From being turned into a cat, to freeing Buckbeak, to punching Draco Malfoy in the face, Flick Miles has been a part of some of the most iconic moments in the Harry Potter series.
Miles played Hermione’s double in the first three films. From the ages of 10 to 14, Miles matched Emma Watson’s physical characteristics closely enough that she could portray Hermione in any scene where they didn’t need a close up of Watson’s face. Child actors were only allowed to work for four hours a day, meaning that doubles like Miles were essential for maintaining continuity in the films.
Marking the 20th anniversary of the first film, Miles catches up with some of the most influential people involved in bringing the wizarding world to life in her podcast Behind the Wand: Stories from the Harry Potter Films. The Indiependent caught up with her to talk about her experiences on set and to find out what life was really like behind the scenes of those iconic films.
The Indiependent: How were you cast as Hermione Granger’s double?
Miles: It was actually nothing fancy. I went to an afterschool club in a church hall, not a big theatre school or drama company or anything like that. The woman who ran it said ‘oh I also just have a little agency, and I sometimes send people off to auditions’ and just asked my mum to give her a picture of me. It was literally a snap in the garden, nothing professional, and the first thing I ever got called up to audition for was Harry Potter [and the Philosopher’s Stone] to be a double.
You played students at the magical school, however by law you were still required to have school lessons at the studios as well as regular filming. What was this like and how did these classes work with your schedule?
There were four main tutors that had permanent classrooms set up, and we had timetables just like a normal school. I’d be like ‘okay my first hour I’ve got maths with Ken, then I’ve got Art with Jane, then I’ve got Science with Peter’. I’d follow the timetable, and then Janet, who sorted out the timetables, would liaise with my school and just find out what work I needed to do. Then the tutors would do that with us. The tutors were incredible, considering there was all range of ages so you’d all be in there doing different things.
In your podcast, you talk about a magazine that the kids made for Red Nose Day where you all wrote articles and interviewed some of the adult actors. Could you describe some of that high-quality journalistic content?
We did horoscopes for the different houses. There was an agony aunt, all Harry Potter themed. We all divided it up. I think I did the agony aunt. I feel like Tom Felton and his double did the horoscopes. There was one bit where we interviewed Alan Rickman. The questions were ridiculous, but we obviously didn’t think that when we were twelve. One of the questions they asked Alan was when his first kiss was, and he actually answered it! Then we went down to the set and forced everyone to buy them for a pound. We always did things like that for Red Nose Day. We all got sponsored for like £1 to do something. I had to not eat junk food, Emma and Rupert [Grint] had to sing everything instead of speak. Daniel [Radcliffe] had to burp the alphabet. We were always doing silly things, and forcing people to sponsor us.
You had Nick Dudman, Creature and Make-up Effects Designer, on your podcast. He turned you into a cat in The Chamber of Secrets. Describe that process.
They only used me because Emma had some problem with the make-up. I think the spirit glue didn’t react well with her skin, so they asked me to step in. I was like ‘Of course! Who doesn’t want to be turned into a cat!’ They took a cast of my face, and then the cat mask was made of hundreds of pieces. It’s not just something you pull over your head. It has to move be expressive. Pieces are attached to your cheekbones and your eyebrows, so it will move with your face. It took like three hours to put on, because they even added all the whiskers and eyebrows individually. Also, while I was there, they were just like ‘can we just do a plaster cast of your whole body?’ I was like ‘yeah!’ That was for when Hermione is petrified by the Basilisk. They actually made a model. Obviously, the face is Emma’s, but the body is me!
The films were being made as the books were coming out. Actors basically had to read the books to find out if they had job security for the following year. You mentioned on your podcast that you experienced one very famous spoiler. Could you tell that story?
There were whispers that someone dies. Everyone was like ‘Who’s it going to be?’ When I say everyone on set was reading this book [Order of the Phoenix], everyone was reading it. People were getting scared because more spoilers were coming out about what happens. Anyway, I’m sitting in hair and make-up, and Gary Oldman comes in and he was like “It’s me! They kill me off!” He’s obviously being funny but I just didn’t find it funny at all. I sat there and was just like ‘you have just ruined that for me, I haven’t got to that part yet, I didn’t know it was you.’ I was not expecting it to be Sirius. I was really upset!
Finally, tell me about your podcast, why you decided to make it, and where we can listen to it?
I speak to people whose jobs you might not know about. I’ve been surprised about some of the people I’ve been able to get. I think the reason so many people are happy to come on to the podcast is because Harry Potter is so special to them. Even these people who have had careers spanning fifty years still think Harry Potter is the best thing they’ve worked on and they will say that. As a fan, you always want to think that everybody loved working on the films and that it was a really special place to be, and it actually was.
You can catch all episodes of Flick’s podcast Behind the Wand: Stories from the Harry Potter Films on Apple and Spotify.
Words by Jake Walker-Charles
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