Harry Potter Countdown – No Small Roles

The final movie adaptation of the Harry Potter epic book series is coming up soon, premiering July 7, 2011 in London. The first part of the Harry Potter finale is now available on DVD and Blu-ray so you had better catch up while you can. In honor of the end of a wild ride, we’ve prepared a series of articles talking about the “magical” adventure.

Today’s article is about the smaller roles in Harry Potter movies — yet ones that still manage to have some of the finest actors the UK has to offer. Everyone already knows about the Important Characters – Richard Harris and then Michael Gambon as Headmaster Albus Dumbledore, Alan Rickman as Severus Snape, Maggie Smith as Professor McGonagall, Ralph Fiennes as Lord Voldemort, etc. But what about the characters that get a line or two, then disappear?

Warwick Davis as Professor Filius Flitwick

The Professor of Charms at Hogwarts is also the Head of the “smarties” Ravenclaw House. In the books he is a consistent, but perhaps not primary character. He is often seen teaching classes and getting involved with the latest nonsense, and a bit of a quietly competent magical dueler. In the movies, he is rarely seen at all — most times he’s essentially there for comic relief.

Warwick Davis has some serious fantasy/sci-fi experience — he played Wicket the Ewok in Return of the Jedi and the title role in the fantasy epic Willow. More recently he’s been seen in The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian.

Emma Thompson as Sybill Trelawney

Professor Trelawney is the ostensible Professor of Divination at Hogwarts — but her skills appear to mainly consist of superstition and mummery. And yet, she plays a vital role in the Harry Potter series, providing the catalyst to Voldemort attacking Harry in the first place with her fabled Prophecy.  Her absolutely vital scenes have been shown in the films, but for the most part she’s been out of sight (and in the case of The Half-Blood Prince, not even present).

Emma Thompson is an Academy Award winning actress and screenwriter who’s known for such films as Sense and Sensibility and Love Actually. She’s another one of those “Oh, that actress!” people who have been around for decades.

Gary Oldman as Sirius Black

What? Minor character? I can hear you already beginning to yell at me — but hold on a moment. He’s a fairly significant character in the books, yes indeed — the sort that when he and Harry are separated, it’s an emotional moment for readers. But in the movies, he’s not there much at all — talked about a lot in Prisoner of Azkaban and Order of the Phoenix, but only made a few rare appearances.

Gary Oldman, though — does anything really need to be said? A fantastic actor who’s been working for decades, receiving multiple award nominations through the years, being seen in everything from Air Force One to The Dark Knight. He’s one of those actors people often ask about — by asking “Why hasn’t he gotten an Oscar yet?”

Julie Walters as Molly Weasley

There’s almost a shocking disparity between the books and films when it comes to Harry’s surrogate mother figure — in the books, she’s a very strong presence in the scenes outside of Hogwarts — and often inside the school walls as well. Yet in the films, she barely appears at all except in the background. I have a feeling that moviegoers who have only seen the films won’t have quite the same emotional connection as the book readers.

Julie Walters is an award nominated and winning actress of stage and screen — not quite as recognizable outside the UK, but in many ways has become known for her small but important role as Mrs. Weasley in the Harry Potter films.

David Tennant as Barty Crouch, Jr.

This role is certainly one that doesn’t require much actual onscreen presence — as Barty Crouch, Jr. is masquerading as Mad-Eye Moody (played by Brendan Gleeson) so he only shows up a bit at the end of the book and in some Pensieve flashbacks. In the movie, he actually gets a bit more screen time in the initial scenes, an interesting difference from some of the other adaptation choices.

David Tennant really became a well-known actor after his appearance in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire with his five year stint as the titular character of Doctor Who. In fact, most who have seen the movie and the show may not even have remembered Tennant’s small appearance in Goblet of Fire.

Bill Nighy as Rufus Scrimgeour

Scrimgeour was a minor presence in the final two books — but his role was completely cut out of the sixth movie and reduced to its bare minimum in the seventh. Probably an understandable reduction, but Scrimgeour was an important character — he was the Minister of Magic after the incompetent Cornelius Fudge (played by character actor Robert Hardy) was sacked. Scrimgeour showed how even competent authority figures could fall sway to paranoia and valuing appearances over function.

Bill Nighy has appeared in dozens of movies and television programs, but is probably best known for his portrayal of Davy Jones in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. He’s even appeared in such geeky properties as Shaun of the Dead and Underworld.

Richard Griffiths as Vernon Dursley

One of unfortunate artifacts of the adaptation process has been the sidelining of the Dursley family, the unpleasant relatives of Harry Potter. While nobody’s favorite character, Vernon certainly is someone that is very important to Harry’s development. His unpleasantness and bile cover extensive fear and fury, and the difficult upbringing helps to show how unique Harry truly is, especially compared to Voldemort — another orphan. His vitriol makes him the character you love to hate — but he’s barely in the films at all.

Richard Griffiths is one of those British actors who has been around forever and that you may never have known by name — but you recognize him all the same. He’s been in everything from The Naked Gun 2½ to a small cameo in the recent show Episodes.

Rade Šerbedžija as Gregorovitch

A relatively minor character with only minor mentions and a small scene in The Deathly Hallows: Part 1, the wandmaker was a step on the path for Voldemort to uncover the location of the unbeatable Elder Wand. In the film he appears for literally seconds, barely enough time to even recognize it’s someone we should know.

Rade Šerbedžija is a character actor who plays all manner of Eastern European roles. He’s recognizable from his roles  in Snatch, Batman Begins, and even the recent X-Men: First Class. His swagger and confidence ensure he always stands out from the crowd.

John Cleese as Nearly Headless Nick

Nearly Headless Nick is the ghost of Harry Potter’s Gryffindor House, a bit of a comic relief character that nonetheless provides some important plot and character development points. As for how often he appears in the films rather than the books — well, he has a bit of an important part in the final book, so it remains to be seen if he’ll show up at all.

John Cleese is a famed comedic actor, best known for his work with troupe Monty Python, but has been seen in numerous comedy films and television shows. At the time of the first and second Harry Potter movies, he was also starring as Q in the James Bond films, putting him in two of the most successful movie franchises of all time.

Miranda Richardson as Rita Skeeter

Rita Skeeter is the poison penned reporter that is responsible for some of the most painful memories of Harry Potter’s life. Her roles in the films have been severely minimized — entire subplots about her ability and blackmailing as a beetle Animagus were removed from Goblet of Fire and Order of the Phoenix. She also wrote an incendiary diatribe about Professor Dumbledore in Deathly Hallows, which made a minor appearance in the film.

Miranda Richardson is yet another award-winning and nominated actress who’s been all over the place for years, many times in other fantasy projects such as Sleepy Hollow and Merlin.

Julie Christie as Madam Rosmerta

Madam Rosmerta is a relatively minor character, providing a bit more background color as the classic barmaid/bar owner archetype that’s also attacked by evil magical plans and powers. Accordingly, her portrayal in the films is relatively minor as well.

Julie Christie is an icon of the 1960s famous for her role in Doctor Zhivago and has won numerous awards for her work over the decades. And yet she played a part in the Harry Potter films with almost no dialogue whatsoever.

So what do we learn from this?

Just remember the famous quote from Constantin Stanislavsky:

“Remember: there are no small parts, only small actors.”

And that’s doubly true when you’re talking about one of the most successful and beloved film franchises of all time.