Daniel Radcliffe, with Bob Hoskins, in the title role of 1999's 'David Copperfield' In the second excerpt from "The Making of the Potterverse," author Scott Thomas writes about the process of casting the lead character. In July 2000, 8-year-old Laura Cantwell stunned pretty much everyone by getting her hands on a copy of "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" about a week before its publication date. As reported in the press, a friend of the family came across eight copies of the novel on sale at a northern Virginia bookstore.
To her credit, Laura never revealed any aspects of the novel, but did find herself becoming something of a minor celebrity. In response to the demand for "Goblet of Fire," the BBC offered this comment from J.K.
Rowling: "I wrote the book for me, this is all a bit of a shock and I'm amazed - think of a stronger word and double it." Meanwhile, the rumor mill heated up as to who would play Harry Potter, with 13-year-old British actor Gabriel Thomson rumored to be in the running (which Thomson and his agent both denied). Oscar nominee Haley Joel Osment expressed interest in the role, though he obviously didn't get it.
announced that 11-year-old Daniel Radcliffe had been signed for the lead role, and that he would be joined by Emma Watson as Hermione and Rupert Grint as Ron. Director Chris Columbus details on the casting process of the Harry character: "We had auditioned hundreds of potential Harry Potters, and I was still unhappy with the results. The first casting director, in a fit of total frustration, threw up her arms and said, 'I just don't know what you want!
' Sitting on a shelf in the office was a video copy of 'David Copperfield,' starring Daniel Radcliffe. I picked up the video box, pointed to Dan's face and said, 'This is who I want! This is Harry Potter.
' The casting director said, 'I've told you before, he is unavailable and his parents aren't interested in him doing this film.'" Columbus added, "To the Radcliffes' credit, they were totally aware of the enormity of the project and were not going to make this decision lightly. We made it very clear to them that we would protect their son.
" In an interview, Daniel Radcliffe reflected on getting the role of Harry: "I thought, 'There are millions of boys auditioning for that part, and I know I won't get it.' But I was in the bath and talking to my mom when the phone rang and Dad came in and told me I got the part. I was so happy, I cried a lot!
That night, I woke up at 2 in the morning and woke up Mom and Dad and I asked them, 'Is it real. Excerpted from "The Making of the Potterverse" by Scott Thomas, Scott Thomas and published by ECW Press.
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