Daniel Radcliffe, who is famously known for his portrayal of Harry Potter in the movies, is partnering with his stunt double to bring his documentary to life. David Holmes, the stunt double, was left paralyzed after an unfortunate accident on the sets of Deathly Hallows: Part 1.
Daniel Radcliffe Turns Executive Producer For David Holmes’ Documentary
David Holmes suffered an awful spinal injury in the filming of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 1 when an explosion sent him crashing down, leaving him completely paralyzed below the waist. His remarkable tale can be seen in the HBO Original documentary, David Holmes: The Boy Who Lived.
Prior to the first Harry Potter film, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Holmes was employed as Daniel Radcliffe’s stunt double in the franchise. During the course of 7 movies, Holmes and Radcliffe became inseparably connected while working closely together.
David Holmes: The Boy Who Lived marks the most recent collaboration between the stunt double and the actor. In 2020, the duo began a podcast known as Cunning Stunts, wherein they interviewed prominent stunt actors in the industry and discussed some of the most notable action sequences in movies.
HBO Documentary Films is the main producer behind the project. Supervising producers are Simon Chinn, Jonathan Chinn, Vanessa Davies, and Amy Stares, while Daniel Radcliffe, Holmes, Hartley, Sue Latimer, and Sarah Spahovic are executive producers affiliated with Sky Studios and Lightbox/Ripple Productions.
The executive producers at HBO are Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller, Tina Nguyen, and Poppy Dixon from Sky Studios.
The documentary will be directed by Dan Hartley who is known for Lad: A Yorkshire Story. Warner Bros. released a statement regarding the documentary which read as follows:
“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.”
What is the documentary about?
The announcement made by Warner Bros. & HBO Max’s team revealed the synopsis of the documentary in a press release.
The film 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 eleven. Over the next ten 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.
Featuring 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 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.
Holmes posted on Instagram after HBO’s announcement that the documentary was a product of four years’ labor and commented that being part of the beloved franchise was the most gratifying job.
“I am only able to live because of the united love and support that I am fortunate enough to have had. And it is thanks to this love and support that I am able to share my journey with you all,” he wrote in the post.
While speaking to the Daily Mirror, the Harry Potter star shed light on his friendship with Holmes.
“I’ve got a relationship that goes back many, many years with Dave. And I would hate for people to just see me and Dave and go, ‘oh, there’s Daniel Radcliffe with a person in a wheelchair’ – because I would never, even for a moment, want them to assume that Dave was anything except for an incredibly important person in my life.”
David Holmes: The Boy Who Lived will be premiering on HBO on November 15th at 9 p.m. and can be viewed through the Max streaming service.
