1 month ago
EXCLUSIVE: David Holmes, Daniel Radcliffe’s Harry Potter stunt double and adjacent friend, has turned nan communicative of his tragic mishap during stunt tests for Deathly Hallows: Part One that near him paralyzed from nan waist down into a shape play, Deadline tin reveal.
The Boy Who Lived (the title comes from nan first section of nan first Harry Potter novel) is presently successful improvement and has been workshopping each this week astatine nan Olivier Award-winning Kiln Theatre successful Kilburn, North West London.
Producer Paul Taylor-Mills tells america exclusively that The Boy Who Lived will premiere astatine nan Kiln Theatre successful 2027 and nan scheme is for Holmes to represent himself.
The accumulation is based connected head Dan Hartley’s 2023 HBO/Sky documentary David Holmes: The Boy Who Lived and connected an relationship written by Holmes of his life earlier and aft nan mishap astatine Leavesden Studios successful January 2009. The memoir was published 2 years ago. It has been adapted for nan shape by Philip Wilson, who will besides direct. He’s a erstwhile creator head of nan Salisbury Playhouse Theatre.
Taylor-Mills says that he watched nan documentary complete 2 years ago during a formation and was struck by nan positivity generating from nan gymnast-turned-lead Radcliffe stunt double. Also by really Holmes’ family and galore friends person helped successful his betterment aft countless operations, knowing there’s nary going backmost to his erstwhile life.
The shaper was besides taken by Radcliffe’s warmth and heavy relationship towards Holmes. Radcliffe not only appeared successful nan documentary, he was besides an executive producer. “They’d been close, for illustration brothers, and still are,” says Taylor-Mills.
He adds: “And it’s not pity porn, it’s astir really erstwhile thing truthful traumatic tin hap successful your life and past you still unrecorded and woody pinch it. He’s sewage this unthinkable very, very blue, very naughty consciousness of humour.”
As Taylor-Mills sewage to cognize Holmes, he suggested that he “be successful it arsenic himself.”
Taylor-Mills describes nan show arsenic “half stand-up comedy, half TED Talk, half My Son’s a Queer. We’re doing a shop of it this week pinch David and nan imaginative squad astatine nan Kiln and it’s pinch a position that we do it present adjacent year.”
The improvement process has truthful acold taken 2 years, overmuch of that clip taken up with wrapping up authorities from HBO and Warner Bros positive seeking permissions from Harry Potter writer J.K. Rowling, Radcliffe, and Sue and Andy Holmes, David’s parents. Today’s shop will beryllium videoed and posted to applicable parties, including Radcliffe.
In consequence to a mobility astir Radcliffe’s engagement pinch nan play, Taylor-Mills explains that nan character will person a video of it “with a position that he’s hopefully involved.”
And would location beryllium a “Radcliffe” characteristic successful nan play? “TBC, TBC. Very overmuch to beryllium confirmed,” he answers. “It’s still being developed and written.”
The HBO documentary is simply a singular movie astir plain, old-fashioned resilience. Following nan accident, aft months spent undergoing respective operations astatine nan Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, Holmes asked family and friends to “try and dream for maine to beryllium happy for illustration I am, not happy for illustration you want maine to be.”
That level of stoicism and his “let’s get connected pinch it” cognition is inspiring coming from personification who has endured 17 years of symptom and discomfort.
Taylor-Mills says he was impressed by a infinitesimal successful nan movie wherever Sue Holmes recalls a speech she had pinch her boy astir whether they should return ineligible action. He told her: “Why mum? My life’s been ruined, why would I want to ruin anyone else’s life?”
After going done different scenes successful nan film, Taylor-Mills nods admiringly and says that “to person that level of contented and conscionable generosity of tone aft thing for illustration that happens is … extraordinary.”
The play has a last shop convention coming pinch Holmes portraying himself, pinch 4 actors astir him playing his parents, and besides nan younger David erstwhile he was an acrobat. “It’s overmuch much interactive than him location telling his story. And we’ll person moments wherever he looks backmost astatine immoderate of the Harry Potter films and talks astir really immoderate of nan stunts happened,” he explains.
“It’s astir really 1 time you tin spell to activity and past your life changes, and I was struck by his humility really. He is an unthinkable quality being and nan show will beryllium peppered pinch funny stories astir conscionable really he lives now … he’s sewage this unthinkable outlook connected life and I thought it was specified an important communicative to beryllium told,” Taylor-Mills says.
One important prize of having nan play premiere astatine nan Kiln is that a fewer years agone nan theatre and cinema analyzable was redeveloped pinch a large attraction connected accessibility beforehand of location and backstage.
