It must not have been pleasant for Rik Mayall to discover that his role in the highly anticipated Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was eliminated from the film version. But which character did the English actor play, who does not appear in the first chapter of the franchise?
Who has carefully read the novels of JK Rowling that make up the Harry Potter sagahe knows well that film adaptations they necessarily had to sacrifice a series of details. Nothing transcendental. It’s something that happens regularly when a book is turned into a film. Imagine, however, that you are precisely that ‘detail’ that, once it arrived in the editing room, never left, because cut from the final version of the feature film.
That’s what happened to Rick Mayall. What’s worse is that, in order not to disappoint his children, the English actor and comedian, who passed away in 2014, still attended the premiere of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. Imagine the enthusiasm of the children, who couldn’t wait to see their dad in the most anticipated film of the year. But who he should have played Mayall in the magical franchise? The missed role is that of the mischievous and poltergeist killjoy Peeveswhich infests the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and not only does he love to joke Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Ron (Rupert Grint) AndHermione (Emma Watson), but also the grim guardian Magpie (David Bradley).
Unfortunately, the character it was completely erased from the film versions of Harry Potter. Evidently bitter, in an old interview, Rik Mayall bluntly panned the first chapter of the saga. To be honest, one cannot help but understand the actor’s resentment.
With respect… no, without any respect… the movie was bullshit. I played the part of Peeves in Harry Potter. I did a little filming, then I went home and got the money. Then a month later they said, ‘Rik, I’m sorry, you’re not in the movie, we cut you out of the movie.’ […] I was on set for three weeks, then they cut me, but I still got paid.
Mayall, in addition to his pay, also received gods tickets for the premiere night and, in order not to reveal to his children that his scenes had been cut, he took them to the cinema. Their reaction was priceless: “They came back and said, ‘That’s a damn good trick’. You looked nothing like yourself.” Apparently, the boys they thought their father was playing Hagridthe late gamekeeper brought to the screen Robbie Coltrane. The actor concluded, with a hint of irony: “It was the best film I took part in, because I wasn’t there and it was crap. It was crap because I wasn’t there.”
Rik Mayall was known for comedy roles, for example in the film The Young Onesand for Jesus Christ Superstar (2000), in which he played King Herod. Who better than him to give life to the little spirit always ready to bring disorder and havoc to Hogwarts? In his time, the director Chris Columbus claimed that Peeves was removed from the film because he and the producer David Heyman they were not satisfied with the character’s design. Furthermore, it was necessary to streamline the running time Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stonewhich had reached 172 minutes (the theatrical version lasts 2 hours and 32 minutes).
Anyway, thanks to Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts, Pix got justice. The documentary offered a precious tribute In Memoriam to all the actors of the cast who are no longer with us, including the aforementioned Coltrane, Alan Rickman (Severus Snape), Richard Harris (Albus silente) and, indeed, Rick Mayall.
