Before the Harry Potter movies, J.K. Rowling‘s best-selling book series was already a literary phenomenon. If the movies became just as big, the child stars cast as these literary characters would have a life-changing experience. Chris Columbus made sure to look at Macaulay Culkin‘s career and personal life when casting Harry Potter’s young actors.
Chris Columbus, who directed the first two Harry Potter films, also directed Macaulay Culkin in the first two Home Alone movies. On Demi Lovato‘s documentary Child Star (via Variety), Columbus spoke of how Culkin’s rapid stardom shaped Harry Potter movie casting:
“We went from shooting ‘Home Alone’ [where] nobody cared, but in the course of a year, Macaulay Culkin became a huge star, and that was unexpected,” said Columbus. “It’s not like ‘Harry Potter,’ where you know that it may be extraordinarily successful. … I came from a working-class family, and I’ve seen it a couple of times with kids when you see someone who comes from a working-class family, and suddenly they’re thrown into — the kid becomes the breadwinner for the family.”
When Chris Columbus worked with Macaulay Culkin on the Home Alone movies, he knew nothing about the actor’s home life. The Saved! star has spoken before about the physical and emotional abuse he suffered from his father, Kit Culkin. Achieving instant fame probably came with a lot of demands and pressures not good for Culkin’s upbringing. This was why Columbus wanted the Harry Potter stars to come from good homes and that they “knew what they were getting into.”
“That’s the rest of your life as a child star. That’s gonna be your legacy, and you have to learn how to live with that.”
What’s going on with the Harry Potter TV series casting?
Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint became the lucky actors cast as Harry, Hermione, and Ron. As for this generation’s trio for the HBO Harry Potter series, casting is still up in the air. All we know is Warner Bros. TV made a diverse casting call for new actors from ages 9-11 based in the UK and Ireland.
Whoever will embody the new Wizarding World trio will have their lives changed just like the film series did. You can expect to see the new fantasy TV series on HBO in 2026. You can also watch Chris Columbus’ interview with Demi Lovato in Child Star streaming on Hulu.
