Harry Potter And The Order Of Phoenix Behind The Scenes

Over a decade later, we're still discovering behind-the-scenes secrets from the Harry Potter franchise. Today, we're covering all the must-know trivia from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. How did the actors cause chaos on a construction set? Why did Daniel Radcliffe's scream have to be silent? Working on a movie in the Harry Potter franchise means a lot of time on set, which also means a lot of time to fill with activities and shenanigans. When shooting Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the cast had a variety of activities to keep them busy when they weren't learning potions and battling the Dark Lord. When they weren't playing Quidditch, the young wizards were outside playing another sport – cricket. That's right, here we can see Matthew Lewis and Alfred Enoch sharpening up their cricket skills. Or trying to, at least. We wonder how often they took homework breaks. Daniel Radcliffe and Gary Oldman didn't just bond on-screen, they spent quality time together off-screen as well. As for Nymphadora Tonk's actress, Natalia Tenna, music was more her style. Here she is in her trailer playing some of her own original songs. Evidently, the cast is full of surprise talents. It wasn't all fun and games, though. Remember that many of the actors were still in school and regularly needed to do homework. The team did take a planned nine-week break from filming for Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson. The two actors had to do some major school exams. While the actors were working, they got to learn some new skills in the wizarding world – with wand choreography. Since the fifth film in the series incorporated a lot of high-level wand work, Paul Harris, a dance choreographer, was brought in to teach the actors how best to work with the styles and techniques to really bring their wizarding to life. They had five basic moves to use, with every character adding their own special touches to each according to their personality. This work was definitely intense. So much so that many of the actors actually wound up breaking their wands, resulting in them using rubber ones instead, which were more durable than the wood. At the time of this film, the record holder for the most wands broken was Devin Murray, who'd already gone through ten different wands. Wands can be very dangerous business, and no one would know that better than Matthew Lewis, who suffered a perforated eardrum after Helena Bonham Carter accidentally stabbed his ear with a wand. Speaking of Bonham Carter, the actress happened to have some enhancements for the movie. She'd had chicken fillet inserts to put inside her bra while shooting. This could sort of be considered character work. The Weasley twins were always practicing to up their trickery game. The actors were notorious for playing little pranks on set, but one really blew them all away and actually got the twins and their little sister into a bit of trouble. There was a big construction site across from a studio the movie was shooting in, and the Weasley siblings weaseled their way onto the site's walkie-talkie channel. There were plenty of devices around the set, so the actors thought it would be fun to tell the construction workers that they could go home, and it probably was. Until the gaffer caught them and gave them a very good talking to. It's a mischief managed, otherwise anyone can read it. There were some more laughs that happened on set that weren't trick-related. Those came around with the kissing scenes. Remember how the trio giggled throughout talking about Harry kissing Cho? We're sure Harry's kissing was more than satisfactory. All that was real. The actors kept cracking up, and it was just so enjoyable that the team kept the cameras rolling and it made the final edit. It's no surprise, considering there was quite a build-up. Katie Leung was pretty nervous about the kiss and really prepared herself mentally beforehand. But then, when the planned shoot date came, the kiss had to wait because Radcliffe wound up being sick. Daniel is a very good kisser. When it came to stunts, Rupert Grint had a pretty strange experience when shooting the scene where Hermione throws Ron across a room. Usually there would just be a harness, but to really help show the stunt realistically, Grint was strapped to a much larger man who was moving up and down a ladder. It is pretty hard to think of Harry Potter without Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, and Daniel Radcliffe at the center of the movies. But the fact is, Order of the Phoenix was almost Watson's last film with the franchise. The actress had seriously considered leaving the role so she could concentrate on other pursuits. After taking some time to weigh the pros and cons, Watson felt that it would have been way too strange to watch any other actress play the role that she'd grown up doing, so she made the choice to stay until the end. We are definitely glad she did. I definitely made the right decision. Another gem from the wizarding world is Luna Lovegood. It was the role of a lifetime for the actress, since she'd actually been a fan of the series since she was 8 years old. And her favorite character was? You guessed it. Luna. Well, if I were you-know-who, I'd want you to feel cut off from everyone else. She got to bring a bit more of herself to the role as well. The multi-talented actress actually made the radish earrings that we see her wearing. Building the incredible settings we see throughout the fifth film is extensive and always impressive. Sometimes it could even be pretty dangerous. The Ministry of Magic building took 22 weeks to build and was only on screen for about 10 minutes total. The set was, of course, rigged up to be exploded, meaning if the cast had their cell phones on set, they could have accidentally triggered it and blown the set up. There were also some buildings that were just too expensive to be in the movie. Sirius Black's London residence, Grimald Place, was built by the film team since the building they needed to shoot in would have been too expensive. It says a lot considering the fact that constructing a set like this isn't that cheap either. Speaking of the Black family, this gorgeous family tree has the names of over 70 different members of the Black family that J.K. Rowling created for the movie. I've never used a visitor's entrance before. Should be fun. The Ministry of Magic was brought to life with two very different techniques, painted cardboard and full-on CGI. While pretty well every setting in the movies is epic, the Department of Mysteries, where this wild battle takes place, was actually the very first shot in the movies to be entirely created with CGI. We don't blame them, considering how major that cleanup would have been. We're a bit surprised the team didn't choose to use CGI for the 30,000 individual tiles that were added to the Ministry set by hand. The so-called tiles were actually made out of cardboard covered in very thick paint, as real tiles would have been far too expensive. The ingenuity of the team doesn't stop there, though. How does Mad-Eye Moody manage to ride a broomstick with a prosthetic leg? A specially customized broom. Instead of the stirrups the other actors used, actor Brendan Gleeson rode a broom that had posts at the front for his legs and a seat for him to sit on. Stay in formation, everyone. Don't break ranks. One of our absolute favorite references in the whole movie has to be Harry's nod to a beloved character, Remus Lupin. You know, the very first time I saw you, Harry, I recognized you immediately. If Harry's teaching fashion is familiar, then it's probably because it's very closely modeled after the clothes Professor Lupin wore during Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Radcliffe brought the idea to his producers because he thought it would be a good way to pay respect to the professor he'd looked up to so much. People like me are... Well, let's just say that I'm used to it by now. The creative choices in this film really made it a standout. One in particular still manages to move us every time we see it — Harry's scream after Sirius Black passes away. The choice to make the heartbreaking moment silent was reportedly because the actual scream recorded was so painful that it made Emma Watson and Helena Bonham Carter actually cry. We can't even imagine watching and hearing this scene in person. The original audio has still never been released publicly. As for this terrifying moment, the wacky eye color change Harry has is courtesy of CGI as opposed to contacts since, of course, Radcliffe wasn't able to wear contacts. As with all the films, they aren't entirely consistent with what's written in the novels. One of the more notable changes in this movie was, of course, the purple hair Tonks has instead of the signature pink she's described as having in the novel. The team felt pink was too associated with Dolores Umbridge and didn't want there to be any connections between the two characters. The purple hairdo took about 30 minutes to prepare every single day, with part of her real hair that had been dyed as well as a purple lace wig that she had on. Another change was Kreacher being included in the movie. While his role isn't huge, it was important enough to add to the script after J.K. Rowling insisted he be included in order for other scenes that needed to happen in future to make sense. All his scenes were actually added after the principal's shooting. Then, of course, how could we forget Nigel? Well, if you've only read the books, then you absolutely wouldn't know who Nigel is since he was a character created just for the movie, without any mention in the book series. As for the characters that were in the novels, the Bellatrix Lestrange we got in the movies was almost played by another actress pretty close to home. Helen McCrory was originally set to play Bellatrix, but after learning she was pregnant, the role went to Helena Bonham Carter. Luckily, we did get to meet her later on as Narcissa Malfoy. Both roles are pretty impeccably cast in the end. We still aren't over the fact that the Weasley twins are not only real-life, but serious tricksters. The reason for Harry's scream being silenced absolutely breaks our heart. We can't imagine what it was like to see that live on set. What was your favorite behind-the-scenes fact?