Trivia for
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002) More at IMDbPro »

• Daniel Radcliffe has said that "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" is his favorite book.
  
  
• Hugh Grant was originally cast as Gilderoy Lockhart but was forced to withdraw at the last moment because of scheduling conflicts. Alan Cumming was also considered.
  
  
• Zoë Wanamaker does not appear in this film as Hogwarts' flying instructor, Madam Hooch. Her character was written out.
  
  
• Christian Coulson landed the role as Tom Riddle, even though he was 23 and exceeded the 15-17 age group set for auditions.
  
  
• Fourteen Ford Anglias were destroyed to create the scene where Harry and Ron crash into the Womping Willow.
  
  
• The "Let's just hope Mr. Potter will always be around to save the day" dialogue (see quotes) was improvised by Daniel Radcliffe and Jason Isaacs.
  
  
• During the shoot, the part of Dobby was played by a ball on a stick (he was added digitally later, of course).
  
  
• The train station interior used in the film is Kings Cross in North London, whereas the exterior shot is actually St Pancras. The two stations are adjacent to one another, but not the same building. This was done because the architecture of St Pancras is much more visually appealing.
  
  
• As Harry enters Professor Dumbledore's study, a portrait of Gandalf the Grey is included in the collection of the great wizard paintings. It is above the door-frame and slightly to Harry's right.
  
  
• Filming began three days after the release of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001).
  
  
• The set for Flourish and Blotts is a redress of the set that served as Olivander's Wand Shop in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001).
  
  
• To get a sense of how nasty his character should be, Jason Isaacs had to go back and watch Tom Felton's performance in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001).
  
  
• A cinema manager in Stavanger in Norway reported that the film was making his younger patrons ill. Evidently many children who had overindulged on sweets and popcorn were throwing up when Ron begins vomiting giant slugs. "It is not a particularly fun task for our employees to have to wash away the sick," he said.
  
  
• Some of the portraits in Hogwarts are actually faces of production designer 'Stuart Craig (I)' and executive producer Mark Radcliffe.
  
  
• While chatting with the Grangers at the bookshop, Mr. Weasley says, "I understand that other muggles are afraid of you." This makes little sense unless you know that both Hermione's parents are muggle dentists.
  
  
• A story circulated that Emma Watson broke her left wrist during filming and that you can just see a little bit of the cast under her sleeve in some scenes, but it turned out to be false.
  
  
• The tapestries hanging in the Gryffindor Common Room are copies of the "Lady and the Unicorn" series, a set of 16th century tapestries that are now displayed in the Cluny Museum in Paris.
  
  
• The Weasleys' car registration number is 7990 TD.
  
  
• All four of director Chris Columbus's children appear in this movie. Eleanor Columbus plays Susan Bones (also plays her in the first movie), Brendan Columbus plays a boy in study hall, Violet Columbus plays the little girl with flowers, and Isabella Columbus plays the little girl in the bookstore.
  
  
• When Harry and Ron are called to the dormitory it has been ransacked. As Harry sifts through the pile of books on the floor you briefly see Volume 4 of the Encyclopedia Magica from TSR's Dungeons and Dragons' second edition.
  
  
• In the UK, this became the first movie to achieve a million DVD sales in its first weekend.
  
  
• Nurses were drafted into the production when an outbreak of head lice occurred among the young cast.
  
  
• Tickets for the film went on sale in Britain more than a month before the film was due to open.
  
  
• Zoë Wanamaker chose not to return to the franchise because she felt she wasn't being paid enough.
  
  
• The Weasley's car is a Ford Anglia. This is actually the same color and model car that author J.K. Rowling and her best friend from school used to ride around in when they were younger. She used the car for the book, and later the movie, out of her fond memories driving in it.
  
  
• The salute Harry and Draco make during their duel in the Dueling Club scene is a modified version of the salute made in fencing.
  
  
• Through advance ticket sales at Odeon cinemas, the film generated more than £1 million (roughly 200,000 tickets) before its release in the UK. An additional £8 million was generated through preview showings at UK cinemas (both Odeon and non-Odeon).
  
  
• Kate Duchêne, who plays Miss Hardbroom on the TV series "The Worst Witch" (1998) was reportedly offered a role in the movie but supposedly declined. But if you watch closely during the final scenes in the Banquet Hall, at the head table on the left side you will catch a glimpse of her in her Miss Hardbroom costume.
  
  
• On an episode of "Have I Got News for You" (1990) broadcast around this film's release, the panelists discuss an article claiming that the Russian Premier Vladimir Putin was deeply disturbed and offended that Dobby the House elf seemed to have been created in his image. There is an undeniable resemblance either way.
  
  
• Full-size models replaced the actors in scenes where their characters have been petrified.
  
  
• In the closing credits, instead of "Hannah Abbott" it is written "Hannah Hufflepuff".
  
  
• In a bit of foreshadowing that is only seen in the movie version, Lucius Malfoy takes one book out of Ginny Weasley's cauldron, but drops two back in.
  
  
• Although the subplot which involved Percy Weasley and Penelope Clearwater (when Ginny discovered them kissing and promised not to tell anybody) was cut, whilst Nearly Headless Nick is on his way to the Great Hall, he does say: "Hello Percy, Ms Clearwater," to the couple as they walk out.
  
  
• In order to create a realistic image of the floating set of needles (knitting in The Burrow), one of the crew coerced his mother to let them film her for several hours as she did her own knitting.
  
  
• When Hagrid charges into Dumbledore's office to defend Harry, he is carrying a dead rooster in his hands. This is in reference to a scene in the book (cut from the movie) where Hagrid finds all the roosters dead. The sound of a cock-crow is fatal to a basilisk.
  
  
• Due to schedule conflicts, John Williams was not able to deliver a fully elaborated score. Composer-arranger William Ross was hired to adapt Williams' material to complete the film's score and was subsequently conducting the orchestra during the recording sessions.
  
  
• The film earned over $88 million in the US on its opening weekend, which at the time placed it third in the all-time biggest opening behind Spider-Man (2002) and the first Harry Potter movie.
  
  
• Robbie Coltrane had to turn down a part in "The West Wing" (1999) to reprise his role as Hagrid.
  
  
• Richard Harris died a few weeks before the film's release.
  
  
• The script originally said that Hermione would hug Harry and Ron in the final scene. As the then 11-year-old Emma Watson was embarrassed about having to hug the boys in front of the entire cast, Chris Columbus allowed her to change the scene so that Hermione just hugs Harry then starts to hug Ron but the two get embarrassed and resolve to only shake hands. Watson also stated in a recent interview that she kept letting Daniel Radcliffe go too quickly, so the film was "frozen" for a few seconds to make the hug look like it lasted longer than it actually did.
  
  
• Daniel Radcliffe was initially only offered £125,000 (approximately US $181,500) for this film. The actors' union, Equity, stepped in and negotiated new terms which increased his salary to roughly £2,000,000 (US $3,000,000).
  
  
• Many Harry Potter fans went to see Scooby-Doo (2002) just to see a trailer for this film.
  
  
• The title used by the crew to disguise the shoot (and printed on the clapper boards) was "Incident on 57th Street", the title of a 1973 Bruce Springsteen song.
  
  
• Young Hagrid is played by the same person who stands in for Robbie Coltrane as his height double in all the Potter films. His voice is dubbed by Coltrane, for the sake of consistency.
  
  
• Shirley Henderson, who played Moaning Myrtle, is the oldest actress (age 37) to portray a Hogwarts student.
  
  
• When Lockhart turns to show his other profile to the photographer, several red leatherbound editions of Harry Potter books can be seen on the shelves behind him.
  
  
• When Hagrid is escorting out of Knockturn Alley, they pass by a bookstore which has Harry Potter hardcover books in its window display.
  
  
• When Lucius Malfoy tries to curse Harry at the end, he mutters,"Avada..." As mentioned in the 4th book, this is the beginning of an Unforgivable Curse named Avada Kedevra, or the killing curse.
  
  
• As of 2002, the Harry Potter series now has three connection to England's other famous franchise, James Bond. John Cleese, who played Nearly Headless Nick, also played Q in Die Another Day (2002). Robbie Coltrane, who played Hagrid, also played Valentin Sukovsky in GoldenEye (1995) and The World Is Not Enough (1999). Maggie Smith, who played Professor McGonogall, is the mother of Toby Stephens, who not only played the villain Gustav Graves in Die Another Day (2002), but also went on to play James Bond himself in a BBC Radio production of Dr. No.
  
  

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