Harry Potter Vet’s Story About Hanging With Maggie Smith & Alan Rickman Has Me Feeling Bittersweet
The new HBO Max Harry Potter is nearly upon us, with Season 1 set to premiere as part of the 2026 TV schedule. Production keeps moving along swiftly, though, and already the cast and crew are looking ahead to Season 2 with the casting of Nicholas Holt as Gilderoy Lockhart. The Superman actor is just one of many big names in British film to sign onto the upcoming book-to-screen adaptation. However, Kenneth Branagh‘s story about hanging with Maggie Smith and Alan Rickman just reminded me how legendary the original movie cast was, and the magic in that castle will never be replicated in the same way.
There truly is something warm, fuzzy, and captivating about watching the Harry Potter movies in order, especially the first two films. Perhaps it’s the immersive production and world-building from Warner Bros, or watching the young actors grow up over the course of the series, but based on this memory from Branagh (Gilderoy Lockhart) talked about at the Edinburgh International Film Festival (via Screen Daily), the magic of the senior cast members was an undeniable factor:
I had one of the great privileged, daft nights in my life, in a hotel just outside Cheltenham – we’d been at Gloucester cathedral shooting. Holding court, the man telling all the stories was Richard Harris. But around the tables, Maggie Smith, Alan Rickman, Miriam Margolyes, David Bradley, and me, and a large amount of stimulus in the form of alcohol, which I do not recommend. You felt this massive weight of experience.
Oh, so that’s what the Hogwarts professors do after hours. All the students go to bed or sneak around the castle under an invisibility cloak. Meanwhile, Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape, Sprout, Lockhart, and Filch the Caretaker are shooting the breeze while having a nightcap. Personally, I’m picturing them all in their wizard wardrobes for this story of Branagh’s, even though that’s probably not accurate.
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The same awe I hold for those fictional characters should be held for their actors as well. What incredible talent in that room, all legendary British actors, half of whom (Smith, Harris, and Rickman) have died in the 25 years since Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets was filmed. Part of their legacies, though, is passing down their storied experience to actors like Branagh, who said they gave him the full treatment:
They gave me a ‘welcome to our world’ papers; it was the size of a telephone directory. It seemed like everybody in the British film industry, from every craft department, technical department. It was just immense.
Memories like Branagh’s are bittersweet in retrospect, even more so in recent years, with the death of the late great Dame Maggie Smith in 2024. Never again will that group be in the same room together casually hanging out, and honestly, the Hamlet actor was lucky to experience one of the rare moments it probably ever happened.
Daniel Radcliffe previously said it was a common misconception that the Dowager Countess of Grantham and King Arthur were just wandering around the set all the time–usually they were only there for about 2 weeks of production, and sometimes only had a handful of lines. So I would definitely call this behind-the-scenes experience of Branagh’s a historical moment, and what I would give to be in the room where it happened.
While the original Harry Potter cast will always hold a special place in my heart, I am still excited to see what this new adaptation brings to the table. As of right now, Warwick Davis is the only actor reprising his original role as Professor Flitwick. While I’m sad Smith and Rickman will never be able to reprise their roles or see their performances as McGonagall and Snape reflected in this new series for the next generation, I am hopeful of other Harry Potter alums appearing for cameos. Only time will tell, so be sure to catch Season 1 of Harry Potter with an HBO Max subscription when it drops on Christmas Day.