Subscribe
Follow Us
Daniel Radcliffe is an executive producer in the upcoming HBO documentary David Holmes: The Boy Who Lived, Variety reported.
David Holmes was Radcliffe's stunt double in the Harry Potter movies. He worked with the Harry Potter star from Sorcerer's Stone up to The Deathly Hollows Part 1 when he was paralyzed during an accident on set. Holmes broke his neck during a stunt, paralyzing him from the chest down.
The coming of age of David Holmes
According to HBO, the documentary is “a coming-of-age story of stuntman David Holmes, a prodigious teenage gymnast from Essex, England, who is selected to play Daniel Radcliffe’s stunt double in the first ‘Harry Potter’ film, when Daniel is just 11. Over the next 10 years, the two form an inextricable bond, but on the penultimate film a tragic accident on set leaves David paralyzed with a debilitating spinal injury, turning his world upside down. As Daniel and his closest stunt colleagues rally to support David and his family in their moment of need, it is David’s extraordinary spirit of resilience that becomes their greatest source of strength and inspiration.”
The documentary will feature “candid personal footage shot over the last decade, behind-the-scenes material from Holmes’ stunt work, scenes of his current life and intimate interviews with David, Daniel Radcliffe, friends, family, and former crew.”
The network added, “The film also reflects universal themes of living with adversity, growing up, forging identities in an uncertain world, and the bonds that bind us together and lift us up.”
The film will be directed by Dan Hartley of the 2013 film Lad: A Yorkshire Story.
Article Continues Below
Daniel Radcliffe & David Holmes after Harry Potter
This isn't the first time Radcliffe and Holmes worked together outside of Harry Potter. In 2020 during the pandemic, they launched Cunning Stunts, a podcast which talked about Hollywood stunt performers.
Speaking on the podcast, new dad Radcliffe said, “I think there’s a myth around stuntmen that they are just superhuman in some way.”
“When the public see something really painful or horrible, they think it was a visual effect or that there’s some clever, safe way of doing it. Often that’s not the case. There’s no way of faking, for example, falling down stairs. When you get hit by a car, you’re still getting hit by a car, even if it’s going slower than it would. They find the safest way of doing it, but it can still hurt,” he continued.
David Holmes: The Boy Who Lived will premiere on Nov. 15 on HBO and streaming on Max.
