The cast of Harry Potter met and reminisced in an HBO Max special that aired on January 1st, 2022.
Directed by Casey Petterson, Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts brought together members of the beloved cast and crew. Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, George and Oliver Phelps, and more remembered their wizarding world in this reunion.
A large portion of this reunion was spent remembering cast members that have sadly passed away within the last 20 years. Some of these actors were Alan Rickman, who played Professor Snape, who passed in 2016, Richard Harris, who played Professor Dumbledore in the first two films who passed in 2002, and Richard Griffiths, who acted as Vernon Dursley who passed in 2013. These people and more are survived by the other cast members and the millions of Harry Potter fans around the world.
The director of the first two films of the series, Chris Columbus, made an appearance in this HBO special. He and Danielle Radcliffe looked back on the original auditions before the production of the first movie began. The choosing of Harry, Ron, and Hermione was anticipated to be extremely difficult, but once putting the three actors together, their chemistry was undeniable. The Phelps brothers also recalled their auditions for Fred and George. They remembered that on audition day, they were the only set of twins not wearing matching clothes, so they ran across the street and picked up the first two matching shirts that they could find.
Rotten Tomatoes rated this film at a 96%, and I would rate it the same. This is definitely something that Harry Potter fans of all ages would enjoy and appreciate.
