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Summary
- David Holmes: The Boy Who Lived tells the tragic story of David Holmes, Daniel Radcliffe’s long-time stunt double, who was paralyzed after a serious accident on the set of Harry Potter.
- The documentary explores the strong bond between Holmes and Radcliffe, who worked together on every Harry Potter film, with Radcliffe also serving as executive producer.
- Through Holmes’ extraordinary resilience, the film showcases the strength and inspiration found in the face of a debilitating spinal injury.
The newly released trailer for the upcoming HBO documentary David Holmes: The Boy Who Lived teases the extraordinary story of Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe’s stunt double and the lasting friendship that was formed between them. Executive produced by Radcliffe and due to land on Max later this month, the HBO Original Documentary will detail Holmes’ past as a stuntman and how his life was turned “upside down” after suffering a spinal injury on the set of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 back in 2010 left him paralyzed. You can watch the trailer for David Holmes: The Boy Who Lived below:
Holmes himself has discussed the accident in the past, revealing that it occurred when rehearsing a flying scene for the penultimate film in the Harry Potter series. The HBO documentary will explore Holmes’ achievements in film, “but also the challenges I face every day, and my overall attitude to life after suffering a broken neck,” Holmes said of the project.“In the turbulent world we find ourselves living in right now, I would like to quote Harry: ‘We are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided.’”
You can also check out a new poster for the documentary below:
The world of stunt performing is well-documented to be dangerous and potentially life-changing when things do happen to go wrong. One such incident occurred during the filming of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1, when Daniel Radcliffe’s long-time Harry Potter stunt double, David Holmes, was tragically paralyzed after breaking his neck. Now, Holmes’ story will be told through a new documentary, David Holmes: The Boy Who Lived.
There is a good reason for the new HBO original documentary taking its title from J.K. Rowling’s magical world of wizards and horcruxes. David Holmes worked alongside Daniel Radcliffe on every Harry Potter movie, from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone in 2001, all the way to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 in 2010. The relationship between the Hollywood stuntman and one of the most famous child actors of the 21st century is one that has clearly gone beyond the movies, and now, more than a decade on, Radcliffe not only appears in the new documentary, but also acts as executive producer.
HBO released an official synopsis for David Holmes: The Boy Who Lived, which reads:
“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 11. Over the next 10 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.”
Daniel Radcliffe Previously Worked With David Holmes on the Cunning Stunts Podcast
The new HBO documentary is not the first time Daniel Radcliffe and his former stuntman have teamed up to discuss the dangerous world of movie stunts. Back in 2020, a podcast called “Cunning Stunts” saw them come together, during which they delivered an in-depth discussion about Hollywood stuntmen and women, including breaking myths around the belief that accidents don’t happen. Addressing the podcast, Radcliffe previously said:0
“I think there’s a myth around stuntmen that they are just superhuman in some way. When the public see something really painful or horrible, they think it was a visual effect or that there’s some clever, safe way of doing it. Often that’s not the case. There’s no way of faking, for example, falling down stairs. When you get hit by a car, you’re still getting hit by a car, even if it’s going slower than it would. They find the safest way of doing it, but it can still hurt.”
Directed by filmmaker Dan Hartley, David Holmes: The Boy Who Lived will premiere on HBO on November 15 at 9p.m. ET, and will be available on Max to stream from the same date.
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