Daniel Radcliffe appears emotional in the trailer for a new documentary about his Harry Potter stunt double who was left paralysed after an on-set accident.
HBO’s David Holmes: The Boy Who Lived will shine a light on the “tragic” incident that turned the Essex stuntman’s “world upside down”.
Holmes, 42, broke his neck while performing a stunt on the set of 2010’s Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, the penultimate adaptation of JK Rowling’s best-selling novels.
In a teaser released on Wednesday by HBO, Radcliffe, 34, says Holmes “would do the most dangerous physical stuff” as he recalls him working on the set of the Harry Potter film series.
Holmes was selected to play Radcliffe’s double in the first film when the young actor was just 11.
The pair worked together for the next decade and formed a close bond, which is talked about in the teaser clip along with Holmes being paralysed with a debilitating spinal injury after an accident on the set of the penultimate film.
In the trailer, Radcliffe looks tearful as he says: “It is unfair, he shouldn’t have had to do any of that.”
Daniel Radcliffe in the trailer for ‘David Holmes: The Boy Who Lived’— (HBO)
He adds: “This terrible thing happened to Dave, but I don’t want to talk as if his life is a tragedy.
“The way his life has affected the lives of people around him means that it is the furthest thing from that imaginable.”
Holmes was rehearsing a flying scene at Warner Bros Studios, Leavesden, in 2009 when he was pulled backwards “at speed” by a high-strength wire in a “jerk back” stunt that replicates the effects of an explosion. However, Holmes was launched into a wall and he immediately broke his neck.
He was rushed to Watford General Hospital before beig transferred to the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital in Stanmore, north west London, where he remained for six months.
It was here that Holmes discovered he was paralysed from the chest down, and would have limited movements in his arms and hands.
Holmes was regularly visited by Radcliffe as well as Draco Malfoy actor Tom Felton. The former held a charity auction and dinner to raise money for Holmes’s medical bills. He called Holmes “an incredibly important person in my life”.
The Boy Who Lived, directed by Dan Hartley and with Radcliffe as an executive producer, will feature candid personal footage shot over the last decade, behind-the-scenes material from Holmes’ stunt work, and scenes of his current life.
It will also feature interviews with friends, family, and former crew.
David Holmes: The Boy Who Lived will be available on demand on Sky Documentaries and streaming service Now from November 18.
Additional reporting from the Press Association
