HBO’s ‘Harry Potter’ Behind-the-Scenes Special Shows Off the Rigorous Casting Process, Never Before Seen Creatures, Dumbledore’s Robe and More

The Boy Who Lived is back – in a behind-the-scenes documentary of HBO’s upcoming adaptation of the “Harry Potter” books.

Released April 5, the 30-minute special, titled “Finding Harry: The Craft Behind the Magic,” gave viewers a glimpse at the creation of Season 1, which is currently being filmed at Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden in the U.K.

The documentary delved into the finer details of the large-scale production, including the casting process to find Harry, Ron and Hermione, as well as the life-like animal animatronics handcrafted for the show and the curation of a 1991-set wardrobe.

“The world of ‘Harry Potter’ is already legendary,” said the documentary’s narrator, Nick Frost. “Its legacy is still growing as a new generation discovers its magic. An exciting new era is upon us.”

HBO’s “Harry Potter” series debuts on Christmas Day.

Below are all the things we learned from “Finding Harry: The Craft Behind the Magic.”

• Casting Directors Saw Over 40,000 Auditions Before Losing Count

  Casting directors Emily Brockmann and Lucy Bevan revealed the department watched over 40,000 auditions for the show, eventually losing track of the number.

  Bevan stated that children across the United Kingdom had the opportunity to submit their auditions online before the team headed to Manchester, Scotland, Ireland, and Cardiff for in-person auditions, seeking out the actors for the Golden Trio of Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

  Alastair Stout (Ron Weasley) auditioned in Manchester, with the directors finding him “charming and funny from the word ‘go.’” Arabella Stanton (Hermione Granger) came to them in London, performing the poem “Invictus” and later a more humorous scene for the casting directors to show production as proof she could be playful.

  Dominic McLaughlin (Harry Potter) auditioned in Glasgow, with a poem he’d written himself about a weekend in his life, quickly enamoring the directors with his “quiet confidence.”

  “He’s skeptical of the adult world. He’s got a vulnerability and a melancholy and a solitary quality to him,” Bevan said, reading out casting notes they kept in mind when looking for someone who could play Harry. “It’s basically: find an incredible actor, age 10.”

  “He means so much to people in different ways,” said Brockmann. “You’re looking for a kid who, perhaps on the face of it, looks quite ordinary but is ultimately very extraordinary.”

• Handcrafted Animatronics are Behind the Wizarding World’s Magical Creatures

  “There was this kind of inherent desire to be rooted in naturalism. At the core of ‘Harry Potter,’ nature is the root of magic,” said production designer Mara LePere-Schloop, explaining the show’s desire to incorporate magical realism into HBO’s version of the Wizarding World. “If we could harness those things, that’s what magic is.”

  Each animal featured in the upcoming show is based on hours of research and observation of its real-life counterparts in nature.

  “We are looking at the culmination of a lot of teamwork,” said Laura Sindall. She showed off prototypes of the show’s owls, which are made of metal and plastic and designed to imitate the movements of real owls. The feather team then individually inserts each feather into a net that is glued to the framework.

  “It’s about 36,000 feathers per owl,” said CFX artist Sophie Rechtberger about Hogwarts’ favorite messengers and popular pets. “And we made 10 owls for this show.”

  The show will also feature a new-and-improved version of Scabbers, Ron’s pet rat for a time – now created with motors inside the body to imitate organic movement.

  “As you push the feet down, it actually compresses, and I can actually move this around,” demonstrated John Nolan, Creature Effects Design Supervisor. “It doesn’t feel too robotic and rigid, which I think really helps the performance of a young boy who’s probably never held an animatronic before in his life.”

  In addition to running around realistically on the floor, a version of a “biting Scabbers” was also created for the show – and demonstrated by a team member who showed the rat dangling off her finger.

  Other creatures include a never-before-seen toad, whose movements “have been taken directly from nature,” including the details for its eyes, tongue, and nostrils. There were also Flubberworms coated in slime and fire-crabs that blast fire through a self-contained animatronic that is operated remotely.

• There are Distinct Wardrobe Differences Between Muggles and Wizards

  The “Harry Potter” costume designers worked to ensure there was a dichotomy in the clothing of the Muggles and the Wizards.

  “We did a full study of what people were wearing in 1991, and we tried to make the Muggles feel as true as we possibly could make them,” explained costume designer Holly Waddington. “The Muggle palette is pastel-oriented, very cold colors, and there’s a big emphasis on synthetic fabrics.”
  
  For Harry, who has a foot in both worlds at his introduction, the team made sure that his clothes would “hang off him” and appear “grayed out,” thanks to him solely wearing cast-offs from his cousin Dudley.
  The children’s Hogwarts uniforms are made of “British wool, organic cotton shell buttons, wooden buttons, Scottish tartan,” and various natural cloths.
  
  “For magical people, we had to find how we present them that feels somehow a little bit other,” said Waddington, who was asked to incorporate nature into the clothing. The team made a leaf-printed coat for Dumbledore, which created a “camo fabric for him to wear.”  
  
  “It’s not high fantasy. It’s really rooted in the real,” said Jason Airey, assistant costume designer. “I think that would hopefully make people think maybe it is around that corner — or look at a person, walking down the street and think, ‘Oh, I’ve just seen a magical person.’”
  
  The team took photos of strangers that they felt resembled their vision for magical people, putting together an “inky, moody, natural palette.”  

• The Hogwarts Professors Look to the Future of the Golden Trio

  While the lead trio was born after the last “Harry Potter” movie was in theaters, many of the cast and crew remember growing up alongside the books.
  
  “I remember reading those books, and you wouldn’t be able to talk to your mates at all, because, if someone was reading faster than you were, they were gonna tell you what was gonna happen,” said Paapa Essiedu, who plays Severus Snape. “At that age, you imagine yourself being a kid at Hogwarts, being in Harry’s shoes. I remember walking in and seeing the real train [at Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.] It was like being thrown into the book.”
  
  “I knew that when I did the first season of Harry Potter, I would be turning 80 years old,” said John Lithgow, who portrays Dumbledore. “That meant that I would age about 88 before it was all over. This is an extremely difficult thing to contemplate.”
  
  Lithgow and Janet McTeer, who plays Professor McGonagall, took a moment to reflect on what the journey will be like for the trio that plays Harry, Ron and Hermione, calling them “an amazing ensemble” that “adores each other.”
  
  “I’m really excited to see how they grow and how their artistry grows, and what kind of people they grow into,” said Essiedu, with McTeer adding, “Theoretically, we could be working for many years together, and they’ll be young adults by then.”  
  
  “They’re going to grow up in this,” said Lithgow. “And I’m going to grow old with them.”