I am Flick Miles. I was Hermione Granger's body double in the Harry Potter films. AMA!

Was it you or she who punched Draco in The Prisoner of Azkaban?

I actually did "punch" Tom as one of the shots was over the shoulder, that was a fun scene to film in Scotland! Not sure if my take made it into the film, I didn't quite punch him hard enough! - Flick

Any scenes we'd be surprised are you, not Emma?

Any scenes we'd be surprised are Emma, not you?

When Hermione is turned into a cat after pulling a cat hair off Millicent Bullstrode's robes - that was actually me! Emma had an allergic reaction to the glue used for the make up, so I stepped in.

When Nick Dudman's team made a model of Hermione for when she is petrified by the Basilisk they actually took a cast of my body. It was very similar to when you break your arm and have a plaster cast they basically covered my whole body in that.

Also a lot of the chess scene was me! Which was soooo much fun to film with all the explosions and moving parts. That set was up in the flight shed which was at the end of the runway at Leavesden studio and although it was freezing it was always special to film there. - Flick

When Hermione is turned into a cat

…I was completely unaware that wasn’t CGI

A mark of a great creature effects team! They took a cast of my face and then built the cat mask around that. The mask was made up of hundreds of pieces, to the point where even each whisker was individually stuck to me. The make up took about three hours to do and once it has been used it can't be used again, so they had several copies of the mask pieces. I think it looks more CGI that it actually is because they CGI'd (if that is a word) the eyes. - Flick

Here is a photo if you'd like to see (second in the carousel) --> https://www.instagram.com/p/CVNxuWVoFMH/

Are you still a body double? Is there a difference in body doubles and a stunt person? I assume all stunt persons can be body doubles, but not the other way around?

No, I'm not a body double anymore. Hermione is the only person I have ever doubled for - and I don't think I could possibly double for anyone better - so really my doubling career peaked at the age of 10-14 haha! And yes - all stunt people can be doubles, but body doubles can't be stunt people as they are awesomely talented people who have taken exams, etc., in certain areas in order to perform their work safely. Stunt people are truly amazing!!! -Flick

How did you come to be named "Flick"?

I was actually never called Flick until I started working on the "Harry Potter" films when a runner called Kate Lewis started calling me that and it really stuck. Now that is pretty much what I am called by most people - apart from my Mum and Dad - who call me Fliss! - Flick

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MuggleNet is a team, though! We are a global team of 150+ volunteers 😀 - Kat, Marketing Director

Please tell us something fun you remember about working with Alan Rickman. :)

What was Emma like in person? Did it change over the years?

Thanks!

Alan Rickman was so scary when dressed as Snape, but was actually super lovely and kind and patient - all the things you would hope he would be.

I have a funny story that actually wasn't about filming, but for Red Nose Day us children made a magazine, called "The Leavesden," with things like agony aunt pages, and houses horoscopes, etc. We took this to set to sell to the crew to raise money. One of the articles was an interview with Alan Rickman and, of course, being teenagers the first question we asked him was "when was his first kiss" and bless him he did answer!!! - Flick

Emma was lovely, she was so much fun to be around and we really used to laugh when together. I was only working with her up until I was 14 and she didn't change, she was always warm and kind to me. We were (most of the time) the only girls so we had to stick together! - Flick

How does one get a job as a body double and what was your favorite scene to shoot?

I was super lucky with how I got the job as Hermione's double. I went to a drama class in a church hall after school - it was pretty low key - and the woman who ran the class also had an agency. She asked my Mum if she could have some pictures of me, so my Mum gave her a few snaps and few weeks later the audition for Hermione's double came up. I think although I don't look much like Emma now, at the time we were the same height, build, had a similar hair colour, and similar shape face. When I auditioned, I basically had to stand next to Emma and then Chris Columbus and David Heyman looked at us through the camera lens. Then they got me to stand with Dan and Rupert to see how I lined up against them. They seemed happy, so I originally contracted to 12 weeks work - which then ended up being about 4 years!!! - Flick

What was the simplest, most straight forward, suprised they made you get out of bed stunt you did? IE Peeling an apple with a knife

Haha, well I didn't really do the dangerous stunts as they had a far more qualified wonderful gymnast who did the tricky stuff. But I did jump over a Whomping Willow branch! I had to do lots of rehearsals to get the jump just right as they wanted me to jump up and then like jump down and touch the floor. I thought I nailed it but, then it didn't make the final cut so maybe my jumping skills were not "stunty" enough. Anyone who knows me tell you that I am probably the least athletic person, hah! - Flick

Were you the double in all of the movies? If so, did you get contracted with Emma as part of any negotiations, or are doubles negotiated separately?

I was her under-age double on the first three films and my contract was negotiated separately as I was only contracted on a film by film basis. I believe most of the doubles were contracted separately for the first couple of films. I'm not sure but I should imagine this probably changed in the later films - especially with Harry's stunt doubles. - Flick

Did you have any stage fright? My 8 year older daughter wants to know.

I was always a little nervous when going onto set, especially when filming with the adult actors! I would have to feed lines to people like Alan Rickman and Dame Maggie Smith and they would just be so incredible as their characters - it was daunting to be there. BUT everyone was so lovely and those actors really made us feel at ease, would be so patient, and would make us feel totally at home - so any nerves would fade pretty quickly! It is also a bit scary as there are also 100 crew members watching you, but really they aren't watching you they are looking at their little bit and making sure whatever they are responsible for is correct - so the sound/ lighting /make up etc. - Flick

What scene did u enjoy shooting the most among all the Harry Potter films?

I think filming in the Great Hall was always the most special days because EVERYONE would be the scenes, so there would definitely be a lot of energy and magic in the air.

In the third film when Harry and Hermione go back in time that was also a lot of fun to film as we were never all on set together, but for these scenes we were because when they had Harry and Hermione watching themselves back they used us doubles!! Also, we got to free Buckbeak!!!!!!

When Hermione says, "Is that really what my hair looks like from back?" - Emma is looking at me! - Flick

That's awesome.
Just curious how much of your filming was B-crew, pickups, inserts etc?
For instance, In Prisoner Of Azkaban, there is an insert of the backs of the three main protagonists walking across the bridge (1:22:57) the first time we watch events unfold.

I'm trying not to be creepy, but you can clearly tell from
... Behind ...
That it is the doubles (you) walking for Hermione and Ron, probably for Harry too. Just interesting to see shots like that, which i assume are pickups. Like, that was a whole set-up and maybe a day of shooting just for an establishing insert. Wild.

I would work with the second-unit and spend a morning just scanning library books and they would film my hand picking up books and "flicking" through them. That could then be used in the edit. The second-unit can also pick up anything that has been missed or the first unit hasn't had time to do.

One of the podcast episodes I interview Richard Francis Bruce, who was the film's editor, and he said that when Harry gets his acceptance letter at the Dursley's (when they come flying through the fire place) that the first unit only filmed Dan reading it and not an actual shot over his shoulder of the letters. So Richard was able to speak to the second unit crew and get them to film that shot. On a huge blockbuster movie the second unit crew is sooooo important as there is so much to do! - Flick

THANK YOU to everyone who asked questions and joined me for today's AMA! It was really lovely to read and respond to your questions, they were so creative and fun.

I hope that you will join me over on my podcast, "Behind the Wand: Stories from the Harry Potter films," for even more incredible behind-the-scenes stories! Available wherever you listen to podcasts. Have a magical day! - Flick

Did the shoot feel as magical as it was shown in the movie? Also did you also go to regular school along with shoot like rest of the cast?

It really did feel magical, in some ways I feel like I did actually get to go to Hogwarts through everything I experienced whilst filming. We went to school at the studios. There were different tutors for different subjects and my school would send them the work I should be doing and the tutors created a lesson plan round that. I actually really want to get Janet, who was the head tutor on the films, on an episode of "Behind the Wand" because the whole world of schooling at a film studio is pretty interesting and it was quite a big job for her to cater to all the children who were all in different years and making sure we all kept up! - Flick

Do you ever got hurt while recording any scene?

I had a light shield (so basically a sort of film cover they put over a light to either make it a softer light or change its colour slightly) fall on my head, but that was due to us being children and messing around and probably not doing what we should be doing. I feel sorry for the crew looking back as we could sometimes be a rather unruly bunch!

In the third film we became obsessed with fishing when were up in Scotland filming at Hagrid's hut and freeing Buckbeak. Harry's double got a fishing hook stuck in his leg - that was probably the worst injury I saw whilst working on HP (he was totally fine - just had to have a tetanus shot). - Flick

How old were you while doing these things?

Aged 10 - 14

How was/is your relationship with the "Big Three" (Watson/Radcliffe/Grint)?

Really great, we all spent a lot of time together and would really just hang out and play together as children. We loved playing table tennis, and board games, watching films. Whenever we were on location and the hotel had a pool we would go swimming after filming. I have only fond memories of Dan, Rupert, and Emma. - Flick

Did u get to keep any item from a movie set?

I am always scared that even years later I am going to get in trouble with Warner Bros. for keeping props, haha! But I did keep my school tie... and some of Hermione's stationary like quills, etc. Sorry to Warner Bros., the costume department, and the lovely props guys !!!!! 😜 - Flick

What was the hardest scene to shoot? Who do you think was the kindest actor in set?

I think scenes with lots of kids and lots of animals, for example, the Transfiguration class where they turn animals into cups. Hermione had some sort of lizard and it kept crawling off the perch it was meant to be on and onto my finger!!! There was also a baboon misbehaving in one of the cages (you can probably Google that story as to what he was doing) but those sorts of scenes often took the longest and were the most challenging ... for the crew at least!!! - Flick

How much of it was green screen and how much were actual sets?

Soooo much was actual sets. Which is what is so brilliant about the fact Harry Potter was filmed in early 2000's. The cost of CGI was a lot and the technology wasn't what it is today, so it was cheaper to actually make things - the sets and the details in those sets was unbelievable. If Harry Potter was filmed now, I think a lot of it would be green screen and CGI, which is a shame as Leavesden Studios during the time we were filming was really magical - and I guess you can see part of that today if you have ever visited Warner Bros. Studio Tour London - The Making of Harry Potter! - Flick

Did having different directors changed a lot the environment of the sets over the years?

I think it definitely did change from Chris Columbus to Alfonso Caurón. Alfonso had a very different way of working and was a lot more experimental with how scenes would play out. But the tone of the films change so much between Chamber and Azkaban, which added to a change in the environment as Hogwarts is a lot darker in the third film. I think Chris also had huge pressure as most of the kids hadn't been in anything before Harry Potter, so everything was new. He really had to take the time to coach everyone through what was happening and what to do - which he did so, so brilliantly. When Alfonso came on board everyone was way more up to scratch on how a film set worked and what was expected from them. - Flick

Hi Flick, I didn't realise how much we needed a podcast like this until Behind the Wand came out! I think it is absolutely brilliant! Which episode did you enjoy recording the most and why? Xx

Ooooh very good question! I absolute love all the interviews, as every single time I speak to someone I find out something new about the Harry Potter films. But if I had to choose one... it would be the episodes with Sarah McKenna (Rupert's PA) and my Mum. I feel like this episode really gives the vibe of what it was like BTS and the little Harry Potter family we created.

Thank you so much - it is lovely to hear that you like the podcast and I hope you continue to listen and enjoy it! - Flick