Flick Miles, who worked as Emma Watson’s body double in the Harry Potter films, has revealed what the experience was like.
Miles, 35, was cast as Emma’s double when she was 9 and played the part in the first three films of the franchise.
During the job, the actress went to school with other child actors and stepped in to play her part when she was needed. The actress would stand in for Emma in scenes where her face didn’t need to be seen. Such scenes only showed Hermione’s hand, or shoulder, or head, etc.
“If it was something they needed more detail on, they might get me to come down to help line up the shots or rehearse something,” Miles explained. “They would use us to help choreograph things, and if there was anything that didn’t show Hermione’s face, it might be behind, over the shoulder, or Hermione scanning library books. They might be using your hand. They could use me for that.”
Regarding which scenes she was in, Miles said, “I’ve just forgotten stuff over time, but when the films first came out, I could tell when scenes were me because you remember filming it, and the shot never results in seeing Emma’s face. I would know that’s me, and I’d know I’ve been there.”
However, one scene she clearly remembers is the one where Hermione transforms into a cat when she drinks the Polyjuice potion after mistakenly adding cat hair into it.
“They used me for that part, which was a bit different,” she revealed. “Emma slightly reacted to the glue they used to fix the makeup on. I got an amazing experience working with the creature effects team, and filming that scene was fun.”
“We had to do a few show-and-tells, and they had different colors of cats because initially, they had this most beautiful ginger cat that was red and gorgeous,” she shared. “Director Chris Columbus said, ‘No, that is a way too pretty cat. This character is going to have a gray cat, slightly like a less gorgeous look.’ “
Miles returned in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire as an extra in the Yule Ball scene. She left showbiz later but started a Harry Potter-themed podcast and interviews crew members from the films
