Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Trivia: 12 Amazing Facts
Warner Bros
Harry finds himself competing in the Tri-Wizard Tournament in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, which hit cinemas in 2005. Here are 12 amazing facts about the film…
1) Recycling the basilisk
A full scale dragon was created for some of the scenes, and real flames came out of its mouth. The model used some of the parts from the basilisk model from the second movie, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
2) 41 hours underwater
One of the tasks in the Tri-Wizard Tournament takes place underwater. To achieve these scenes, an enormous 500,000 litre tank was built for the actors to perform in. So that they wouldn’t need to re-surface between takes, scuba divers would bring regulators over to the actors so that they could breathe. Daniel Radcliffe racked up an incredible 41 hours of time underwater, and suffered two ear infections as a result!
3) Bad dancer
Whilst most of the cast acting in the Yule Ball scene were given three weeks’ worth of dance classes, Daniel Radcliffe could only attend four days of training, as he was acting flat-out in every scene being filmed. This resulted in some very poor footwork, according to Radcliffe, which is why we mostly see him from the waist up during the dance scenes.
4) No Percy
Fans of the film might notice that Ron’s elder brother Percy doesn’t appear in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. This is before the actor Chris Rankin’s contract stated that he should appear in four films; the first 3, and either 4 or 5. Since Percy has a bigger role in the fifth story, Order of the Phoenix, Rankin opted to appear in that film instead.
5) The Prisoner of Azkaban’s director was invited back
After the success of the third movie in the series, the Prisoner of Azkaban, its director, Alfonso Cuaron, was invited back to direct this next installment as well. However, he was too tied up finishing off post-production on the previous movie, and had to decline it. The role instead ewent to Mike Newell.
6) Red eyes with slits
In the books, JK Rowling describes Voldemorte as having red eyes with slits – a lot like a serpent’s eyes, which makes sense as he shares such an affinity with snakes. The filmmakers had intended to make this look, but Ralph Fiennes persuaded them against him. He convinced them he could give a greater and more emotive performance if his eyes weren’t altered.
7) Phone books in disguise
In Dumbledore’s office, the walls are lined with chunky, ancient-looking volumes. But what you might not realise is that these huge books are just standard phone directories, which the art department wrapped to give them some age and character!
8) Katie Leung almost didn’t audition
Katie Leung, who played Cho Chang in the film, hadn’t actually planned to go to the audition, and was playing a shopping trip instead. Her dad told her where the auditions were being held, and she decided to pop in on her way to her shopping trip. It was lucky that she did, as she ended up bagging the role.
9) The working title for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was ‘Happy Days’
To deter as much attention as possible, all of the Harry Potter films were given fake working titles. Goblet of Fire was given the working title, Happy Days. The reels that were sent to cinemas were also labeled ‘Happy Days’ to try and stop them from being stolen.
10) Pulp and Radiohead formed the Yule Ball rock band
At the Yule Ball, a rock band gets up on stage and sends the students into a dance frenzy. The band actually consists of a mix of two huge British groups: Pulp and Radiohead. It’s fronted by none other that Jarvis Cocker – the lead singer of Pulp! Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood and Phil Selway are also in the band.
11) Iceland got an extra laugh out of the film
When Icelandic audiences went to watch the movie, they were thrilled whenever reporter Rita Skeeter’s name was mentioned on screen. In Iceland, skita means ‘sh*t,’ so it resulted in cinemas roaring with laughter.
12) The look of the movie was inspired by Bollywood
Mike Newell, who directed the film, explained to the producers very early on that he wanted to make a Bollywood film with Goblet of Fire. Although there are no huge synchronised dance scenes, and none of the cast break out into enormous musical numbers, the film is extremely colourful – from the Quidditch World Cup and Yule Ball, through to the celebrations around the Tri-Wizard Tournament.
There you have it – 12 amazing facts about Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.