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Who Plays Lord Voldemort In Harry Potter

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Albania Was An Important Place To Voldemort Before He Hid There In The Wake Of The First Wizarding War

Ralph Fiennes Talks Voldemort And The Final Harry Potter

Most fans probably remember that the bodiless remains of Voldemort hid in an Albanian forest to regain strength after he was defeated by baby Harry in the First Wizarding War.

He also returned to the same forest after his host body, Professor Quirrell, was killed in “Sorcerer’s Stone.”

Although it is never exactly revealed why Voldemort chose that location as a hiding place, it does hold a certain significance to him. The first time visited Albania his mission was to retrieve the lost diadem of Rowena Ravenclaw which her daughter Helena had revealed to be hidden in a forest there in order to create one of his seven Horcruxes.;

A Horcrux is a powerful, dark object that contains a piece of a witch or wizard’s soul and keeps that soul fragment alive regardless of their body’s fate.;

Ralph Fiennes Took Ages To Be Persuaded To Play Voldemort In Harry Potter

Let’s all thank his sister.

Ralph Fiennes has played many major movie characters, but he’ll always be remembered for the evil Lord Voldemort in the Harry Potter series.

It almost never happened though, and all Potterheads should be thanking the actor’s sister, who convinced him;to sign up for the career-defining role.

“I took ages to be persuaded to do Harry Potter and I have no regrets at all,” Fiennes told Metroabout putting pen to paper for the franchise.

“I didn’t know the books. I had seen the first Harry Potter film and I didn’t feel that sort of material was something that appealed to me.”

He continued: “But then my sister rang me up and said, ‘They’ve asked you to play Voldemort. Do you not realise how big this is?’

“She has children who were reading Harry Potter, so suddenly I became aware.”

But the actor has now said it’s “the end of the road for bad guys” after playing the Dark Lord, and he’s;told his agents “no more bad guys”.

“I just didn’t want to play malign spirits. I’d had enough,” Fiennes said.

“I lost interest in going, ‘Try to see it from their point of view, they’re not really bad, they’ve got a good side.”

Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe recently revealed that he was “genuinely scared” by Fiennes when they were shooting the Potter movies.

“I remember when I was 15 doing scenes with Ralph for the first time. He was even scarier than Alan was at first,” Radcliffe said.

He Almost Turned The Role Down Of Voldemort

It goes without saying that Ralph Fiennes is an extremely established and talented actor, one who’s appeared in everything from The English Patient to Maid in Manhattan. In retrospect, it’s obvious that he’d be a great choice to play the dynamic yet heartless villain of the Potter series, but believe it or not, he almost didn’t step into Lord Voldemort’s imposing shoes at all.

In the spring of 2019, Fiennes admitted to Digital Spy‘s Jonathan Ross that he very nearly said no to the role, mostly thanks to the fact that he wasn’t familiar with the Potter books or films up until that point. For an actor who’s appeared in legendary films like Schindler’s List, he probably thought a children’s series wouldn’t be of much interest to him, but ultimately, his sister talked him into taking the role. After all, she had three kids and knew what a big deal Harry Potter was.;Audiences around the world are lucky that Fiennes has younger relatives, or we might never have seen his frightening yet cheeky take on Tom Riddle.

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His Greatest Fear Was His Own Death

Boggarts are magical shape-shifters that transform into whatever a witch or wizard fears the most.

In a 2005 interview with the fan site Mugglenet, Rowling said that Voldemort’s greatest fear is “ignominious death,” and if he ever encountered a boggart, he would probably see his own lifeless body.

Even without this insight, it is clear that Voldemort does everything in his power including fragmenting his soul seven times throughout the series to live up to his name and beat death.;

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He And Harry Were Related

The actor who plays Voldemort is gorgeous in real life

The invisibility cloak that Harry used to sneak around Hogwarts undetected played a key role in many of the events that took place throughout the series. It was not until Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows though that fans learned its true origins. The cloak had been handed down from generation to generation before finding itself in Harry’s possession;but its original owner was;Ignotus Peverell.

This might not seem too significant;at first glance,;not until one realizes;that Voldemort’s family had a similar heirloom, that is. The Gaunt family’s resurrection stone once belonged to;Cadmus Peverell which suggests that Voldemort and Harry were actually related. This means that the pair were not only connected by fate and prophecy, but also by blood.

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Rowan Atkinson Could Have Been An Interesting Bad Guy

The big, bad boogeyman in the Harry Potter universe throughout all the films was obviously Lord Voldemort. The man who killed Harry Potter’s parents, countless other wizards, and tried to kill Harry himself was a constant, looming presence in the movies, even when he didn’t actually show up on screen. But when he did, he was scary. And in an alternate universe, Lord Voldemort would have been played by someone super unexpected.

According to The Guardian, back in 2006, comedic actor Rowan Atkinson was actually rumored to have signed on to play none other than Lord Voldemort. Yes, the same man who played Mr. Bean was reportedly ready to “broaden his range and jumped at the chance to play Potter’s shadowy nemesis,” per The Guardian. Of course, that didn’t actually happen as Voldemort was eventually played by Ralph Fiennes, who certainly brought a dark and frightening presence to the big screen in his portrayal of the Dark Lord. Still, it’s pretty entertaining to think about Mr. Bean as a murderous and vengeful wizard.

The Death Eaters Were Almost Called The Knights Of Walpurgis

During his school years, Tom Riddle formed a group of friends he was able to manipulate to do his bidding. Many of these friends went on to become his loyal band of Death Eaters during the First Wizarding War and beyond.;

In an interview with the BBC, Rowling revealed that she had originally planned to call the group the “Knights of Walpurgis.” After all these years, she’s even kept a scrap of paper referencing that name in case she ever decides to use it.

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Hugh Grant Could Have Played This Professor In The Harry Potter Movies

In the second Harry Potter movie, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry and his friends return to Hogwarts and meet Professor Gilderoy Lockhart. The role was filled by Kenneth Branagh, but it was originally offered to Hugh Grant.

Unfortunately, Grant had to say no. “Sadly Hugh had to turn down the part because he’s committed to doing a movie with Sandra Bullock next February,” his agent, Karin Smith, said, according to The Guardian. The movie was described;as a “project will star Bullock as a ditzy lawyer and Grant as her impossibly wealthy, hopelessly charming boss,” so it seems likely that that film turned out to be Two Weeks Notice, which was released in 2002.;

Obviously, Two Weeks Notice is a great romantic comedy, so it remains to be seen whether or not Grant regrets not taking the role of Professor Gilderoy Lockhart. But hey, at least the world got a great rom-com out of it.

Harry Potter And The Cursed Child

Why 5 Different Actors Played Voldemort – Harry Potter Explained
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
Promotional poster

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is a 2016 British two-part play written by Jack Thorne based on an original story by J. K. Rowling, John Tiffany, and Thorne.Previews of the play began at the Palace Theatre, London, on 7 June 2016, and it premiered on 30 July 2016. The play opened on Broadway on 21 April 2018 at the Lyric Theatre, with previews starting on 16 March 2018. Its cast is similar to that of the first year in the West End, with returning actors Anthony Boyle, Sam Clemmett, Noma Dumezweni, Poppy Miller, Jamie Parker, Alex Price, and Paul Thornley.

The story begins nineteen years after the events of the 2007 novel Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and follows Harry Potter, now Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement at the Ministry of Magic, and his younger son, Albus Severus Potter, who is about to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The play is marketed as the eighth story in the Harry Potter series.

In June 2021, the production team announced that the play would be re-staged as a single show for future performances on Broadway beginning in November 2021, as well the San Francisco and Toronto productions beginning in 2022. The existing two-part play will continue to be staged in London, Melbourne and Hamburg. Other details regarding the single-part version, such as length, have yet to be released.

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Magical Abilities And Skills

Rowling establishes Voldemort throughout the series as an extremely powerful, intelligent, and ruthless dark wizard, described as the greatest and most powerful Dark Wizard of all time. He is known as one of the greatest Legilimens in the world and a highly accomplished Occlumens; he can read minds and shield his own from penetration. Besides Dumbledore, he is also the only wizard ever known to be able to apparate silently. Voldemort was also said to fear one wizard alone, Dumbledore.

On her website, Rowling wrote that Voldemort’s wand is made of yew, whose sap is poisonous and which symbolises death. It forms a deliberate contrast to Harry’s wand, which is made of holly, which she chose because holly is alleged to repel evil.

Rowling establishes in the books that Voldemort is magically connected to Harry via Harry’s forehead scar. He disembodies himself when his Killing Curse targeting Harry rebounds on him, leaving the scar on Harry’s forehead. In the books, and to a lesser extent in the films, Harry’s scar serves as an indicator of Voldemort’s presence: it burns when the Dark Lord is near or when Voldemort is feeling murderous or exultant. According to Rowling, by attacking Harry when he was a baby Voldemort gave him “tools no other wizard possessedthe scar and the ability it conferred, a magical window into Voldemort’s mind”.

Fiennes Didn’t Spend Much Time In The Makeup Chair

Considering that the original Potter film franchise spanned an entire decade and ran for a whopping eight films , you might think that once Fiennes made his debut in Goblet of Fire, he would’ve spent most of his time prepping to become Lord Voldemort, with all the makeup and prosthetics.

However, thanks to Voldemort’s relatively low profile throughout the final books in order to prevent the wizarding world at large from realizing he’s returned, he remains largely quiet until he stages a successful coup of the Ministry of Magic in Deathly Hallows; Fiennes only had the makeup applied around 60 to 70 times, many of which were for the final two films. Really, that makes a whole lot of sense. Voldemort doesn’t appear at all in the sixth book or movie , and with only a brief cameo in the previous installment, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, it checks out that Fiennes didn’t have to spend an inordinate amount of time sitting in hair and makeup. And honestly, when he does show up on-screen, it’s clear the makeup crew did a magical job.

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He Probably Could’ve Gotten A Job At The Ministry Of Magic

As one of the top students in his class, Tom Riddle was bound to have many opportunities presented to him after finishing at Hogwarts.

In his final year, Professor Slughorn offered to set him up with job interviews by using his connections at the Ministry of Magic.

Instead, after getting rejected for the Defense Against the Dark Arts position at Hogwarts, Riddle went to work at Borgin and Burkes antique shop. It was this job that gave him the opportunity to acquire both Salazar Slytherin’s locket and Helga Hufflepuff’s cup, which he turned into Horcruxes.

Actors Who Almost Starred In Harry Potter

Voldemort

If you grew up watching or reading Harry Potter, then the series probably holds some nostalgic feelings for you still. A coming-of-age tale about a group of kids taking on a group of evil wizards to protect the school they love and the future of the wizarding world? Talk about an interesting story. But when the first Harry Potter movie came out in 2001, who could have known just how lucrative it would be?

Seriously, with so many Harry Potter films out there, it’s hard to imagine who would ever turn down a role in a franchise so successful. But there are quite a few actors who initially said no to the series or who simply didn’t land the role in the fantasy movies that they wanted. Yes, the list of actors who almost starred in Harry Potter might surprise you, because, if they’d been cast, the movies and their characters might have been totally different!

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He’s Been Nominated For Two Oscars

With such a list of iconic characters on Ralph Fiennes’ resume, one would think his home would be brimming with Academy Awards; some displayed on the mantle, others tucked neatly away in the closet for safekeeping, and perhaps one could be proudly situated on a side-table as a some sort of kitschy keychain holder. Alas, Fiennes has yet to win a gold statue,;although he’s been nominated twice.

Fiennes was nominated for best actor in a supporting role in;1994 for his unforgettable performance in Steven Spielberg’s;Holocaust drama;Schindler’s List. In the film, the actor;portrays Amon Goeth, the merciless SS commandant who delights in killing random concentration camp prisoners without remorse. “I felt a kind of sympathy for him,” Fiennes said of Goeth, talking to;The New York Times shortly after the film’s release. “In a way, if you are involved in dehumanizing other people, you yourself become dehumanized.”

Fiennes was also nominated for best actor in a leading role for the 1996 film;The English Patient, but he lost to Geoffrey Rush in Shine.;

Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows

In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Voldemort furthers his quest for ultimate power. He disposes of the Minister for Magic and replaces him with Pius Thicknesse, who is under the Imperius Curse. Establishing a totalitarianpolice state, he has Muggle-borns persecuted and arrested for “stealing magic” from the “pure blood” wizards. After failing to kill Harry with Draco’s father Lucius Malfoy‘s borrowed wand , he goes on a murderous search for the Elder Wand, the most powerful wand ever created, seeing it as the weapon he needs to overcome Harry’s wand and make him truly invincible. He goes on a quest that takes him out of the country to Gregorovitch‘s wand shop, where he kills the old wandmaker. His journey also takes him to Nurmengard, the prison where Gellert Grindelwald is kept, and he kills Grindelwald as well. He finally locates the Elder Wand and steals it from Dumbledore’s tomb.

Rowling stated that after his death, Voldemort is forced to exist in the stunted infant-like form that Harry sees in the King’s Cross-like Limbo after his confrontation with Voldemort in the Forbidden Forest. Rowling also mentioned that, despite his extreme fear of death, he cannot become a ghost.

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He Created An Army Of Corpses By Murdering Muggles

The books reveal that an Inferius is a corpse that’s been reanimated by dark magic.

Fans may recall the scene in “Half-Blood Prince” when a swarm of Inferi surrounds Dumbledore and Harry in the cave as they try to retrieve the locket Horcrux.;

What they may not know is that Voldemort by murdering vulnerable Muggles and reanimating their corpses.;

Nagini Was Integral To Voldemort’s Return To Power

RALPH FIENNES TALKS LORD VOLDEMORT’S ANGER INSPIRATION FOR HARRY POTTER

Nagini was the longtime serpent companion of Voldemort.

Though the exact date and location of their meeting are unknown, we do know that she was with him when he was regaining strength in Albania. Her venom was also part of a potion brewed by Peter Pettigrew that helped sustain his bodiless form.

Eventually, the snake became Voldemort’s final Horcrux after the murder of Bertha Jorkins.

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Voldemort Made His First Horcrux By Killing Moaning Myrtle While He Was A Student At Hogwarts

Making a Horcrux is a dark form of magic that requires a witch or wizard to take another’s life.

Tom Riddle created his first Horcrux by killing his fellow Hogwarts student Myrtle Warren, who’s known as Moaning Myrtle.;

After the murder, the part of his soul that split entered a diary that eventually possessed Ginny Weasley and made her reopen the Chamber of Secrets at Hogwarts during Harry’s second year.;

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