Daniel Radcliffe 'a brother' to Harry Potter stunt double paralysed on set

14 November 2023 , 00:01

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Daniel Radcliffe’s stunt double speaks about being paralysed after Harry Potter film (Image: SKY)

Daniel Radcliffe’s Harry Potter stunt-double has told how the actor has remained a close friend and “brother” ever since the on-set accident which left him paralysed 14 years ago.

David Holmes, a working class lad from Essex, was 25 when he was horrifically injured in a stunt which went wrong during the making of the penultimate movie.

Now he has told his story in documentary David Holmes: The Boy Who Lived which examines the pair’s close friendship along with the full impact of the accident. It happened in January 2009 as Holmes practised a stunt for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 which aimed to replicate a snake attack by pulling him backwards into a wall with a wire. In the event, too many weights were added and the wire yanked him too quickly, breaking his neck instantly.

David Holmes, left in brown jumper, who doubled for Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe, was severely injured rehearsing a flying scene which involved him being strapped into a harness and propelled through the air. (Daily Mirror)

Holmes, now 40, says he and Radcliffe, 37, remain extraordinarily close, having each been plucked from obscurity at a young age to film the Harry Potter movies from 2000. “Whether that was us going on holidays together in our teenage years or when I go out and spend time with him in New York, it’s that sense of ‘I’m just your mate’. We grew up together, and then he grew to be one of my best friends and has been ever since.”

And he added: “I *love* him. I’m so proud of him. You think of how many child stars don’t make it through that pressure, that whirlwind.” In the 90-minute special, Radcliffe explains the vast number of action scenes that his friend, a gymnast from Essex who was selected for stunt work aged 11, filmed over the years.

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“Every time you see someone blasted and hitting a wall, that was Dave,” he says, confessing that he thought he was “the coolest kid I’d ever seen”. Permanently paralysed from the chest down, Holmes has managed to stay positive despite what he has been through. “I will always say breaking my neck made a man of me,” he said.

Daniel Radcliffe has now produced a documentary about David for HBO (HBO)

He gained renewed hope a year ago when he started a relationship with Rosie from Sheffield, who was left with severe disabilities following a car crash at 19. “She’s beautiful. She’s all woman,” he said. “I fell in love with her over words on email."

Just 17 when he started on the Potter movies, Holmes has undergone multiple operations since the accident and faces more physical challenges in the future, but he actively chooses to avoid self-pity.

“Mum wanted to get answers, someone to blame,” he recalled. “But what would that achieve? I met people that were in hospital with huge disabilities because of some really horrendous acts done by others, from terrorist attacks or hate crimes. I had to accept the fact that I did a risky job and I needed to own that very early. Me finding the hate and blame, or feeling a victim, doesn’t change my situation.”

After the accident he spent months in hospital coming to terms with being confined to a wheelchair. Having made his living from his physical abilities, the stuntman admits he does miss his old life. “I wouldn’t be human if I didn’t have regrets,” he said. “I’d do 30 years in prison if I could do a handstand again. But around my stunt career and around my contribution to the Potters, no. I had the best job in the world and I’m part of something really beautiful, and you can’t ask for more than that as a legacy.”

He recalls the job he loved as “the best any young man could ask for” and says he hopes people will feel inspired by the documentary. “If anyone can take something from my film, it’s understanding that we’re all on borrowed time and that we make the most of it.”

* David Holmes: The Boy Who Lived is on Sky Documentaries and Now from 18 November

Nicola Methven