Surprising Reason Emma Watson's Harry Potter Body Double Took Center Stage
She wasn't allergic to the cat makeup.
You might be surprised to learn that Emma Watson had body doubles even in the early Harry Potter movies. In fact, all young members of the cast did — but not for the usual reason why actors may have body doubles. The thing is, according to the law, actors under the age of 16 could not work on the set for more than four hours a day.
Certainly, this wasn't enough to complete the filming in a timely manner, and that's why body doubles acted in the scenes where the characters' faces were not seen clearly.
Emma Watson's double was Flick Miles, who is now running her podcast Behind the Wand, dedicated to the stories from the sets of Harry Potter. As Flick revealed in that podcast and her interviews, most of the time she appeared in shots where Hermione stood far away from the camera or with her back turned to it. But there was one big exception.
Fans surely remember the one small scene in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets where Hermione briefly transformed into a half-cat due to a mishap when making a magic potion.
Curiously, that was the moment when Flick Miles had to take the center stage. Why, you might ask?
As it happened, Emma had an allergic reaction to glue that the crew used to stick the 'cat face' makeup on her, and Flick was called to act in the scene with her face turned directly to the camera.
'So when you see Hermione as a cat in Chamber of Secrets, it is actually me,' the body double said.
While Flick Miles' role in the Harry Potter movies was still largely unnoticeable, her dedication to the history of making those films is much more impressive. She launched her podcast in 2021 to mark the 20th anniversary of the first movie, and since then, Miles has been able to interview some of the most important people involved in the production of the Harry Potter franchise.
If you liked that body double story, be sure to follow Behind the Wand to get more interesting behind-the-scenes details.
Sources: Youtube, Behind the Wand, The Sun