Child Actors Navigate Hogwarts Lessons Amidst Filming

Young stars of the Harry Potter reboot juggle magic with academics.

A new generation of witches and wizards is stepping onto the Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden lot for a television reboot of the beloved Harry Potter saga. Behind the scenes, hundreds of child actors are experiencing a unique blend of magical learning and real-world education.

On-Set Schooling

The production has established a temporary school on the studio grounds to accommodate the young cast. This ensures that the child performers can continue their studies while immersed in the magical world of Hogwarts.

Flick Miles, who previously served as a body double for Emma Watson’s Hermione Granger in the original films, shared her memories of attending lessons while in full character. “We’re all there with full hair and makeup,” she recalled. “At one point, Hermione has cuts from the Whomping Willow, you’ll just be like sitting in your class with a fake nose bleed and a lip wound.”

Balancing Work and Education

Child actors are typically limited to four hours of filming per day, necessitating the use of doubles for certain shots. While the main stars received private tuition, other cast members attended classes in on-site classrooms.

These young performers would spend much of the academic year at the studio school, prepared for filming at a moment’s notice. In fact, Flick Miles attended her regular school in Barnet for only 15 days between Years 6 and 9.

Flick Miles explained the necessity of school approval for filming schedules. “To get your license to work, your school has to be on board with you having that time off and working… Which actually at first my school weren’t that happy with me doing.” Her parents successfully advocated for her to pursue the opportunity after the school initially limited her time off.

Dedicated Classroom Time

Despite the demanding filming schedules, every child actor was required to dedicate a minimum of three hours daily to their studies. This commitment was strictly monitored by assistant directors.

“Assistant directors will be checking how many hours you’ve done because if you haven’t hit your three, then you’re going to have to go back into school for like half an hour before you can go down to set,” Miles stated.

Lessons were overseen by runners who meticulously tracked each child’s time spent in class or on breaks, ensuring educational requirements were met.

Class sizes were kept small, with Flick Miles recalling no more than seven pupils on most days, a stark contrast to the potential 600 students at the current reboot’s educational facility.

The curriculum was highly individualized, with teachers tailoring lessons to each child’s specific academic needs. “They would individually give you their attention and set you on your task, so we’d all be doing different work,” she explained.

Teacher Support

Miles commended the teachers for their dedication and ability to make learning engaging, despite the unusual circumstances. “They really tried to make sure we had fun and we were doing all the things that we should be doing, which I think was probably really hard for them,” she said.

“They were really understanding of the fact that we were also working, which is quite weird, having a group of like 10, 11, 12-year-olds who are also working full-time. If you’re at school, you’re there nine to three, but if you’re filming, you’re there a lot longer. I think they were really understanding with the wide range of emotions you feel as a child working on a film set.”

—Flick Miles

As the new Harry Potter TV adaptation begins filming, 11-year-old Dominic McLaughlin takes on the titular role. Industry data shows that child labor laws for film productions have become increasingly stringent, with many jurisdictions mandating specific educational hours and welfare supervisors on set. For instance, California law requires children under 16 to have three hours of education daily on set.

Advice for Newcomers

Flick Miles, now living in St Albans, offers simple advice to the young actors joining the wizarding world: “enjoy it.” She reflected on the extraordinary nature of her experience, noting how the extraordinary eventually felt like normal life.

“When you come out the other side, you look back at it and you’re like ‘wow, that was so amazing,’ the things we got to do, the different experiences and all the incredibly talented people, which sort of goes over your head as a child,” she mused. “The best thing about being a child is you just take it all in for what it is, but I think really just enjoy it, make the most of every opportunity that you have there.”