Daniel Radcliffe has recently met up with David Holmes, his stunt double who was paralyzed on the set of Harry Potter.
In 2023 it was announced that Radcliffe was set to produce a documentary shedding light on the remarkable journey of Holmes following the tragic incident.
Holmes’s life was forever altered when a planned stunt involving an explosion went awry, leaving him paralyzed from the chest down due to a debilitating spinal injury.
“I remember straight after breaking my neck, I said, ‘There’s no chance of coming back,'” Holmes, 42, said in the trailer. “Before my accident, everything was about being cool and being a stuntman. Now it’s about being present. I have so much love in my life.”
During the time of the incident, Holmes was actively involved in the production of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1.
He reflects on the rollercoaster of life experiences, stating: “I’ve had such a crazy life. Such highs and such lows. But I was able to find the light in the darkest of places.”
Holmes and Radcliffe have remained close friends following the accident, with the pair reuiniting recently.
“I was fortunate enough to have a wonderful day yesterday catching up with Dan, not only was it a great day catching up with one of my best friends but it is such a joy it is to see him smashing it as a father,” Holmes wrote on Instagram.
During the visit, Radcliffe signed copies of Holmes’ book, which will be auctioned for charity. Holmes also noted they discussed film, TV, and shared music discoveries, and were joined by Marc Mailley, who took over stunt double duties in the later Harry Potter films.
Radcliffe, who is an executive producer of the documentary David Holmes: The Boy Who Lived, continues to maintain close relationships with Holmes and other cast members.
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During the documentary, Radcliffe talks about his close bond with Holmes, describing him as a “cool older brother” who willingly tackled the most perilous physical challenges on set.
“This terrible thing happened to Dave, but I don’t want to talk as if his life is a tragedy,” says the 34-year-old Radcliffe. “The way his life has affected the lives of people around him means that it is the furthest thing from that imaginable.”
The Hollywood star – who launched the Cunning Stunts podcast with the ex-stuntman in 2020 – previously opened up about his friendship with Holmes in an interview with the Daily Mirror in 2017.
“I’ve got a relationship that goes back many, many years with Dave,” he said in 2017. “And I would hate for people to just see me and Dave and go, ‘Oh, there’s Daniel Radcliffe with a person in a wheelchair’ – because I would never, even for a moment, want them to assume that Dave was anything except for an incredibly important person in my life.”
