When filming the Harry Potter series, which can currently be seen on Amazon, not everything always went smoothly. Especially when real animals were used in part 2, this had unforeseen consequences
Amazon Prime is currently sweetening the Christmas season for streamers with all Harry Potter films in the program. The eight adventures also include part 2, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the filming of which was remembered for the horror of an indecently behaving monkey.
Harry Potter and the slightly different Chamber of Secrets: A lecherous baboon disturbed the shoot
In his autobiography Beyond Magic, Draco actor Tom Felton doesn’t hold back with both funny and tragic revelations: in addition to his personal dramatic story, he also revealed an alternative Harry Potter ending and how he incurred the wrath of Snape actor Alan Rickman. He also recalled the filming of the second part in chapter 15 – and the monkey that caused trouble in Hogwarts lessons.
(Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: with baboon)
In Professor McGonagall’s (Maggie Smith) transfiguration lesson in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the wizarding students have to transform animals into a goblet. Several real animals were used during filming. However, one “naughty baboon” in particular caused quite a stir:
The baboon in question was – how shall I put this? – not well versed in nice social interaction and set etiquette. And above all, he didn’t know what behavior was appropriate in front of children. What I’m saying is that during the filming of this scene, we had to deal with the annoying distraction of a self-gratifying primate.
The child stars couldn’t ignore the masturbating Harry Potter 2 troublemaker
Next to animals, children are considered the most difficult factors to tame on a shoot. Rupert Grint’s laughter in particular is said to have caused so many interruptions that he had to pay heavy fines. In the transformation classroom of Harry Potter 2, both “disruptive elements” – children and animals – were present in large numbers:
There were many shots that had to be scrapped because the baboon was jerking off in the background. They had to move the poor creature several times so that it didn’t ruin the scene with its lively pastime. And you can imagine the chaos that erupted every time one of us kids spotted what was happening out of the corner of our eye .
You can watch the Harry Potter scene again on Amazon Prime or here (at minute 0:20). The monkey culprit can be seen in the large cage right next to Goyle and Malfoy’s table, but without his unseemly activity in the finished film version:
