How Did They Fare in Muggle Movies? Quiz

Answer: Playing Allen Ginsberg, the poet

Daniel Radcliffe was born in 1989 and starred as Harry Potter in all eight movies. In each movie the young wizard has to face the most evil witches and warlocks, including You-Know-Who.
Before the Harry Potter series, Daniel had already played the young David Copperfield (the Dickensian boy, not the eponymous magician) in the TV mini series "David Copperfield" (1999).
After the "Harry Potter" movies, Daniel Radcliffe appeared in several movies, of which I would like to mention "Kill Your Darlings" - a biography of the American poet Allen Ginsberg. Radcliffe played the main role.
The red herrings refer to movies similar to the ones Radcliffe played in. He played Arthur Kipps in the horror movie "The Woman in Black" (2012), not the love story "The Woman in Red" (1984). Radcliffe played Wallace in "The F Word" (2013), not "The L Word" (also 2013). And he played Walter Mabry in "Now You See Me 2", not Thaddeus Bradley (role of Morgan Freeman).

Answer: Falling in love with a beast

Emma Watson was born in 1990. She started acting in the "Harry Potter" movies, and went on starring in various movies such as "The Bling Ring" (in which she played a young jewel thief) and "Beauty and the Beast" (a live action remake of the Disney animated movie).
Natalie Portman starred in "Black Swan", a movie based upon Tchaikowsky's ballet "Swan Lake".
Scarlet Johansson played Major in "Ghost in the Shell". Major was a female android preferring to fight fully nude, but Scarlet and her stunt doubles used a tight body suit in stead.
Jennifer Lawrence was the star in "The Hunger Games", where she would use her bow and arrows and knowledge of the wild nature to stay alive in an arena full of enemies.

Answer: With a anti-war movie that had little theatre release

Rupert Grint was born in 1988 and starred in all eight "Harry Potter" movies. In this series he played Ron Weasley, a young and rather shy wizard, and best friend of Harry Potter.
After the "Harry Potter" series, Rupert Grint played his first movie role in "Into the White" (2012), a Norwegian movie about three German and two British pilots who somehow had to survive together in the harsh Norwegian winter of 1941.
Adam Driver played Kylo Ren, the successor to Darth Vader in "Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens" (2015).
"Noah" (2014) by Darren Aronofsky introduced Douglas Booth as Shem, Logan Lerman as Ham and Leo McHugh Carroll as Japheth - the three sons of this biblical character.
The police officer offered as a red herring is John McClane, a role by Bruce Willis, in the movie "A Good Day to Die Hard" (2013).

Answer: Orthopaedic surgeon, carrier of Ebola

Bonnie Wright (born 1991) played the role of Ginny Weasley, the youngest child of the Weasley wizarding family. She appeared in all eight "Harry Potter" movies, although her part in the first movie was quite small.
"After the Dark" (2013) was a movie about a philosophy professor who assigned to his 20 adolescent pupils various occupations and characteristics. Then they should decide which ten students should survive a nuclear winter in an atomic shelter bunker, and who would not be worthy surviving...
Bonnie Wright played Georgina in "After the Dark", who got assigned the role of an orthopaedic surgeon who carried the Ebola virus and might cause an outbreak of the fatal disease.
The sterile carpenter was a role by Daryl Sabara. Chanelle Bianca Ho played the student assigned as a wine auctioneer with an immense IQ. Rhys Wakefield played the would-be gay farmer.

Answer: As a rugby player in "This Sporting Life"

Richard Harris was born in 1930. He started his movie career in 1958 with a minor role in "Alive and Kicking". His first major role was the rugby player Frank Machin in "This Sporting Life" (1963), for which he won a Best Actor Award in Cannes.
Harris portrayed headmaster Albus Dumbledore in the first two "Harry Potter" movies. He died in 2002 and his role was taken over by Michael Gambon.
King Henry II ("The Lion in Winter", 1968) was a role by Richard's good friend Peter O'Toole.
Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef and Eli Wallach played the title roles in "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" (1966).
Dick Van Dyke was the chimney sweep in "Mary Poppins" (1964).

Answer: As Kate in "The Tall Guy"

Emma Thompson, born in 1959, performed all these roles and many more. In the "Harry Potter" movies, she played the Divination teacher, Sybil Trelawney - a character who seems almost always utterly confused, and repeatedly predicting the death of Harry Potter. Of course these repeating prophecies are not fulfilled, but some other are...
Thompson first appeared in several sketches in the "Cambridge Footlights Revue" (1982), together with Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry. One sketch included Emma Thompson as an actress rehearsing her gratitude speech at the Oscars ceremony.
Her first movie roles were in 1989, as Jeff Goldblum's love interest in "The Tall Guy" and as Katherine de Valois in "Henry V", with her husband Kenneth Branagh in the title role.
Emma Thompson won her first Oscar as Best Actress in "Howards End" (1992), followed by an Oscar for the script of "Sense and Sensibility" (1995).
One of Emma Thompson's roles after the "Harry Potter" series was Mrs. Potts, the enchanted teapot in "Beauty and the Beast" (2017).

Answer: As Hans Gruber in "Die Hard"

Alan Rickman was born in 1946. After graduating from the Royal Academy of Arts and working a few years as graphic designer, he took acting lessons at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. In 1974 he graduated as a fully trained actor, and starred in works such as "The Seagull" by Chekhov and "Romeo and Juliet".
In 1978 he played Tybalt in the TV movie "Romeo and Juliet".
Rickman's first major Hollywood role was the villain Hans Gruber in "Die Hard" (1988).
In 1991 Rickman played the sheriff of Nottingham in "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves". Michael McShane played Friar Tuck.
Between 2001 and 2011 Rickman played the sinister professor Severus Snape in all eight "Harry Potter" movies. But he also found time for several other projects, such as voicing Marvin the Paranoid Android in the movie "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" (2005). In this movie Ford Prefect was voiced by hip-hop artist Mos Def (real name Yasiin Bey).
In 2014 Alan Rickman played King Louis XIV in "A Little Chaos" - not the king's garden architect André le Nôtre; that was a role for Matthias Schoenaerts.

Answer: As the title character in "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie"

Margaret Smith was born in 1934. She took up acting in 1952, on stage, on TV and at the movies.
On stage she starred in productions such as "Hedda Gabler" and won a Tony for "Lettice and Lovage" in 1990.
On TV, she starred as Violet Crawley, the protagonist in the TV series "Downton Abbey" (2010-2015). "Downton Abbey" gained her three Emmys.
Maggie Smith won an Oscar as Best Actress for "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" (1969), as a teacher who diverges from the strict curriculum. She also won an Oscar for her supporting role in the comedy "California Suite".
The red herrings were indeed roles Maggis Smith performed, but they didn't win her an Oscar. "Tea with Mussolini" (1999) gained her a BAFTA award. Maggie Smith and Judi dench were nominated for a European Film Award for "Ladies in Lavender" (2004). "The Second Best Marigold Hotel" (2015) was only nominated for the music score by the International Film Music Critics.
Dame Maggie Smith played professor Minerva McGonagall, teacher of Transfiguration, in seven out of the eight Harry Potter movies.

Answer: As Daniel in "Remembrance"

"Remembrance" (1982) was a movie about a group of Royal Navy students running amok on the eve before a six month stage in the USA. Oldman played a minor role in this movie.
Oldman did indeed play the roles of Sid Vicious, Rosencrantz and Ludwig van Beethoven in the movies offered as red herrings, but these were later on: "Sid and Nancy" dates from 1986, "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead" from 1990 and "Immortal Beloved" from 1994.
Gary Oldman played Sirius Black, Harry Potter's godfather, in four of the eight "Harry Potter" movies. He was nominated for an Oscar for his role as Smiley in "Tinker Taylor Soldier Spy" (2011).

Answer: As Lucy in "A Room With A View"

Helena Bonham Carter was born in 1966 and started acting in 1982. In 1983 she had a minor role in the TV movie "A Pattern of Roses".
In 1985 "A Room With A View" was released. Although it was the second movie shot with Helena Bonham Carter as leading lady, it was the first to hit the theatres - "Lady Jane Grey", her first movie, was released a few months later.
In "Room with a View", Helena played Lucy Honeychurch, a young and rather wealthy adolescent who travels through Italy. Lucy there meets George Emerson, a young and flamboyant boy. Back in England, Lucy has to choose between her boring but sociable fiancé Cecil and the bright but a bit quirky George.
Helena Bonham Carter did indeed play the Fairy Godmother in "Cinderella" (2015) and Mme. Thénardier in "Les Misérables" (2012). She also voiced Lady Campanula Tottington in the animated movie "The Curse of the Were-Rabbit" (2005).
In the "Harry Potter" franchise, Helena played Bellatrix Lestrange, the most evil servant of You-Know-Who. She appeared in four movies, starting with "The Order of the Phoenix" (2007).