SnitchSeeker spoke to actor Warwick Davis, famously known to Harry Potter fans as portraying Professor Flitwick and Griphook the goblin in the film series, in Orlando as part of Deathly Hallows: Part 2 BD/DVD promotion. Warwick discussed some of the best part of filming in the Harry Potter films, taking part in the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 Maximum Movie Mode, the difference in playing a good and bad guy in the films, and his thoughts of the Harry Potter Leavesden Tour.

SnitchSeeker: So this is your second time here [at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter], how does it compare to the grand opening?
Warwick Davis: It feels like we never left. There’s still hundreds of thousands of people trying to get in to see the Wizarding World. It seems as popular as ever. Everyone’s drinking butterbeer and all of that stuff. It’s great to be back.

SnitchSeeker: What’s your favorite part, looking back?
Davis: I think the Three Broomsticks is my favorite. The food’s really good. I mean you go to theme parks sometimes and the food’s not great, but that’s a good meal you get in there. And you see it in these surroundings – it’s very authentic. Well, I like it; it’s British food in there. You can have fish and chips.

SnitchSeeker: So I was watching the Maximum Movie Mode, which you have a part in.
Davis: I did.

SnitchSeeker: How did that come about? How did you get involved?
Davis: They asked me to do Maximum Movie Mode. It’s as simple as that. They said, “Will you come in and talk about the Gringotts?” It’s just whatever comes to you at the time that the viewers might be interested in hearing about. Hopefully I said something remotely interesting (laughs). Well, obviously it they used a bit of it, it might be remotely interesting.

SnitchSeeker: How do you think it enhance watching the film?
Davis: I think it’s good because you can hear commentaries, but it gives you a little insight into what goes into making these films. I don’t think people always realize the amount of effort. They assume now everything’s done with computers and it’s just some geeky guy sat there just programming and you come up with these brilliant visuals. But making a Harry Potter movie is very different.

It’s many thousands of people working for years - brilliant artists. Yeah there is a CG element to it, but a lot of it is happening as you see it when you watch the movie. That’s another feature on the DVD is the Gringotts goblins creation sequence. You realize how many artists are involved and the time and effort that’s gone into just a couple of minutes of screen time. I think it’s a good insight, and I mean it quite a lot – that’s why I like that one.

SnitchSeeker: I saw some of the prosthetics work. Did it make you a bit wary, because it’s so much work?
Davis: To me, doing that is the means to an end. It’s the reason I can be in all of these films, but at the same time it’s not a pleasant experience to sit there for many hours on end. At 4 a.m., having somebody apply glue and rubber to your face, and then knowing that you’re gonna be wearing that for 15 hours. Yeah, it’s not fun, but without it I wouldn’t be able to play Griphook or any of the other characters that I played.

Especially, I wouldn’t have been able to play several different characters in the same film. Now that’s what it does allow me. It’s so brilliant. The make up people – it’s lovely to have that on the DVD as a tribute to those guys ‘cause they are so brilliant. They’re the unsung heroes. I’m the lucky one. I get to wear it and show off in front of the camera, but they don’t.

SnitchSeeker: Can you share some of your best experiences in Deathly Hallows?
Davis: I’m sort of a fan, anyway, andjust to be part of all of this. I would often sit back and think, “Wow, I’m the guy that’s helping them break into Gringott’s now. Here I am under the Invisibility Cloak.” That’s exciting. When you see these things in the films and you’ve read them in the book – to be involved in doing them. The first time that I Apparated, that was cool. I’m like, “Wow, we’re Apparating now! This is exciting!” It sounds silly but, even as an actor, it’s cool to play out those things.

SnitchSeeker: Was it a bigger challenge being Griphook than Flitwick, or interchanging characters?
Davis: The biggest challenge for me was really to make the characters different enough so that there was nobody that was gonna go, “Hang on a minute, that’s the same guy.” The biggest compliment I get is when people say, “I didn’t realize you were Griphook as well.” That’s great. It jumped off. I looked different enough. It was a very conscious decision. Everything about me had to be different: my stance, the way I walked, the way I held myself, the way I spoke, my voice, the rhythm. Everything had to be right for the character, but it had to be different.

SnitchSeeker: The final battle. Can you talk about the big epicness of it, working on the destroyed Hogwarts set?
Davis: There was a lot going on. We had mad explosions and fire like that in all of the films, and enough rubble and dust everywhere. It was sad. But in the movie it’s moving, it really is. We have this lovely shield up - seeing that start to break down, and then the invasion. It's epic to film; we filmed in very little segments - all the pieces of the jigsaw coming together to create that final thing. It was moving and exciting at the same time. It was like nothing we’d done before in any of the films.

SnitchSeeker: Looking back at the past decade, what are some of your best memories, biggest challenges overall?
Davis: I think the challenges are, for me, with the make up - dealing with that. Just the overriding memories is really the people and the cast and everybody who was so fantastic to work with, and that kind of family-like atmosphere environment to the whole thing. And that sense of accomplishment, to be all of the eight films and now to sit back and know that there’s people enjoying it, They’re watching it and Harry Potter is living on in the sense of the theme park and studio tour that we’ll be opening in London. So it’s amazing to be part of that. I feel very honored.

SnitchSeeker: You’re the rare person who got to play a good and a bad guy. What was that like?
Davis: It’s good. Luckily I didn’t have to step out of one shoes straight into the other. Because of the make up, you had to do it on separate days. But there were occasions where I was Griphook one day and Flitwick the next. It felt good. It’s cool. Playing a villain is probably more gratifying as an actor because you certainly have something to get your thespian teeth into, and everyone loves a villain. They always remember the baddie. There are so many levels to Griphook, so many flavors to him.

You didn’t know whether to trust him or not. There’s all this going on. There’s a lot happening behind those black eyes. It was nice to play a character that had some sort of bearing on the plot, finally, in the story. He’s an important part of what happens at the beginning of that film. I felt really lucky, actually. It was lovely that [director] David Yates had the faith in me as an actor to give me that role.

SnitchSeeker: What was your best memory of working with Dan, Rupert and Emma?
Davis: Dan – his sense of fun, his sense of motivation. He was quite a driving force behind the production. It sounds odd that sometimes if he wasn’t working in the scene he’d be there helping out. He has an astonishing amount of energy and drive, so if everyone was feeling a bit – these were long days sometimes – a bit tired and we’d had enough, Dan would come on full of enthusiasm and drive and carry you on through the day. It was amazing.

And Rupert – he’s Rupert. He’s just like a cuddly something, isn’t he? A cuddly bear. He’s so chilled out. Nothing fazes him. And Emma – just elegant. And they’re al l great actors. They really blossomed from being good actors when they were younger into really competent performers. I’m sure if they want to continue acting, they’ll have great careers ahead of them.

SnitchSeeker: Would you like to work with them again?
Davis: Of course, yeah. It’d be fabulous to do something with them because they’re all great.

SnitchSeeker: You brought up the studio tour. You got to visit it.
Davis: I was at the opening of the ticket sales a few weeks ago. It’s not all finished yet, but it’s really cool to walk back inside the Great Hall and see it just as we remember leaving it. Sitting again at the head table where I sat. It was weird sitting there without the make up on. I was like, “Wow, this is different.” But yeah, people are going to get to walk through that Great Hall.

They’re going to get to go into Dumbledore’s office – and I think what’s lovely, they’ll appreciate what we were lucky enough to be with for 10 years, and the fact that it is as real as you think it’s going to be. Okay, there’s no enchanted ceiling, but everything else looks like you think it’s going to look. And there’s so much more to it. Stuff that I can’t tell you about yet. It’s a real interactive experience for everyone.

It’s not a theme park. It’s not a museum. It’s not an exhibit. It is an interactive tour and will give you a great insight into the making of Harry Potter. Then, apart from that, the studio is being redeveloped into a state-of-the-art facility for filmmakers to come to in the future. It’s only sad it didn’t happen while we were working there (laughs). Leavesden Studios wasn’t the most glamorous place in the world prior to that.

SnitchSeeker: Is there any particular place that sticks out for you, that you feel personally connected to at the tour?
Davis: The Great Hall, for me. Looking back over the film, we had feasts, we had funerals, we had Yule Ball celebrations. I did my first stage diving in that very arena. The destruction of the Great Hall in the last film when we were in there. So many different things have happened so you become quite attached to it. Normally a set is put up and taken down within a few months on a movie and destroyed, but that set stood for 10 years and will continue to stand now for many more years to come, and have visitors from all over the world. It’s like a historical building. It should be like – we all them listed buildings in England – it should be protected in a sense because it’s a part of history.

SnitchSeeker: Thank you. Have fun here this weekend!
Davis: And you!

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Order the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 DVD and Blu-ray sets, out today in the U.S. and December 2 in the UK, at the Amazon links below, or through the official Warner Bros Shop.

Amazon.com (US) - Deathly Hallows 1-disc DVD | Deathly Hallows 1-disc Blu-ray | Deathly Hallows 3-disc Blu-ray triple play | The Complete 8-Film Collection DVD | The Complete 8-Film Collection Blu-ray

Amazon.co.uk (UK) - Deathly Hallows 1-disc DVD | Deathly Hallows 3-disc 3D Blu-ray | Deathly Hallows 3-disc Blu-ray triple play | Deathly Hallows 2-disc DVD | The Complete 8-Film Collection DVD | The Complete 8-Film Collection Blu-ray | The Complete 8-Film Collection BD limited edition