth, Lockhart is a show-off and a fraud," says Radcliffe of the newest addition to Hogwarts' eclectic teaching staff. "Girls love him and boys hate him because they know that something about him is not quite right." Indeed, Lockhart casts his charismatic spell on Hogwarts' female students, especially the typically single-minded Hermione. "She is absolutely dreamy about Lockhart," confesses Emma Watson, who calls the arrogant professor "the Brad Pitt of his day. Hermione is obsessed with him, as are the other girls. And Kenneth Branagh is so down to earth and he's such a fantastic actor that he made the scenes really easy to do." "Lockhart knows how to work his charm and to be poetic, particularly with females," Branagh explains. "Hermione is one of the few people who can actually keep up with him." Another major new presence in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is that of Lucius Malfoy, the father of Harry's Slytherin nemesis, Draco Malfoy. For this crucial role, the filmmakers cast Jason Isaacs (Black Hawk Down, The Patriot, The End of the Affair), the internationally acclaimed actor Columbus describes as "one of the greatest villains in modern filmmaking. Jason's performance in The Patriot was truly blood-chilling, and I thought he would be terrific as Lucius Malfoy, who personifies the underlying darkness and evil of the Slytherin house." For all his considerable experience playing despicable characters, Isaacs found the role to be quite challenging. "It's my first film about wizards, and I don't get to wear waist length blond hair and walk around with a snake-headed cane very often!" he jokes. "For me, the fun and challenge of playing this character was making Lucius as grotesque as I could but somehow keeping him real." "Jason's performance in this film is truly evil and insidious," Heyman says. "There are few people who can play a villain as well as Jason, which is rather ironic given that he's such a warm and generous person." Unlike the other villains Isaacs has portrayed, Lucius Malfoy is utterly devoid of redeeming qualities. "Lucius is a very dark character and a thoroughly unpleasant man," Isaacs notes. "He's the most confident person I've ever stepped inside and completely supreme in his arrogance and ruthlessness. He is pure evil." Lucius' relationship with his son Draco, a role reprised by 14 year-old Tom Felton (Anna and the King, The Borrowers), is vital to the story, as well as the key to understanding why Draco is such an antagonistic bully. "Draco has a monstrous home life," says Isaacs. "Lucius bullies him, which makes Draco bully others. He's a chip off the old block." The true nature of Lucius and Draco's relationship was surprising to young Felton. "I always thought that theirs would be quite a loving relationship, since Lucius and Draco are both really mean people, but I think there's actually something quite scary going on between them," Felton observes. "Draco always gets the rough end of the stick and is quite afraid of his father. I was a bit daunted when I heard Jason Isaacs was going to play my Dad, but he's the nicest guy you'd ever meet and we just clicked!" Isaacs, in turn, found Felton's performance in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone to be so convincing, he arrived on set "expecting him to be this thoroughly unpleasant, slimy kid. In fact, Tom is a tremendously charming young man and very professional." Two other key roles in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets are Ron Weasley's younger sister Ginny, played by 11 year-old Bonnie Wright, and his mother Mrs. Molly Weasley, played by Julie Walters. Both characters appear in one scene in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone [seeing Ron off to catch the Hogwarts Express at Kings Cross Station], but Ginny and Mrs. Weasley are much more integral to the story in Chamber of Secrets. "When we were casting the first film, I was so overwhelmed by the process of finding our Harry Potter and Ginny was such a small part that I really hadn't considered how much acting Bonnie was going to have to do in the second film," Columbus reveals. "But she is absolutely amazing. Ginny is a challenging and demanding role and she does it beautifully." "Some of my scenes, particularly in the Chamber itself, were very tough to do, but I enjoyed every minute of it," Bonnie Wright says. "I feel very lucky to have had this experience at such a young age." Bringing a wealth of experience to the role of the indomitable Mrs. Weasley is the versatile and highly respected actress Julie Walters. "The Weasley family is totally dominated by Mrs. Weasley, but she's a very warm and loving person," says Walters, who wears a heavily-padded wardrobe to complete her transformation. "She's drawn to Harry and he to her, because she feels deeply maternal toward him, knowing that he is an orphan and that his parents were killed in an awful way. She's a mother hen who instinctively takes Harry under her wing and makes him one of the family." Taking on the role of Mrs. Weasley's husband, Arthur Weasley, is new cast member Mark Williams (Shakespeare in Love, The Borrowers, 101 Dalmatians). "Arthur works for the Ministry of Magic, which keeps him busy because there are a lot of wizards playing tricks on non-wizard folk, and the Dark Arts are rising," Williams says portentously. Also joining the Chamber of Secrets ensemble is Miriam Margolyes (Cats & Dogs, Romeo and Juliet, The Age of Innocence) who plays green-fingered Professor Sprout, whose most important task is to nurture the school's crop of magical mandrake plants. "Mandrakes are extremely dangerous creatures and, as legend has it, if you hear them scream as you pull them out of the pot you will die!" Margolyes cautions. "So, Professor Sprout wisely provides earmuffs to all her pupils. It's been great fun both working with the Mandrakes and the children. They show that you can remain unspoiled in this industry." Other new additions to the adult cast include: Shirley Henderson (Bridget Jones' Diary, Trainspotting, Rob Roy) who plays the ghostly figure of Moaning Myrtle; Gemma Jones (Bridget Jones' Diary, Wilde, Sense and Sensibility) as Madam Pomfrey; Sally Mortemore, who makes her feature film debut as librarian Madam Pince, Christian Coulson (The Hours, Four Feathers), who takes on the key role of Tom Riddle, and Robert Hardy (Thunderpants, An Ideal Husband) as Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge. These talented performers are joined by child newcomers Hugh Mitchell, who plays Colin Creevey, a first year student with a love of photography; and Edward Randell, who plays the distrusting Justin Finch Fletchley. THE WIZARDRY OF CREATURE CREATION The challenge of creating many of the fantastical creatures who inhabit the world of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets fell to visual effects supervisors Jim Mitchell (Jurassic Park III, Sleepy Hollow, Mighty Joe Young) and Nick Davis (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Pluto Nash, Entrapment) and the talented artisans at ILM. "With Jim and Nick, we found a team that really understands what I call the reality of visual effects," Chris Columbus remarks. "They understand our desire to transport people to a place they've never been before, but at the same time, make certain that they absolutely believe what they are seeing." Mitchell, Davis and their team are responsible for rendering approximately 950 shots in the film, bringing to life such characters as Dobby the House Elf, the Basilisk, the Cornish Pixies and the Spiders (with the exception of Aragog). "From the very beginning, Chris was quite keen not to use a puppet and to create Dobby through CGI," Davis explains. "Dobby is a major character in this story, and Chris wanted to be able to direct him just like any other actor in a scene, which is more thoroughly achieved through CGI," adds Mitchell. "I wanted Dobby to be a character that felt very real and one that the audience would fall in love with," Columbus says. "Jim and Nick created an adorable character who feels like he genuinely inhabits this special world." Also working alongside the visual effects team in the creation of this magical world is creature effects supervisor Nick Dudman, who devised all-too-tangible incarnations of the Petrified people, Fawkes the Phoenix, the Basilisk, the Mandrakes andarachnophobes bewareAragog, an ancient spider the size of a small elephant! "Aragog represented a significant challenge to the Creature department," Dudman explains, "as we were asked to create a walking, talking nine-foot spider with an 18 foot leg span. Each leg had to be manipulated by a different team member, and the whole contraption operated on a complex combination of aquatronics [pneumatic air rams] and a series of computers with video monitors. The entire creature weighed three quarters of a ton!" "Nick Dudman's creature shop did a stunning job with Aragog," says Columbus, who attests that creating the giant arachnid was one of the most challenging aspects of bringing Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets to the screen. "I'm delighted that the scenes involving the spiders are incredibly frightening and some of the scariest of the film." Apparently, Aragog was just as fearsome in the flesh. "I remember the first shot we did in the Spiders Hollow," Daniel Radcliffe remembers. "Rupert and I went over this ledge and suddenly there's a gigantic spider waiting for us! It was so realistic, we were both genuinely terrified!" As Columbus emphasizes, he didn't rely on the visual and special effects departments to merely create new characters for Chamber of Secrets he also wanted to perfect elements established in the first film, particularly the frenetically-paced game of Quidditch. "I felt that the backgrounds could be more integrated with the foregrounds," Columbus muses, "so this time we made certain that the lighting of the game was an identical match with the atmosphere outside the Quidditch stadium. We made the whole stadium feel a little more weathered, a little earthier. And we've also managed to perfect the speed and the movement of the players, making it a much tougher and more exciting game." THE SECRETS BEHIND THE CHAMBER Three-time Academy Award winning production designer Stuart Craig (The English Patient, Dangerous Liaisons, Ghandi), who garnered Academy Award and BAFTA nominations for his artistry in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, reprised his crucial role in the elaborate Chamber of Secrets production. "There was a big overlap as we began preparing for the second film during production of the first," Craig says, "but it gave us the opportunity to improve on the quality of the established architecture, particularly with Dumbledore's office and Lockhart's classroom." The production visited many of the locations established in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, but the majority of filming again took place at Leavesden Film Studios, and involved building a vast range of new sets and situations, the most sizeable of which was the Chamber of Secrets itself. At 250 x 120 feet, the vast Chamber set is by far the largest Harry Potter set created to date, dwarfing the Great Hall, which stands at an impressive 140 x 40 feet. "J.K. Rowling states very clearly in her book that the Chamber is an enormously high and very cavernous place," Craig explains. "But, because Leavesden was originally an old aircraft factory, the tallest soundstage is only 28 feet high. We could have achieved a greater height with visual effects, but instead we built downward to create the illusion of depth. The result is a Chamber that appears to be hundreds of feet tall and flooded. In reality the water is only a foot deep and dyed black to give it that sense of tremendous depth." In addition to designing, constructing and dressing the Chamber of Secrets, Gilderoy Lockhart's classroom and Professor Dumbledore's office, Craig and his team including 300 construction workers, 25 art directors and draftsmen, 4 set dressers, 4 sculptors, 2 scenic artists, 5 portrait artists, 20 propmasters and numerous specialists created environments like the Weasleys' home, the Burrow, the greenhouse, the hospital wing, numerous corridors, Knockturn Alley and the girls' bathroom. For Craig, the two most challenging sets to design were the Spiders Hollow and the Whomping Willow. "In some ways the Spiders Hollow was the most difficult set because it isn't architectural, it's completely organic, like a big sculpture," Craig notes. "To design something with no obvious structure was a huge challenge. I fashioned the set like a big amphitheatre where the children walk in and are ambushed by spiders coming out of every crevice. We filled the set with tree roots and implied a subterranean world beneath which the spiders inhabit." Similarly, Craig and company rose to the challenge of constructing the Whomping Willow, the enchanted tree with attitude that attacks Harry, Ron and the flying car when they have the misfortune of landing in its branches. "The idea that this flying car lands in a tree, falls through its branches and then is beaten up by it is such a magical sequence, I always imagined it would be computer generated," Craig admits. "But in the end we resolved this practically by building the tree in several parts, which when put together stand 85 feet tall. This sequence involved a great deal of collaboration between the art department, visual effects and special effects teams." The flying car, a blue Ford Anglia, was engineered by special effects supervisor John Richardson and his crew. "We needed a total of 14 cars that we could dress in various stages, from mint condition when the boys first steal the car and rescue Harry, until it lands in the tree and finally ends up going wild in the forest," says Richardson, who scoured England looking for old Ford Anglias for this purpose. "Most of the cars we found were not road-worthy and many were headed for the scrap heap, so we didn't destroy any vintage vehicles!" For Daniel Radcliffe, shooting the flying car sequence and the ensuing crash into the Whomping Willow counts among his favorite experiences on the Chamber of Secrets production. "Filming in the flying car was like being on a fun fair ride, especially when one of the tree branches shot straight through the window between Rupert and I!" Radcliffe says. "It was amazing. I don't think we ever stopped laughing!" A DARKER TONE AND A COLORFUL FLAIR Although many of the key Harry Potter artisans participated in the production of both films, new to the team are Academy Award and BAFTA nominated cinematographer Roger Pratt (Iris, Chocolat, The End of the Affair), who takes over from John Seale, director of photography on Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone; and prolific Academy Award-winning costume designer Lindy Hemming (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Topsy Turvy, Funny Bones), who assumes the position previously held by Judianna Makovsky, who received an Oscar nomination and BAFTA nomination for her costumes in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Director Chris Columbus and producer David Heyman brought director of photography Roger Pratt aboard to give Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets a darker and edgier feel than that of the first film. Says Columbus: "We went for a moodier lighting scheme this time around. As the story descends into darkness and Hogwarts is in danger of closing, we wanted the film to get a little darker and creepier, where you're not certain what's going to pop out of the shadows. Roger brought this quality to the film, along with a sense of camera movement, which is a departure for me as a filmmaker." "It was very important that the second film have the same basic qualities as the first, but that it stand out in its own right," Heyman points out. "To that end, Roger gave Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets a much darker feel, which reflects the growth of the characters and the story." Meanwhile, costume designer Lindy Hemming played a crucial role in creating the looks and color schemes for the cabal of new characters introduced in the film. "Many of the characters already had an established appearance and wardrobe, so my real role was to create the costumes for Gilderoy Lockhart, Lucius Malfoy, Moaning Myrtle, Professor Sprout, Madam Pince, Madam Pomfrey and Mr. Weasley," Hemming says. "But I must also give credit to my associate designer, Michael O'Connor, who created the costumes for a myriad of characters you see in Diagon Alley." Designing the look for the dandyish Gilderoy Lockhart provided Hemming with her most enjoyable and colorful challenge. "Lockhart is totally self-obsessed and vain and his clothes and his appearance are everything to him," she observes. "While most of the other characters in the film are dressed in dark, muted or somber colors, with Lockhart we were able to give him outfits in green, blue, deep red and even gold." "Chris Columbus and Lindy had a very clear idea of how Lockhart should look and wanted to introduce color into the film through this character," Branagh adds. "We wanted to create a hybrid between a period dandy and someone who looked as if they could fit into Hogwarts. Lockhart struts like a peacock, wears a different costume in every sceneand of course there's his hair!" Hemming also perfected the evocative wardrobe for the malevolent Lucius Malfoy, played by Jason Isaacs. "Because Lucius is in a very prominent position in the wizard government, one of the original concepts for his wardrobe was to have me wear a pinstripe suit," Isaacs relates. "But Lucius is an aristocrat, living in a giant old house in the country and all of his belongings have been in the family for generations. And so I wanted his costumes to reflect this sense of the old. He wears furs and carries this amazing snake head cane and feels himself to be very regal and superior." A MAGICAL JOURNEY Furthering the magic, action and adventure established in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, as well as the themes of friendship, knowledge and self-discovery, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets promises to be a cinematic journey audiences won't soon forget. "I wouldn't have swapped this experience for anything," says Daniel Radcliffe of the production. "It's been amazing and I know I've developed as a person. In fact, I think everyone who has worked on these films has grown, even the adults! And the bonds I've formed, particularly with Emma and Rupert, will never be broken." "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is a little moodier and the action adventure set pieces are bigger, scarier and more exciting than in the first film," Chris Columbus summarizes. "It's funnier, the kids' performances are even more compelling, and quite simply, if you loved the first film, you are going to absolutely adore this one!" ~ ABOUT THE CAST 12 year-old DANIEL RADCLIFFE (HARRY POTTER) once again reprises the role he so uniquely made his own in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. He beat thousands of hopefuls to secure the role he was quite definitely born to play, as director Chris Columbus says: "Dan walked into the room and we all knew we had found Harry." Playing the role of young Harry Potter has won Daniel worldwide acclaim and the Variety Club of Great Britain's Best Newcomer Award, presented in February 2002. In April 2002 he was also honored with the prestigious David Di Donatello Award presented by Italy's Ente David Di Donatello for his superb portrayal of Harry and for his contribution to the future of cinema. Daniel first appeared on screens in December 1999 when he played the young David Copperfield in BBC television's production of David Copperfield. The drama, which was directed by Simon Curtis, also starred Dame Maggie Smith who appeared alongside him as Professor McGonagall in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Prior to filming the first Harry Potter feature, he made his feature film debut as Jamie Lee Curtis' and Geoffrey Rush's screen son in John Boorman's The Tailor of Panama. RUPERT GRINT (RON WEASLEY) again plays the youngest Weasley brother and best friend to Harry Potter. Although, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone was Rupert first foray into the world of professional acting, his natural talent has earned him worldwide critical and public acclaim and a British Critic's Circle nomination for Best Newcomer. Since filming the first Harry Potter film, he has gone onto to star along side Simon Callow and Stephen Fry as a young madcap professor in Peter Howitt's Thunderpants. Rupert is 13 years old and is the eldest of five children. Prior to winning the role of Ron Weasley, he performed in school productions and with the local theatre drama group. Productions included the role of the gangster Rooster in Annie and a production of Peter Pan and Rumplestiltskin in the Grimm Tales. 12 year-old EMMA WATSON (HERMIONE GRANGER) made her superb debut into the world of professional acting in Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone, although her natural ability has been evident since an early age with highly praised performances in several school productions. Emma lived in France until age five, and then moved to England. At age seven, she won first prize in her year for a poetry recital in the school's Daisy Pratt Poetry competition. She went on to co-star as Morgan La Fay in the school's production of Arthur: The Young Years and then took one of lead roles in The Happy Prince. Emma is an avid hockey player, recently receiving her colors for the school team. She also enjoys rounders and netball, and likes to take part in all kinds of school activities including athletics and sculling. 14 year-old TOM FELTON (DRACO MALFOY) is back as Harry Potter's archenemy and Slytherin school boy. Tom has been acting professionally for six years and was first seen on the big screen in 1996 when he played the role of Peagreen in Peter Hewitt's The Borrowers. More recently he played the part of Jodie's Foster's screen son Louis in Anna & the King. He has also appeared in two top UK television series: Bugs in which he played the role of James and Second Sight starring opposite Clive Owen as Thomas Ingham. He has also starred in two BBC Radio 4 plays playing the role of Ioeth in The Wizard of Earthsea and Hercules in Here's to Everyone. Tom first came to attention in 1995 when he featured in a number of top television commercials. As well as displaying an early talent for acting, Tom is a talented singer. He has been a member of four choirs at school and church and was even offered a place in the Guildford Cathedral Choir. He is an avid sportsman enjoying football, ice-skating, rollerblading, basketball, cricket, swimming and tennis. 11 year-old BONNIE WRIGHT (GINNY WEASLEY) plays Ron's younger sister as she embarks on her first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Bonnie also featured in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone as Ginny and the rest of the Weasley family wave goodbye to Ron on Platform 9 æ. However, her role in the second film is absolutely central to the plot as her screen character battles with a crush on Harry, the powers of a secret diary and her tormented conscience. Bonnie also appeared in Hallmark Television's production Stranded, which aired in the United States this year and will appear on UK screens in 2003. In addition to being a gifted actress, Bonnie also plays the piano, recorder and saxophone. She is a talented footballer and enjoys a variety of sports including swimming, tennis, riding, ice-skating, cycling and surfing. 13 year-old HARRY MELLING (DUDLEY DURSLEY) rejoins the cast as Harry's spoiled cousin. Playing Dudley in the first Harry Potter film was Harry's first professional role, although his love and talent for acting was clearly evident at just four years old when he started putting on shows for his family. By five years old, he had enrolled for Saturday morning dance, singing and drama classes at The Sue Nieto Theatre School. At nine he became a member of the Millfield Theatre Youth Drama Group and appeared in Robert Hyman's original musicals House and Y3K. It comes as no surprise that acting is Harry's main love; it is most definitely in the genes. His grandfather was Patrick Troughton famed for his role as Dr. Who, his uncle is David Troughton a lead actor with the RSC, his cousin Sam is an actor with the National Theatre and his other uncle is Michael Troughton famed for his portrayal as Piers Fletcher Dervish in The New Statesman. His mother is a children's book illustrator and his father (also an illustrator) has worked on animated films. Aside from his love of theatre and films, Harry enjoys playing the drums and making his own films. DAVID BRADLEY (MR. ANGUS FILCH) again plays Hogwarts' ill-natured caretaker who prowls the corridors of the school with his mangy cat Mrs. Norris. David Bradley is an actor of unparalleled standing. He is one of the UK's most distinguished and respected actors and a long-standing member of both the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal National Theatre. In 1990 Bradley won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his performance as the Fool in King Lear at the National Theatre. In 1993 he won the Clarence Derwent Award for Best Supporting Actor for the roles of Polonius in Hamlet and Shallow in Henry IV PT II at the RSC (a role for which he was also nominated for a further Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role). In addition, Bradley's many other RSC theatre credits include: The Tempest; Julius Caesar; The Alchemist; Dr. Faustus; Epicoene; Cymbeline; Three Sisters; Temptation; Twelfth Night; Merry Wives of Windsor; Il Candelaio; Tartuffe; Custom of the Country; The Winter's Tale; Moliere; The Roaring Girl; Arden of Faversham; Lear; Captain Swing; The Swan Down Gloves and The Merchant of Venice. Bradley's most recent theatre role was as God in The Mysteries at the Royal National Theatre. Other productions at the National include: The Homecoming; Mother Courage; Richard III; Measure for Measure; The Cherry Orchard; Twelfth Night; Tis Pity She's a Whore and The Front Page. West End credits include: Britannicus; Phedre and Funny Peculiar. In addition to his outstanding theatre career, Bradley 's film credits include most recently the role of the Priest in Kristian Levring's Innocence, Mr. Bellamy in Billie Eltringham's This is Not a Love Song; Udayan Prasad's Gabriel and Me; Rodney Butcher's Pas de Trois; Paddy Breathnack's Blow Dry; Kristian Levring's The King is Alive; Willard Carroll's Tom's Midnight Garden; Jeroen Krabbe's Left Luggage; Rob Marchant's Kangaroo Palace and Stephen Frear's Prick Up Your Ears. Bradley is also a familiar face to television audiences throughout Britain with many starring roles and appearances in productions such as: The Way We Live Now; Station Jim; The Mayor of Casterbridge; The Wilsons; Vanity Fair; Where the Heart is; Our Mutual Friend; Bramwell; Reckless; Cracker; Band of Gold; Our Friends in the North; Martin Chuzzlewit; Fair Game; Full Stretch; Buddha of Surburbia; Between the Lines; Shadow of the Noose; Fergus' Wedding; Blue Dove; Sweet Dreams and Murphy's Law. KENNETH BRANAGH (GILDEROY LOCKHART) joins Hogwarts as the flamboyantly self-obsessed Professor of the Dark Arts. A graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Branagh made his West End acting debut in Another Country for which he won the Society of West End Theatre's Award for 'Most Promising Newcomer'. Numerous stage appearances followed including the RSC's Henry V, Love Labour's Lost and Hamlet. In 1985 he co-founded the Renaissance Theatre Company. Productions which Branagh either wrote, starred in or directed include: Public Enemy, Twelfth Night, The Life of Napoleon, Much Ado About Nothing, As You Like It, Hamlet, Look Back in Anger, Uncle Vanya, King Lear, A Midsummer Night's Dream and Coriolanus. His first venture into film met with instant success when his 1989 production of Henry V won a score of international awards including Academy Award nominations for Best Actor and Best Director. Branagh was subsequently invited to Hollywood to direct and star in Dead Again, before returning to England to direct the ensemble film Peters Friends, which won the Evening Standard Peters Sellers Award for Comedy. His second Shakespearean film success was Much Ado About Nothing and in the same year his short film of the Chekhov play Swan Song received an Academy Award nomination. He went on to direct Robert De Niro in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. His black and white film In The Bleak Midwinter (A Midwinter's Tale) opened the 1996 Sundance Film Festival and won the prestigious Osello d'Oro at the Venice Film Festival. His critically acclaimed full-length version of Hamlet in 70mm, received four Academy Award nominations. In 2000 Branagh directed his fourth Shakespeare film adaptation a 1930s musical version of Love Labour's Lost. Branagh's other film work includes acting roles in: Pat O'Connor's A Month in the Country; Oliver Parker's Othello; Robert Altman's The Gingerbread Man; Woody Allen's Celebrity; Danny Boyle's Alien Love Triangle; Paul Greengrass' The Theory of Flight; Barry Sonnenfeld's Wild Wild West; Michael Kalesniko's How to Kill Your Neighbour's Dog and Philip Noyce's Rabbit Proof Fence. In addition to Channel 4 and A&E's television epic Shackleton, Branagh has recently appeared in the HBO/BBC drama Conspiracy, for which he won an Emmy as Best Actor and a Golden Globe nomination. Most recently, he has directed the hit stage comedy in London's West End The Play What I Wrote, which won two Olivier Awards. He has just completed starring in Michael Grandage's sell-out production of Richard III at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield. Branagh received rave notices for his return to the stage after a ten-year absence. JOHN CLEESE (NEARLY HEADLESS NICK) once again plays the ghost with a flip-top head. Cleese needs little or no introduction having entertained the world for 40 years as a comedian, actor, writer, author, director, producer and generally very funny person. It was perhaps in 1969 and the first series of Monty Python's Flying Circus that Cleese first shot to fame. The Pythons' unique brand of humor was to spawn three hit series, a UK and Canadian stage tour, a stage show at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane and at City Center, New York as well as a show at the Hollywood Bowl. The team made their first film in 1971 And Now For Something Completely Different, followed two years later by Monty Python and the Holy Grail, in 1978 Life of Brian and in 1982 The Meaning of Life. In 1975 he created what was to similarly become a worldwide phenomenon, the television series Fawlty Towers. This was followed with a second series in 1979. Cleese wrote, produced and starred in A Fish Called Wanda, co-starring Kevin Kline, Jamie Lee Curtis and Michael Palin, which was released in 1988. The film received an Academy Award nomination, an Italian Oscar and a Writers Guild of America nomination for Best Screenplay and Cleese received a BAFTA Award for Best Actor with the film being further nominated for Best Screenplay. Other film credits include: Clockwise; Romance With a Double Bass; Time Bandits; The Great Muppet Caper; Privates on Parade; Silverado; Splitting Heirs; Mary Shelley's Frankenstein; The Jungle Book; Fierce Creatures (co-writer and co-producer); Out of Towners; Isn't She Great; The World is not Enough; The Quantum Project and Rat Race. In addition, Cleese organized the first Amnesty Concert A Poke in the Eye (directed by Jonathan Miller) in 1975 and directed The Secret Policeman's Ball again for Amnesty on stage in 1979. He then co-directed The Secret Policeman's Other Ball in 1981. Other career highlights include BBC television's The Frost Report, The Frost Programme and At Last the 1948 Show which in 1966 and 1967 first introduced him to UK audiences; the role of Petruchio in the BBC's adaptation of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew; LWT's Whoops Apocalypse and most recently the BBC's The Human Face. Cleese was also the founder of the highly successful management training films company Video Arts (awarded the Queen's Award to Industry for Exports) and has written two self-help books Families & How to Survive Them and Life and How to Survive it (both with Dr. Robin Skynner), the first of which was made into a BBC Radio 4 series. He is a Cambridge graduate (MA), was Rector of St. Andrew's University for three years (Honorary LL.D) and in 1999 he has appointed an Andrew D White Professor-at-large to Cornell University. ROBBIE COLTRANE (RUBEUS HAGRID) reprises his role as loyal keeper of the keys and grounds at Hogwarts and most importantly, friend to Harry Potter. Robbie Coltrane is one of the UK's most prolific and respected film and television actors with a multi-award winning career spanning 20 years. His illustrious film career to date boasts 26 films including most recently: Allen and Albert Hughes' From Hell; the James Bond films The World is Not Enough and Goldeneye in which he played Valentin Zukovsky; Warner Bros.' Message in a Bottle; Buddy; The Pope Must Die; Henry V; Let it Ride; Absolute Beginners; Defense of the Realm; Mona Lisa and Nuns on the Run for which he was awarded The Peter Sellers Award For Comedy at the 1991 Evening Standard British Film Awards. Perhaps Coltrane is best known as Fitz in the internationally acclaimed and hugely popular television series Cracker. The three series of the phenomenally successful drama amassed an impressive array of awards including two BAFTA Best Drama Series Awards in 1995 and 1996; the Royal Television Society Award for Best Drama; the 1993 Broadcasting Press Guilds Award for Best Series and the US Cable Ace Awards Best Movie or Mini Series. Coltrane himself was bestowed with a staggering array of awards for his portrayal of the tough, wise cracking police psychologist, Fitz. Incredibly, he won the BAFTA Award for Best Television Actor three years in a row (1994, 1995 and 1996); Best Television Actor at the 1993 Broadcasting Press Guilds Awards; a Silver Nymph Award for Best Actor at the 1994 Monte Carlo Television Festival; Best Male Performer at the 1994 Royal Television Society Awards; FIPA's Best Actor Award and a Cable Ace Award for Best Actor in a Movie or Mini Series. Coltrane first came to our attention in Slab Boys in 1978 at the Traverse Theatre and at Hampstead Theatre, before in the early 1980s launching himself on an unsuspecting comedy scene with appearances on Alfresco, Kick up the Eighties, Laugh I nearly Paid my License Fee and Saturday Night Live. He went onto make star appearances in 13 Comic Strip productions and numerous television shows including Blackadders III; Blackadder Christmas Special as well as being nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Danny McGlone in Tony Smith's Tutti Frutti. One of the UK's fastest rising young stars, CHRISTIAN COULSON (TOM RIDDLE), joins the cast as a mysterious and ghostly ex-Hogwarts student. A recent graduate from Cambridge University, this is Coulson's third feature film, having featured in the role of Ralph in Stephen Daldry's The Hours and the role of the Drummer boy in Shekah Kapur's Four Feathers. He is also currently starring as Jolly in ITV's epic drama The Forsyte Saga and played the role of Matt in BBC TV's Love is a Cold Climate. Coulson's talents first came to light while studying at Cambridge University with memorable performances including: the role of Emcee in Cabaret; the role of Arturo Ui in The Resistable Rise of Arturo Ui and curiously the role of 'Claire' in The Maids. WARWICK DAVIS (PROFESSOR FLITWICK) is also back at Hogwarts as the Levitation expert. Davis's career as an actor came about purely by chance. Back in 1981 his Grandmother heard a radio announcement calling for people under four feet tall to appear in the new Star Wars film Return of the Jedi. He played the tiny Ewok, Wicket, who became one of the film's lead creature characters. In 1984, after the success of Return of the Jedi, Lucas went on to make two Ewok movies for ABC television Caravan of Courage and in 1985, Battle for Endor. Davis reprised his performances as Wicket in both. Also in 1985, Davis appeared alongside David Bowie in the fantasy film Labyrinth. In 1987 Davis was called to Elstree Studios in London for a meeting with Ron Howard and George Lucas. They discussed a new project Willow, written specifically with Davis in mind. This epic fantasy has since become a firm favorite with family audiences throughout the world. After the success of Willow, Davis was immediately back in front of the camera, this time for the small screen. He was cast in two series of the BBC television classic, The Chronicles of Narnia. In The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Davis portrayed the swashbuckling mouse Reepicheep and in The Silver Chair he played Glimfeather the owl. Up until this point in his career, Davis had always been cast as a 'goodie'. On reading the script for Leprechaun, he was thrilled to learn that this Leprechaun was in fact a 'baddie'. The film achieved cult status with movie fans in America, which prompted no less than four sequels to be made. In 1995, Davis appeared as Gildrig in Gulliver's Travels. The series set new American television audience records by attracting a staggering 56 million viewers. In 1997, George Lucas invited Davis to return to that famous galaxy far, far away for Star Wars - Episode 1: The Phantom Menace. Davis played no less than four roles in the film, with character names Wald and Weazel. Later in 1997, a script arrived entitled A Very Unlucky Leprechaun. No, not another horror movie, this time the Leprechaun, known as Lucky, was friendly, if a little eccentric. The success of this children's film meant a sequel The White Pony was made the following year. In 1999, he was seen as Acorn in The 10th Kingdom, as Pepe in The New Adventures of Pinocchio and as Basil Lodge in the BBC sit-com, The Fitz. He also spent six weeks in Canada filming a new version of the Snow White story for ABC television. Later that year he shot a British film called Al's Lads. As well as he many roles on the big and small screens, Davis has trodden the boards of theatres throughout the United Kingdom. As well as numerous productions of Snow White, he has also appeared in Peter Pan and Aladdin. During 2001, Davis has worked on two series for the BBC. An episode of the mystery series Murder Rooms and Steve Coogan's Hammer House homage Dr Terrible's House of Horrible. Davis has also just completed a pilot for Hidden Hollywood, a new series that takes a behind-the-scenes look at feature films. RICHARD GRIFFITHS (VERNON DURSLEY) returns to play Harry's bullying Uncle, married to Petunia and the father of Dudley. Richard Griffiths is one of the UK's most well-known and loved actors, a regular face on television and in film. He has featured in a number of films over the last 20 years and is perhaps best remembered in Withnail & I and most recently in Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow. Other major film credits include; Chariots of Fire; The French Lieutenant's Woman; Ghandi; Greystoke; Gorky Park; A Private Function; Shanghai Surprise; King Ralph; Blame it on the Bellboy; Naked Gun 2; Funny Bones; Superman II and in Don Boyd's Goldeneye. In the UK, Griffiths is a much loved character actor most famed for his BBC television series Pie in the Sky and Hope & Glory (having just completed the second series). His other main television performances in the BBC's Gormenghast; Inspector Morse; In the Red; Ted and Ralph; Amnesty; Bird of Prey; The Cleopatras; Merry Wives of Windsor; The Marksman; Mr. Wakefield's Crusade; LWT's Nobody's Perfect and Whoops Apocalypse; Thames TV's Ffizz; Central's A Kind of Living and Granada's El Cid. Griffiths is also an established theatre actor having performed with the RSC in The White Guard; Once in a Lifetime; Henry VIII; Volpone and Red Star. Other major stage productions include: Heartbreak House; Galileo and Rules of the Game all at the Almeida Theatre; Art; Katherine Howard; The Man Who Came to Dinner; Verdi's Messiah and most recently Luther at the Royal National Theatre. The greatly respected and experienced stage and screen actor ROBERT HARDY (CORNELIUS FUDGE) first worked professionally at the Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon in 1949, playing many classical seasons there and with the Old Vic in London and in America. His career has since encompassed film, TV and theatre although many will know him as Winston Churchill in The Wilderness Years which was broadcast world wide and in the much loved TV role of Siegfried Farnon in seven series of All Creatures Great and Small. Notable feature film credits include: The Spy Who Came into the Cold; 10 Rillington Place; Young Winston; Le Silencieux, Dark Places; Yellow Dog; La Gifle; Sir Gawaine and the Green Knight; How I Won the War; The Shooting Party; Robin Hood, Paris by Night; David Hare's A Feast at Midnight; Kenneth Branagh's Mary Shelley's Frankenstein; Ang Lee's Sense & Sensibility; Mrs. Dalloway; The Tichborne Claimant; An Ideal Husband; The Barber of Siberia and The Gathering. Hardy is a popular figure in British television with many credits including: David Copperfield; Twelfth Night; An Age of King (as Henry V); Coriolanus; The Troubleshooters; Manhunt; Daniel Deronda; Elizabeth R (as the Earl of Leicester); Edward VII (as Prince Albert); Caesar and Claretta (as Musselini); Horses in our Blood (adapted, narrated and presented); Speed King; Fothergill; The Demon Lover; Jenny's War; Death of the Heart; Hot Metal; Far Pavillions; Make or Break; Blat; Northanger Abbey; ABC Entertainment's mini series War and Remembrance; Death by Misadventure; Sherlock Holmes The Master Blackmailer; Inspector Morse; Middlemarch; Bramwell; Gulliver's Travels; Nancherrow, Midsomer Murders and The Tenth Kingdom. Hardy can most recently be seen in Lucky Jim; The Lost World, Foyle's War, The Falkland's Play and Kenneth Branagh's Shackleton. Hardy is as at home on stage with productions including: Much Ado About Nothing; The River Lane; Camino Real; The Rehearsal; A Severed Head; The Constant Couple; Alan Bennett's Habeas Corpus; DearLiar (as George Bernard Shaw); the role of Winston Churchill in Winnie at the Victoria Palace; Body & Soul and The Man Who Said No at the Palais des Congres in Paris. A greatly experienced actor with over 50 years experience in theatre, film, TV and radio, Hardy has also written and co-directed the TV film The Picardy Affair; a radio play The Leopard and the Lilies and a documentary for BBC's Chronicle. He has published two books on the same subject entitled Longbow and The Great War-Bow. Trustee and Consultant to the Mary Rose Trust on archery equipment, his interests include archery, medieval history, bowery, horses and birds. Hardy was a trustee of the Royal Armouries of the Tower of London from 1984 to 1995 and is an Hon Dlit of two universities. Hardy was appointed a CBE in June 1981 and elected FSA in 1990. RICHARD HARRIS (PROFESSOR ALBUS DUMBLEDORE) returns to the production to play Hogwarts' headmaster, considered by many to be the greatest wizard of modern times. Harris is undoubtedly one of the film industry's greatest screen legends having starred in over 70 major movies and been nominated for two Academy Awards. In addition, he is an accomplished producer, director and also an author. He is perhaps most recently best known for his role in The Count of Monte Cristo as well as the role of Emperor in Ridley Scott's Gladiator. Other major big screen credits include: The Pearl, The Barber of Siberia, Smilla's Sense of Snow, Unforgiven, Patriot Games and The Field for which he was nominated for both an Academy Award and Golden Globe. Harris has starred in many classic films including Guns of Navarone, Mutiny on the Bounty and This Sporting Life for which he received his first Academy Award nomination and BAFTA nomination, as well as winning him Best Actor at the 1963 Cannes Film Festival. His portrayal of King Arthur in Camelot won Harris a Golden Globe Award, followed three years later in 1970 with one of his memorable performances in A Man Called Horse. This was followed by Return of a Man Called Horse (which he co-executive produced) and then by Triumphs of a Man Called Horse. Other major film credits include: The Hero (aka Bloomfield) which he also directed, Echoes of a Summer which he co-executive produced, The Cassandra Crossing, Gulliver's Travels, Orca, The Wild Geese and Mack the Knife. His television credits include the recent BBC documentary King Arthur, as well as The Hunchback of Notre Dame; The Great Kandinsky; Maigret, the Return; Camelot (a role he also took to the stage); The Snow Goose; the Iron Harp and Ricardo. In addition to Camelot, Harris' other main stage performances include: The Ginger Man, Man Beast and Virtue and A View from the Bridge. Harris has also published two books, the novel Honour Bound and a poetry compilation I in the Membership of my Days. SHIRLEY HENDERSON (MOANING MYRTLE) plays the role of the poor student ghost who spends her days haunting the girls' bathroom. Henderson is proving to be one of the most popular young actresses of today with a varied list of notable roles in film, television and theatre. Most recently she can be seen portraying the character of Alice in the Zentropa Production Vilbur Wants to Kill Himself (Lone Scherfig); playing Alice in American Cousins (Don Coutts); Shirley in Shane Meadows' Once Upon a Time in the Midlands, as Detective Losey in Dr. Sleep (Nick Willing); in Michael Winterbottom's 24 Hour Party People; The Claim and Wonderland; Eve in Villa Des Roses (Frank van Passel); Jude in Bridget Jones' Diary (Sharon Maguire); Leonora in Topsy Turvy (Mike Leigh) for which she received the Film Critics Circle nomination for Best Actress; and as Gail in Danny Boyle's Trainspotting. Henderson's many television credits include most recently, Marie Melmotte in The Way We Live Now (BBC) for which she received the Royal Television Society Nomination for Best Actress; Hamish Macbeth for BBC Scotland and In a Land of Plenty. Henderson is equally at home in the theatre. Most recently she played Lynn in Anna Weiss at the Whitehall Theatre, directed by Michael Attenborough. Other notable credits include: Shining Souls at the Young Vic; The Maiden Stone and Lion in the Streets at the Hampstead Theatre (Michael Lloyd); Romeo and Juliet at the Citizens' Theatre; Simon Donald's The Life of Stuff at the Traverse; My Mother Said I Never Should at the Royal Court and Peter Hall's productions of Entertaining Strangers; The Winter's Tale and The Tempest at the Royal National Theatre. JASON ISAACS (LUCIUS MALFOY) takes on the role of the Machiavellian father to Draco. Isaacs is fast becoming one of the most sought after actors of his generation whose recent credits include Ridley Scott's Black Hawk Down, the recently released Jackie Chan film The Tuxedo and Dan Ireland's romantic comedy Passionada. Also due for release in 2002 are John Woo's Windtalkers opposite Nicolas Cage and Mike Figgis' Hotel. After Harry Potter he will travel straight to Australia to star as both Mr. Darling and Captain Hook in the Disney/Sony/Revolution production of Peter Pan to be directed by P.J. Hogan. He has been working non-stop since appearing as Colonel William Tavington opposite Mel Gibson in The Patriot, a scene stealing performance which garnered him a nomination from the London Film Critic's Circle. He was also seen in drag in Sweet November with Keanu Reeves and Charlize Theron and as a priest in Neil Jordan's End of the Affair. He was Professor Quincy, the 'smartest man on the planet' in box office giant Armageddon, Cow Pat Keegan, an IRA chief, in Divorcing Jack and the slimy Lord Felton opposite Denis Quaid in Dragonheart. In addition he has made three movies with director Paul Anderson; the sci-fi thriller Event Horizon, Soldier with Kurt Russell and the cult film Shopping. The eagle-eyed will spot him in an uncredited cameo in Anderson's recent Resident Evil. Isaacs made his feature film debut with Jeff Goldblum and Emma Thompson in The Tall Guy. On television he starred as the sweet-natured Chas for two seasons in the hit series Capital City, in the headline grabbing Civvies from Lynda La Plante, as a real life disgraced footballer in Paul Greengrass' The Fix and as, variously, a gay crime lord, identical twins one evil, one good, an amnesiac and two separate drug dealers called Des. For CBS he was in the mini-series The Last Don, as another priest, this time testing the limits of his vows. On stage he created the role of Louis in the critically acclaimed National Theatre production of the Pulitzer Prize winning Angels in America parts 1 & 2, and has appeared at the Royal Court in Gary Mitchell's The Force of Change and as Mussolini in Craig Raine's 1953 at the Almeida. He has also performed at the King's Head and five times at the Edinburgh festival. Born in Liverpool, England, Isaacs attended Bristol University where, while studying law, he directed and/or starred in over twenty plays. On graduating he went straight to London's prestigious Central School of Speech and Drama for another three years and has been working ever since to clear his debts. GEMMA JONES (MADAM POMFREY) is perhaps best known for her recent portrayal of Bridget's mother in Sharon Maguire's Bridget Jones' Diary. Other notable film credits and roles include: Merchant Ivory's Cotton Mary; BBC Films The Theory of Flight; in David Mamet's The Winslow Boy; An Inch Over the Horizon; with Stephen Fry in Wilde; Valley Girls; with Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet in Ang Lee's Sense and Sensibility; in Merchant Ivory's Feast of July and On the Black Hill. She will next be seen in a Spanish film with Penelope Cruz entitled No News from God. Gemma Jones first trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art where she won the Gold Medal. She has gone on to become an extremely respected stage actress with West End credits including: Brecht's Baal with Peter O'Toole; Bill Naughton's Alfie with John Neville; Jean Anouilh's The Cavern for which she received the Clarence Derwent Award; E.M Forster's Howard's End; Alan Bennett's Getting On with Kenneth More; Harold Pinter's The Homecoming; And a Nightingale Sang by C.P Taylor; Arthur Miller's Ride Down Mount Morgan and Ibsen's The Master Builder with Alan Bates. She has worked extensively with the Royal Shakespeare Company in plays such as: The Merry Wives of Windsor; A Winter's Tale; Twelfth Night: Henry VIII; Julius Caesar; Volpone and the world tour of Peter Brook's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. For the Royal National Theatre Jones she has appeared in John Hopkins' Next of Fire, Beaumarchais' The Marriage of Figaro and Battle Royal by Nick Stafford. At the Old Vic she played Goneril in King Lear and was in Adrian Mitchell's After Aida. And at the Young Vic she starred in David Rudkin's Ashes with Ian McKellen. She played Ophelia to Richard Chamberlain's Hamlet; Blanche Dubois in A Streetcar Named Desire; Sally Bowles in Cabaret; Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing and Lady Macbeth on a tour of England and India. She was in Stephen Poliakoff's Breaking the Silence; in Manuel Puig's Mystery of the Rose Bouquet at the Donmar Warehouse and co-starred with John Neville in Strindberg's Dance of Death at the Almeida Theatre. Equally at home on the small screen, Gemma Jones' many notable television roles include: her highly acclaimed performance at the Duchess of Duke Street; as well as Nina in The Seagull; Queen Elizabeth I in Kenilworth; Varia in The Cherry Orchard; Ingmar Bergman's The Lie; The Importance of Being Ernest; The Merchant of Venice; Inspector Morse; The Story Teller; Wycliffe; Faith; Devices and Desires; After the Dance and the BAFTA award winning Longitude directed by Charles Sturridge. MIRIAM MARGOLYES (PROFESSOR SPROUT) easily moves from throwing Arnold Schwarzenegger into a wall in End of Days to playing 23 characters from the works of Charles Dickens in her award-winning one woman show (Dickens' Women), Miriam Margolyes is one of the UK's most prolific and versatile actresses equally at home on stage or screen. She went to the US following an award-winning performance in Christine Edzard's film Little Dorrit appearing four times on the Tonight Show, before being given her own situation comedy Frannie's Turn. In 1984 Margolyes won the BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Martin Scorsese's The Age of Innocence prompting an invitation to join the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. Other films include: Pacific Heights; Dead Again; I Love You to Death; Cold Comfort Farm; Immortal Beloved; Little Shop of Horrors and James and the Giant Peach; Baz Luhrmann's William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet; Sunshine and Cats & Dogs. Her television career is equally as varied with highlights including: The Girls of Slender Means; Glittering Prizes; Blackadder; Old Flames; The History Man; Oliver Twist; The Lost Tribe; Life and Loves of a She Devil; Vanity Fair; and Lynda La Plante's Supply and Demand. Her greatest love is the theatre, including most recently the Vagina Monologues. Her first appearance at the Arts Theatre was in the 1976 hit Kennedy's Children with other appearances including: The Threepenny Opera; Orpheus Descending both with Vanessa Redgrave and She Stoops to Conquer with Sir Donald Sinden. Her production of Gertrude Stein and a Companion won a Fringe First at the 1986 Edinburgh Festival, transferring to a sellout season at the Hampstead Theatre and a US and Australian tour. Her last West End appearance was as George in The Killing of Sister George and the Ambassador Theatre and in 2000 in Los Angeles, she appeared in Sir Peter Hall's production of Romeo and Juliet. Margolyes's career began in radio with parts ranging from voicing small boys to old ladies. She has voiced thousands of TV and radio commercials, recorded stories for children including Matilda; The Worst Witch; Pinocchio; The First Snows of Winter; Mulan and the voice of Babe's mother, Fly, in Babe. Her radio career was crowned in 1993 when she recorded The Queen & I for the BBC, playing every member of the royal family. This was released on cassette and became the most popular audio book ever issued, for which she won the Sony Best Radio Actress Award. In 1997 Margolyes' recording of Oliver Twist won awards in both England and the US and she was named Best Audio Performer by the Spoken Word Publishers Association. SALLY MORTEMORE (MADAM PINCE) plays the role of librarian in this, her feature film debut. Mortemore's diverse career has included extensive tours with such veteran and acclaimed theatre companies as Red Shift, a physical/visual company founded in the early 1980s by artistic director Jonathan Holloway, for whom she played Julianna Borereau in his adaptation of The Aspern Papers. Her following appearances with this company included Lady Sandwich in Poor Mrs. Pepys and Gertrude in Hamlet-First Cut, the first quarto version of Shakespeare's play. With the English Shakespeare Company, she extended her range of the Bard's notable characters as Titania in A Midsummer Night's Dream and Lady Macbeth. Mortemore has also toured with Cleanbreak Theatre Company appearing as Sandy in playwright Lyn Coghlan's Apache Tears, which won the Peggy Ramsey Award for Best New Commissioned Play in 2000. Her British repertory work includes seasons at Watford, Bromley, Basingstoke and Hornchurch and just prior to her joining the cast of Harry Potter in January, she appeared in the title role of the Snow Queen at the Octagon Theatre in Bolton. Previous film work includes short films for the BBC and Channel 4, Miss Quigley in Daphne and Apollo and the wife in Special Occasions. Mortemore has also appeared in several television commercials. ALAN RICKMAN (PROFESSOR SEVERUS SNAPE) reprises his role as the enigmatic Potions professor and head of Slytherin House. Alan Rickman is one of the UK's most respected film, television and theatre actors and famed throughout the world for his performances in films as diverse as: Die Hard; An Awfully Big Adventure; Bob Roberts; Truly Madly Deeply; Close My Eyes; The January Man and Galaxy Quest. He also starred in Mesmer for which he was named Best Actor at the Montreal Film Festival. For Sense & Sensibility and Michael Collins he received BAFTA nominations and for Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves he won the BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor. For Truly Madly Deeply, Close My Eyes and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves he was named Evening Standard Film Actor of the Year. Recent films include: Blow Dry, The Search for John Gissing and Play (directed by Anthony Minghella for Beckett on Film). For his role as the enigmatic Russian monk in HBO's Rasputin, Rickman won the 1996 Emmy, Golden Globe and SAG Awards for Outstanding Lead Actor. Other television credits include: Benefactors; Revolutionary Witness; Spirit of Man; Pity in History; Barchester Chronicles; Busted; Therese Raquin and Romeo & Juliet. As a director Rickman's work includes Wax Acts with Ruby Wax in the West End and The Winter Guest by Sharman MacDonald at both the West Yorkshire Playhouse and the Almeida Theatre in London. He then went on to direct (and co-write with Macdonald) the feature film version of The Winter Guest starring Emma Thompson. It was an Official Selection for the Venice Film Festival winning three awards and later won Best Feature at the Chicago Film Festival. Rickman is equally famed for his theatre work. As a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company he starred in Les Liaisons Dangereuses both in the West End and on Broadway where he was nominated for a Tony Award. Other productions for the RSC include: Mephisto; Troilus and Cressida; As You Like It; Love's Labour's Lost; Antony and Cleopatra; Captain Swing and The Tempest. Most of his stage work however has been in contemporary theatre and includes: Fears and Miseries of the Third Reich at the Glasgow Citizens; The Carnation Game and The Summer Party at the Crucible Sheffield; Commitments and The Last Elephant at the Bush Theatre; Bad Language at the Hampstead Theatre Club; The Grass Widow; The Lucky Chance and The Seagull at the Royal Court. For the National Theatre Rickman starred in Antony & Cleopatra and played the title role in Hamlet at Riverside Studios directed by Robert Sturua, the celebrated director of the Rustaveli Theatre in Georgia. Rickman has also appeared three times at the Edinburgh Festival - a double bill of The Devil is an Ass and Measure for Measure which also toured Europe; Brothers Karamazov which then toured the USSR and Yukio Ninagawa's Tango at the end of Winter which later transferred to the West End winning Rickman the Time Out Award for Best Actor. Rickman recently starred in the highly acclaimed West End production of Noel Coward's Private Lives. He won both the Variety Club and Theatre Goers Awards for Best Actor and was nominated for Olivier and Evening Standard Awards. The play enjoyed a sell out run at the Albery Theatre and is currently running on Broadway. FIONA SHAW (PETUNIA DURSLEY) is back as Harry's cold-hearted Aunt, sister to his beloved deceased mother. Fiona Shaw is one of the UK's most celebrated and respected stage actresses, most recently receiving rave reviews and the Evening Standard Award for Best Actress in Medea in London's West End. In 1990 she received the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress for her role as Rosalind in As You Like it, followed by a further Olivier Award for Best Actress and London Critics Award for her performance in The Good Person of Sechuan. She received a further Laurence Olivier Award and London Critics Award for her portrayal of Electra, again in 1990. This was followed in 1992 by the London Critics Award for her eponymous portrayal of Hedda Gabler and in 1993 she again received the Laurence Olivier Award and Evening Standard Drama Award for Best Actress for Stephen Daldry's Machinal. Other major stage productions include: The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie; The Way of the World and Richard II for the Royal National Theatre; A world tour of The Waste Land; The Rivals; Bloody Poetry and Philistines; Les Liaisons Dangereuses; Mephisto; Much Ado About Nothing; The Merchant of Venice; Hyde Park and The Taming of the Shrew for the Royal Shakespeare Company. In addition to her performances on stage, Shaw has also directed The Widowers Houses for the National Theatre Education Tour and Hamlet for the National Theatre of Ireland. Shaw's memorable film credits include: Jim Sheridon's My Left Foot; Bob Rafelson's Mountains of the Moon; Hanif Kureishi's London Kills Me; Franco Zeffirelli's Jane Eyre; Neil Jordan's The Butcher Boy; Deborah Warner's The Last September and recently Clare Peploe's The Triumph of Love. For television Shaw has reprised her roles in Hedda Gabler and The Waste Land, both for the BBC, as well as starring in Danny Boyle's For the Greater Good; Roger Michell's Persuasian; Andy Wilson's Gormenghast and as the star of Lynda La Plante's Mind Games. In 1997 Shaw was awarded a doctorate at the National University of Ireland and made an Honorary Professor of Drama at Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland. In 2001 she was awarded a doctorate from Trinity College Dublin and the French Government has awarded her an Officer des Artes et des Lettres. She also received a CBE in last year's New Year's Honours List. At present she is performing The Power Book at the National Theatre and later in the year will perform Medea in New York. MAGGIE SMITH (PROFESSOR MINERVA McGONAGALL) returns to play the deputy head of Hogwarts and head of the Gryffindor house. Dame Maggie Smith is quite simply one of the world's greatest stage and screen actresses revered both by her peers and the public alike and the recipient of countless awards, including two Academy Awards, the CBE and the DBE. Most recently she received Academy Award, Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations for her role in Robert Altman's highly acclaimed Gosford Park. Smith first appeared on stage with the Oxford University Drama Society in 1952 and then made her professional debut in New York in the New Faces 1956 Revue. She joined the Old Vic Company in 1959 and began gathering awards including the 1962 Evening Standard's Best Actress Award for her roles as Doreen in The Private Ear and Belinda in The Public Eye. She joined The National Theatre in 1963 playing Desdemona opposite Laurence Olivier's Othello and went on to further success in Black Comedy, Miss Julie, The Country Wife, The Beaux Stratagem and Much Ado About Nothing. But, it was in 1969 and her portrayal in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie which catapulted her into the public eye and won her an Academy Award and the Society of Film and TV Arts Best Actress Award. Further film roles followed including: Travels with my Aunt (nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress) and Death on the Nile. Then, in 1977 Smith won her second Academy Award and a Golden Globe for her role in Neil Simon's California Suite. The accolades continued to flow with Alan Bennett's A Private Function (co-starring Michael Palin) for which she won a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe, a Variety Club Award and her fifth Academy Award nomination. Further film success followed with Merchant Ivory's A Room with a View; The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne (and a BAFTA Award for Best Actress); Stephen Spielberg's Hook; Sister Act; The Secret Garden; Richard III, The First Wives Club; Washington Square; Tea with Mussolini (for which she won a BAFTA Award for Best Actress) and The Last September. She was recently seen in Callie Khouri's The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood with Sandra Bullock. Smith has remained faithful to her stage career throughout her illustrious film and television career. She played the title role of Hedda Gabler in 1970 and won her second Variety Club Best Actress Award for her portrayal of Mrs. Millamant in the Way of the World. Further stage productions include: Night and Day and Edna O'Brien's Virginia for which she received the Evening Standard Drama Award for Best Actress. Other notable productions include: The Interpreters; Infernal Machine; Coming in to Land; Lettice and Lovage (for which she won a Tony Award for Best Actress); The Importance of Being Earnest; Three Tall Women (for which she won the Evening Standard Award for Best Actress); A Delicate Balance, Alan Bennett's Lady in the Van and will soon be appearing in The Breath of Life by David Hare. Major television credits include: Granada's Mrs. Silly for which she won a BAFTA for Best Actress; the BBC's Momento Mori; Suddenly Last Summer and Talking Heads: Bed Among the Lentils for which she won the Royal Television Society Award for Best Actress and most recently The BBC's All the King's Men and David Copperfield. In 1970 Smith received a CBE and in 1990 she became Dame Maggie Smith when she received the DBS. She was awarded the Hamburg Shakespeare Prize in 1991, is a Fellow of the British Film Institute; was awarded a Silver BAFTA in 1993, is an Hon. DLitt of Cambridge University and St. Andrews and is a patron of the Jane Austen Society. JULIE WALTERS (MRS. MOLLY WEASLEY) again plays mother to Ron, Percy, Fred, George and Ginny. Julie Walters is a multi-talented and award-winning actress famed for both her film and television work. Most recently she has starred in the forthcoming film Lewis Gilbert's Before You Go and of course starred as Billy's ballet teacher in Stephen Daldry's Billy Elliot, a role that garnered her Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations, and a BAFTA and Variety Club Award. Although it was perhaps her feature film debut opposite Michael Caine in Educating Rita which brought her worldwide fame. The role won her a Golden Globe, BAFTA and Variety Club Award for Best Actress and an Academy Award nomination. Walters also received a BAFTA Award nomination for Best Actress for Personal Services and a BAFTA Award nomination and a Variety Club Award for Best Supporting Actress for Stepping Out. Walters' other main film credits include: Titanic Town; Intimate Relations; Sister, My Sister; Just Like a Woman; Prick Up Your Ears; Buster (opposite Phil Collins); She'll Be Wearing Pink Pajamas and Killing Dad. In the UK Walters first came to prominence with her television coupling with fellow comedienne Victoria Wood. She has since starred in both comic and dramatic programs including Julie Walters & Friends for which she was nominated for a BAFTA for Best Light Entertainment Programme; Alan Bennett's Say Something Happened and Alan Bleasdale's The Boys from the Black Stuff both of which garnered her further BAFTA Award nominations. Other main television credits include: the forthcoming Murder; My Beautiful Son for which she has just won a BAFTA Award for Best Actress; Dinner Ladies I & II; Oliver Twist; Jack and the Beanstalk; Green Card; the BBC's Melissa; Brazen Hussies; Roald Dahl's Little Red Riding Hood; Bambino Mio; Wide Eyed and Legless for which she was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Actress; Clothes in the Wardrobe; Getaway; Alan Bennett's Talking Heads and Intensive Care; Channel 4's Jake's Progress and GBH; Victoria Wood as Seen on TV for which she was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Comedy Performance; The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole and the BBC's The Birthday Party and The All Day Breakfast Show (Christmas Special). Walters is also an accomplished theatre actress and nominated for an Olivier for Best Actress for Sam Shepherd's Fool for Love. Other stage productions include Willy Russell's Educating Rita; Tom Stoppard's Jumpers; Alan Bleasdale's Having a Ball; Terrance McNally Frankie & Johnnie; Sharman Macdonald's When I was a Girl I used to Scream and Shout; Tennessee William's The Rose Tattoo directed by Peter Hall and the award winning production of All My Sons directed by Howard Davies for which Walters won an Olivier Award in 2001 for Best Actress. MARK WILLIAMS (MR. ARTHUR WEASLEY) plays father to Ron, Ginny, Percy, Fred and George and husband to Mrs. Weasley, as played by Julie Walters. Since graduating in English from Oxford University, Mark Williams has become a familiar and much loved figure in film, TV and theatre. His many film credits include most recently: Metin Hüseyin's Anita & Me; Mel Smith's High Heels & Low Lifes; Peter Hewitt's Whatever Happened to Harold Smith; John Madden's Shakespeare in Love and Peter Hewitt's The Borrowers. Prior to this Williams starred opposite Hugh Laurie as Horace in Stephen Herek's live action adaptation of Dodie Smith's 101 Dalmatians. He has also appeared in Karen Adler's Fever; Gabriel Axel's Prince of Jutland; Clare Peploe's High Season; the BFI's Out of Order and Michael Hoffman's Privileged. Williams is perhaps best known in the UK as a regular in BBC TV's The Fast Show, having to date appeared in four series and a Christmas Special. Other notable small screen credits include: Red Dwarf; Stuff; Bottom; Harry Enfield; Tumbledown; Making Out; Kinsey; Bad Company; Hunting Venus; Happy Birthday Shakespeare; Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased) and the co-leader in Rob Grant's The Strangers. He was also team host in the Sky TV quiz show Jumper for Goalposts. He has directed for the Channel 4 sit-com Festival at The Riverside Studios and co-produced In Exile, a sit-com series for Channel 4. Since spending three years touring by narrow boat with the Mikron Theatre Company, his theatre credits have included: The title role in William for the Royal Court Theatre's Young Writers Festival; Fanshen at the National Theatre; Coquin in Doctor of Honour for Cheek by Jowl Theatre Company; The City Wives Confederacy at Greenwich Theatre; Moscow Gold, Singer, a Dream of People and Touchstone in As You Like It for the Royal Shakespeare Company. In 1997 he played the role of Ivan in Art in the West End and in 1988 he enjoyed a sell out season at Labatt's Apollo of The Fast Show Live on Stage. Most recently in 1999 he played the role of Blakey in Richard Wilson's production of Toast at the Royal Court Theatre. ~ ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS Following the phenomenal worldwide success of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, director CHRIS COLUMBUS (DIRECTOR and EXECUTIVE PRODUCER) returns to the helm of the second film adaptation of J.K. Rowling's much loved books. Prior to this, Columbus is perhaps best known for directing one of the highest grossing motion pictures comedies of all time, Home Alone, and its hugely successful follow-up, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. In 1998, Columbus also directed the drama Stepmom with Julia Roberts and Susan Sarandon. Other directing credits include: Nine Months, which he also wrote and produced, and the hit comedy Mrs. Doubtfire starring Robin Williams and Sally Field. Columbus was born in Spangler, Pennsylvania and grew up outside of Youngstown, Ohio. As a youngster, he aspired to draw cartoons for Marvel Comics and eventually discovered that comic books resemble movie storyboards. In high school, he began making 8mm films and drawing his own storyboards (which he continues to do for his films today). After high school, he enrolled in the Directors Program at New York University's prestigious Tisch School of the Arts. Columbus first attained success as a screenwriter. While still in college he sold his first script Jocks, a semi-autobiographical comedy about a Catholic schoolboy who tries out for a football team. After graduating from NYU, Chris wrote a small town drama entitled Reckless, based on his experiences as a factory worker in Ohio. He gained prominence in Hollywood writing several original scripts for Steven Spielberg: the 1984 comedy thriller Gremlins, the 1985 adventure Goonies and the fantasy Young Sherlock Homes, which was directed by Barry Levinson. These screenwriting achievements led Chris to directing his first feature Adventures in Babysitting. A meeting with John Hughes brought Columbus to the helm on Home Alone, the first of three films together including Only the Lonely, which he directed from his own screenplay. DAVID HEYMAN (PRODUCER) is once again producer of this the second in the series of film adaptations of J.K. Rowling's hugely successful Harry Potter stories. Having spent many years working in the States, it was in 1997 that Heyman returned from the US to the UK to set up Heyday Films, with the intention of building on his unique relationships in the US and Europe to produce international films of all sizes. Following the enormous worldwide success of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Heyday Films has recently opened an office in Los Angeles. Educated in England and the United States, Heyman began his career as a production runner on Milos Forman's Ragtime and David Lean's A Passage to India. Heyman went to Los Angeles in 1986 to become a Creative Executive at Warner Bros. working on such films as Gorillas in the Mist and Goodfellas. He moved on to become a Vice President at United Artists in the late 1980s, before embarking on a career as an independent producer. The first film he produced was Ernest Dickenson's Juice starring Tupac Shakur and Omar Epps. As an independent filmmaker Heyman has produced several films including the low budget classic The Daytrippers that was directed by Greg Mottola and stars Liev Schreiber, Parker Posey, Hope Davis, Stanley Tucci and Campbell Scott. MARK RADCLIFFE (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER) continues his longtime collaboration with director Chris Columbus in this follow-up to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. He previously served as producer on the box office hits Mrs. Doubtfire, Stepmom, Nine Months and Jingle all the Way, having also been executive producer on Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, co-producer of Only the Lonely and associate producer and assistant director on Home Alone. He and Columbus first worked together on Heartbreak Hotel. A native of Oklahoma, Radcliffe began his film career as assistant director on Francis Ford Coppola's The Escape Artist. He later worked for Coppola again on Rumblefish and Peggy Sue Got Married. Other credits include: assistant director on John Hughes' She's Having a Baby and Planes, Trains & Automobiles, Jerry Zucker's Ghost, Donald Petrie's Mystic Pizza and Paul Schrader's on Light of Day. MICHAEL BARNATHAN (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER) is President of 1492 Pictures and a producing partner with Chris Columbus and Mark Radcliffe. He was also executive producer on Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Prior to joining 1492 Pictures, Barnathan was Senior Vice President of Production at Largo Entertainment for four years. His responsibilities included supervision of both development and production of Largo's films. Barnathan served as Executive Producer on Largo's Used People and supervised such productions as Point Break, Dr. Giggles, Judgment Night and The Getaway. Before joining Largo, Barnathan worked with producer Edgar J. Scherick. During his tenure he produced numerous cable movies, movies of the week and miniseries, including The Kennedys of Massachusetts, which received nine Emmy nominations. For 1492 Pictures, Barnathan produced Nine Months, Jingle all the Way, Stepmom and Bicentennial Man. Barnathan is a graduate of New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. DAVID BARRON (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER) began his career in television commercials, from where he graduated to the production side of film and television projects. Having worked as either location manager or assistant director on films including The French Lieutenant's Woman and The Killing Fields, Barron went on to be production supervisor on films such as Revolution; Legend; The Princess Bride; The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne; Hell Bound; Night Breed and Franco Zeffirelli's Hamlet. In 1991, he was appointed executive in charge of production on George Lucas' ambitious television project The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles Series I. Barron followed this with The Muppet Christmas Carol and in 1993 joined Kenneth Branagh's production team as associate producer and unit production manager on Frankenstein. This film began an informal partnership with Branagh which has encompassed In the Bleak Midwinter; Oliver Parker's Othello, a co-production with Luc Roeg's Dakota films, Hamlet and Love Labour's Lost. Although he continues to develop projects with Branagh and his Shakespeare Company, in spring 1999 David Barron formed his own company, Contagious Films, with British director Paul Weiland. He has since been executive producer for Pathe Productions' It Was an Accident, directed by Metin Huseyin and most recently was executive producer on Neil LaBute's Possession which is a Baltimore/Spring Creek Productions film in association with Contagious Films. STEVE KLOVES (WRITER) again pens the screenplay for this the second film in the series. Kloves began his career with the screenplay for the 1984 Jaffe-Lansing production Racing With The Moon, a World War II era coming-of-age story directed by Richard Benjamin and starring Sean Penn, Elizabeth McGovern and Nicolas Cage in one of his earliest and most important roles. In 1989 Kloves made his directorial debut with the comedy-drama The Fabulous Baker Boys, which starred Jeff Bridges, Beau Bridges and Michelle Pfeiffer. The film, which Kloves also wrote, received four Academy Award nominations and Michelle Pfeiffer won a Golden Globe and a BAFTA Award for her performance. Four years later Kloves wrote and directed the psychological thriller Flesh and Bone, starring Dennis Quaid, Meg Ryan and Gywneth Paltrow. Most recently Kloves penned the screenplay for Wonderboys, starring Michael Douglas, Tobey Maguire and Frances McDormand. The film, which was directed and produced by Curtis Hanson, proved a hit with audiences and critics alike and won him his first Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay. Kloves is currently writing the screenplay for the third of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Academy Award nominee and BAFTA winning editor PETER HONESS joins the crew on Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Honess is one of the most prolific editors working today with screen credits including Curtis Hanson's LA Confidential for which he received both Academy Award and A.C.E nominations and a BAFTA Award. He also received a CableACE Award for Cher's If These Walls Could Talk. Most recently Honess edited Harold Becker's Domestic Disturbance and Mercury Rising; Rob Cohen's The Fast and the Furious and Jon Turteltaub's The Kid for Disney. He edited four films for John Schlesinger: The Next Best Thing; Eye for an Eye; Madame Sousatzka and The Believers. He was also editor on four Fred Schepisi films: Six Degrees of Separation; Mr. Baseball; The Russia House, starring Sean Connery; and Plenty, starring Meryl Streep. His other major film credits include: Michael Caton-Jones' Rob Roy; and four films for Russell Mulchay: The Shadow, The Real McCoy, Ricochet and Highlander. Honess was also editor on John Irvin's Next of Kin. JOHN WILLIAMS (COMPOSER) is one of the world's most decorated and respected composers with five Academy Awards, 18 Grammys, three Golden Globes, three British Academy Awards and four Emmy Awards. He has also garnered an incredible 41 Academy Award nominations, including most recently of course, for his score for Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Williams has composed the music and served as a music director for more than 90 films, including: A.I. Artificial Intelligence; The Patriot; Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace; Stepmom; Saving Private Ryan (Grammy); Amistad; Seven Years in Tibet; The Lost World; Rosewood; Angela's Ashes (Grammy) Sleepers; Nixon; Sabrina; Schindler's List (Academy Award and Grammy); Jurassic Park; Home Alone; Home Alone 2; Far and Away; JFK; Hook; Presumed Innocent; Born on the Fourth of July; the Indiana Jones trilogy (Grammy); The Accidental Tourist; Empire of the Sun (British Academy Award); The Witches of Eastwick; ET (Academy, Award, Golden Globe and Grammy); Superman (Grammy); Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Grammy); the Star Wars trilogy (Academy Award, Golden Globe, Grammy), Jaws (Academy Award, Golden Globe and Grammy); Fiddler on the Roof (Academy Award) and Goodbye Mr. Chips. His most recent project was George Lucas' Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones. In 1980 Williams was named 19th Conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra. He currently holds the title of Boston Pops Laureate Conductor, which he assumed following his retirement in 1993. He also holds the title of Artist-in-Residence at Tanglewood. Williams has written many concert pieces including two symphonies, a cello concerto premiered by Yo-Yo Ma and the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood in 1994, concertos for the flute and violin recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra, concertos for the clarinet and tuba, and a trumpet concerto, which was premiered by the Cleveland Orchestra and their principal trumpet Michael Sachs in 1996. His bassoon concerto, 'The Five Sacred Trees', which was premiered by the New York Philharmonic and principal bassoon player Judith LeClair in 1995, was recorded by Williams with Ms. LeClair and the London Symphony Orchestra and has recently been released by Sony Classical to critical acclaim. In addition, Williams has composed the NBC theme 'The Mission', 'Liberty Fanfare' composed for the rededication of the Statue of Liberty, 'We're Looking Good!' composed for the Special Olympics in celebration of the 1987 International Summer Games, and themes for the 1984, 1985 and 1986 Summer Olympic games. His recent concert work 'Seven for Luck' is a seven-piece song cycle based on the texts of former U.S. Poet Laureate Rita Dove, premiered by the Boston Symphony with Soprano Cynthia Haymoon at Tanglewood in 1998. Most recently, Williams composed his 'Celebration 2000' an orchestral work written to commemorate the new Millennium and to accompany the retrospective film The Unfinished Journey directed by Steven Spielberg. The film and music were premiered at the 'America's Millennium' concert in Washington DC on New Year's Eve of 1999. Many of Williams' film scores have been released as recordings; the soundtrack album for Star Wars has sold more than four million copies. Williams' highly acclaimed series of albums with the Boston Pops Orchestra began in 1980. He has to date recorded over 20 successful albums with the Orchestra including his most recent recording 'Summon the Heroes', the title track of which was the official theme for the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. Williams has led the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra on United States Tours in 1985, 1989 and 1992 and on a tour in Japan in 1987. He led the Boston Pops Orchestra on tour in Japan in 1990 and 1993. In addition to leading the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Symphony Hall and Tanglewood, Williams has appeared as guest conductor with a number of major orchestras, including the London Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony, the Pittsburgh Symphony, the Dallas Symphony, the San Francisco Symphony and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, with which he has appeared many times at the Hollywood Bowl. Williams holds honorary degrees from 18 American universities, including Berklee College of Music in Boston, Boston College, Northeastern University, Tufts University, Boston University, the New England Conservatory of Music, the University of Massachusetts at Boston, The Eastman School of Music and the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. Academy and BAFTA nominee ROGER PRATT (DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY) is most recently famed for the critically acclaimed and award winning Iris, as well as Chocolat, the film which garnered Pratt both BAFTA and British Society of Cinematographers award nominations. His film credits include many of the most interesting of their genre including: The End of the Affair starring Ralph Fiennes and Julianne Moore, for which he was nominated for an Academy Award; Twelve Monkeys starring Bruce Willis; Shadowlands starring Anthony Hopkins and The Fisher King starring Jeff Bridges and Robin Williams. Other major cinematic credits include: Grey Owl starring Pierce Brosnan; The Avengers starring Ralph Fiennes; In Love and War; Mary Shelley's Frankenstein directed by and starring Kenneth Branagh; Batman; High Hopes; Paris by Night; Mona Lisa; Dutch Girls; Brazil and Monty Python's Meaning of Life: The Crimson Permanent Assurance. He was also director of photography on several major television shows and series including: King Lear in 1999; Bernard and the Genie in 1991; Jim Henson's Storyteller: Greek Myths in 1990; Scoop in 1987; The Short and the Curlies in 1987 and Meantime in 1981. The creation of the magical world of Hogwarts requires the ingenuity of one of the industry's most talented production designers, and who better than seven time Academy Award nominee and three-time winner STUART CRAIG (PRODUCTION DESIGNER), nominated most recently for the breathtaking design of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. The visionary sets from the first film also garnered him an Evening Standard Award and BAFTA nomination. Craig has been winning awards for 20 years, when in 1981 he won his first Academy Award for Best Art Direction (and a BAFTA nomination) for Richard Attenborough's Ghandi. He went on to win a further Academy Award in 1988 for Stephen Frear's Dangerous Liaisons (and a BAFTA nomination) and then in 1996 he swept the board with his third Academy Award, a BAFTA nomination and an Award for Excellence in Production Design from Society of Motion Picture & Television Art Directors, USA for Anthony Minghella's The English Patient. Craig has also received three further Academy Award nominations for David Lynch's The Elephant Man (1979), Roland Joffe's The Mission (1986) and Richard Attenborough's Chaplin (1991). He also received a BAFTA nomination for Hugh Hudson's Greystoke (1982). In addition to his plethora of awards, Craig's artistry can be seen in a number of features including: Cal (1983) a film which he also produced; Cry Freedom (1986); Memphis Belle (1988); The Secret Garden (1992); Shadowlands (1993); Mary Reilly (1994); In Love and War (1996); The Avengers (1997) and most recently The Legend of Bagger Vance in 1999. The multi-talented (COSTUME DESIGNER) LINDY HEMMING has designed breathtaking costumes for nearly 40 feature films and her artistry was rewarded with an Academy Award for Mike Leigh's Topsy Turvy. In addition, she was nominated for a BAFTA Award for both Mike Newell's Four Weddings and a Funeral and Rob Knight's Porterhouse Blue. Hemming has designed the costumes for the four most recent James Bond films all starring Pierce Brosnan, including: Die Another Day (currently in production); The World is Not Enough; Tomorrow Never Dies and GoldenEye. Other major recent credits include: Simon West's Tomb Raider starring Angelina Jolie; Sally Potter's The Man Who Cried starring Johnny Depp; William Boyd's The Trench; Mark Herman's The Rise of Fall of Little Voice starring Jane Horrocks; Johnny Depp's The Brave co-starring Depp with Marlon Brando; Tony Hickox' Prince Valiant; Bob Rafelson's Blood & Wine starring Jack Nicholson; Peter Chelsom's Funny Bones; Nancy Meckler's Sister, My Sister starring Julie Walters and Barry Devlin's All Things Bright & Beautiful starring Gabriel Byrne. Previous to this Hemming's other major film credits include: Nick Hamm's Dancing Queen starring Helena Bonham-Carter; Mike Leigh's Naked starring David Thewlis; Jason Lehel's Boiling Point; Udayan Prasad's Running Late; Stephen Gyllenhaal's Waterland starring Jeremy Irons; Mark Herman's Blame it on the Bellboy; Peter Chelsom's Hear My Song; Mike Leigh's Life is Sweet; Peter Medak's The Krays; Jon Amiel's Queen of Hearts; Clive Rees' When the Wales Came; Mike Leigh's High Hopes; Rob Knight's Porterhouse Blue; David Jones' 84 Charing Cross Road; Stephen Frear's My Beautiful Launderette and The Bullshitters; Charles Gormley's Heavenly Pursuits; David Hare's Wetherby; Richard Eyre's Laughterhouse and Loose Connections and again for director Mike Leigh Meantime. Industrial Light and Magic's JIM MITCHELL (VISUAL EFFECTS SUPERVISOR) shares tasks with Nick Davis on Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Mitchell joined ILM in 1990 and has played an integral role in the creation of the groundbreaking computer graphics imagery in Jurassic Park, Death Becomes Her and Terminator 2: Judgment Day, all of which received Academy Awards for Best Achievement in Visual Effects. His other major film credits as visual effects supervisor for ILM include: Jurassic Park III; Sleepy Hollow; October Sky; Mighty Joe Young which garnered an Academy Award nomination for Best Achievement in Visual Effects; Contact; Mars Attacks! and Eraser (co-visual effects supervisor). Mitchell was computer graphics supervisor, animator and modeler on the Robin Williams' jungle adventure Jumanji, computer graphics supervisor on The Mask; technical director on Jurassic Park and Death Becomes Her; animator and technical director on Star Trek VI and technical director on Terminator 2: Judgment Day. NICK DAVIS (VISUAL EFFECTS SUPERVISOR) worked with Rob Legato on Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and now teams up with ILM's Jim Mitchell as visual effects supervisor on Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. The visual effects in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone were widely acclaimed and received several award nominations including a BAFTA Award nomination, AFI Award nomination, Golden Satellite and Saturn Award nominations. Prior to this Davis' credits include: Jon Amiel's Entrapment; Jeremiah Chechnik's The Avengers; Joel Schumacher's Batman and Robin (post production) and Batman Forever (post production); Andrew Davis' Chain Reaction and Wes Craven's A New Nightmare (visual effects producer). Davis was also technical supervisor on Peter Weir's Fearless, visual effects producer on Andrew Davis' The Fugitive and technical supervisor again for Davis on Under Siege and visual effects producer on Sam Raimi's Army of Darkness. Davis graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (honors) in English and Politics at Oxford Brooks University and has served on the BAFTA Visual Effects Nomination Committee. Academy Award and BAFTA Award winning JOHN RICHARDSON (SPECIAL EFFECTS SUPERVISOR) (Aliens) is the commanding force behind the special effects in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and now Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Richardson entered the film industry in 1962 at the age of sixteen, working for his father, Cliff Richardson, a pioneer of special effects who started in the film business in 1921. Together they worked on The Victors, Lord Jim, Battle of Britain, Help and many others. Richardson first began supervising films in 1967, working on pictures such as The Devils, Straw Dogs, Young Winston and The Omen. His work has garnered him widespread praise and more recently a further two Academy Award nominations for Cliffhanger (responsible for both the live action and shooting the plane crash sequence) and Starship Troopers. Since working on A Bridge Too Far in 1976, Richardson has been responsible for the effects work on the eight Bond films, Ladyhawke for Richard Donner, Willow for George Lucas and Far and Away for Ron Howard. Since being more permanently based in California, Richardson has been responsible for the effects work on Ghost in the Machine and Love Affair, which was produced by Warren Beatty and directed by Glen Gordon Carron. He was responsible for the visual and live action effects and the shooting of the plane crash sequence in this film. This was followed by Bushwacked, The American President, Rock and John Woo's Broken Arrow. He has supervised all types of special effects including mechanical, physical, pyrotechnic, explosive and model effects. He has also directed many model, action and 2nd units and is very much a "hands-on" technician. In recent years Richardson was responsible for the special effects work for Renny Harlin's Deep Blue Sea, for the model work on The World is Not Enough and Brett Ratner's Family Man. He has also recently filmed the model sequences for Die Another Day, the latest of the James Bond series. NICK DUDMAN (CREATURE & MAKE-UP EFFECTS DESIGNER) and his team have created the make-up effects and the magical animatronic creatures in both Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Dudman got his start in films working on the Jedi master Yoda, as a trainee to British make-up artist Stuart Freeborn, on the first in the Star Wars series - The Empire Strikes Back. After apprenticing with Freeborn for four years on films such as Superman II and Top Secret! Dudman was asked to head up English make-up laboratory for Ridley Scott's Legend. Since then, he has worked on Mona Lisa, High Spirits, Interview With the Vampire, Batman and Judge Dredd. In 1995, his career path widened into animatronics and large scale creature effects when he was asked to oversee the 55-man creature department for the Luc Besson film The Fifth Element. Since then he has lead the creatures/make-up effects departments on several blockbusters including Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace, The Mummy and The Mummy Returns. In addition, Dudman's company Pigs Might Fly creates and sells blood and make- up products and provides special make-up courses. ~ Official Web Site: http://www.harrypotter.com Back to main movie page Showing Today at: Click here for other showings