One of the most recognized and successful works of fiction, JK Rowling’s Harry Potter novels, spilled over their success to the subsequent movie adaptations that began all the way back in 2001. Starring Daniel Radcliffe as its titular hero, the decade-long box office chokehold of the franchise and its eponymous connection to everyday pop culture has made it an integral part of modern cinema and turned a star-studded cast into a memorable unit.
Remarkably, setting aside the tales of success and cinematic acclaim, not every one of the participating actors had a delightful debut. While many made their first appearances as child actors, a few joined the team a bit later into the saga, and Bill Weasley actor, Domhnall Gleeson, had one such story to share. Despite his crucial part in the film, he had to endure a set of filming challenges despite overcoming them later on.
Domhnall Gleeson experienced on-set anxiety on his Harry Potter debut
Playing the eldest of the Weasley siblings, the role of Bill Weasley was the first major role for the Irish actor in a big-budget box-office film. Unlike his on-screen brother, Rupert Grint’s Ron Weasley, Domhnall Gleeson joined the franchise with 2010’s Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 and stayed on until the next part, a year later. Despite being a long-time fan, his excitement soon turned into panic on the first day of the shoot.
In talks with her in August 2017, the actor recalled his experience of what he stated as a “horrible day”. Additionally, he also spoke of how he started feeling a sense of anxiety upon witnessing the large crew on set. As a result, he missed his accents and succumbed to pressure.
I was a Harry Potter fan, but on my first day on set on Deathly Hallows, I had a horrible day, just a terrible day… There were 300 people on the set, it was absolutely nuts, I went Australian on the accent instead of English, I kind of panicked, you know, I met these amazing people whose work I had watched and loved for years, and the pressure got to me.
Regardless, Gleeson recognized that he would now have to deal with this situation on a regular basis if he planned to make it big in his career ahead. After a misfired first day, he soon got back into the groove and delivered on his role, paving the way for future endeavors ahead such as All About Time and Ex Machina.
Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint also suffered from fallout
Contrary to Domhnall Gleeson, Daniel Radcliffe’s woes regarding being a Harry Potter actor came from within. A self-critic, the rumored Wolverine actor, often set benchmarks for his performance and became increasingly disappointed with his Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince performance, describing it as being “one-note” and himself being “complacent”, as told to The Guardian. Furthermore, the storm of global stardom also had a toll on him and pushed him into developing a drinking problem.
On his end of talks with The Guardian, Rupert Grint shared how playing Ron Weasley was not exactly a piece of cake. Rather, the pressure almost made him quit. Describing the sudden stardom against his humble self as “having a split personality,” the actor eventually got the hang of it, but not without the regret of missing out and “having wanted to live a little bit”.
