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Harry Potter stunt double who was paralyzed on set blew all of his money while trying to impress girls
Home>Film & TV>News
Published 14:18 13 Nov 2023 GMT

Harry Potter stunt double who was paralyzed on set blew all of his money while trying to impress girls

David Holmes reflected on being a teenager with a 'well-paid job'.

Niamh Shackleton

Niamh Shackleton

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Featured Image Credit: Sky

Topics: Harry Potter, UK News, Documentaries, Sex and Relationships, Money

Niamh Shackleton
Niamh Shackleton

Niamh Shackleton is an experienced journalist for UNILAD, specialising in topics including mental health and showbiz, as well as anything Henry Cavill and cat related. She has previously worked for OK! Magazine, Caters and Kennedy.

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@niamhshackleton

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David Holmes has reflected on his spending habits as a teen working as a stunt double on Harry Potter.

The former stuntman has a documentary about his life and work coming out soon, titled David Holmes: The Boy Who Lived.

Holmes was Daniel Radcliffe's stunt double for a decade - with the pair first working together on the franchise's debut movie, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

But Holmes' stuntman career came to an abrupt end after suffering severe injuries while filming Deathly Hallows: Part 1.

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Holmes was propelled with too much force during a scene and was left with a fractured neck. He was also left paralysed from the waist down.

The synopsis for HBO's The Boy Who Lived reads: "The film is a coming-of-age story of stuntman David Holmes, a prodigious teenage gymnast from Essex, England, who is selected to play Daniel Radcliffe’s stunt double in the first Harry Potter film, when Daniel is just eleven.

"Over the next ten years, the two form an inextricable bond, but on the penultimate film a tragic accident on set leaves David paralysed with a debilitating spinal injury, turning his world upside down.

"As Daniel and his closest stunt colleagues rally to support David and his family in their moment of need, it is David’s extraordinary spirit of resilience that becomes their greatest source of strength and inspiration."

And ahead of the documentary airing, Holmes chatted to UNILAD about his life and reflected on being a teenager with a 'well-paid job' before his life-changing accident.

David Holmes pictured on the set of Harry Potter with Tom Felton.
Instagram/davidholmes83

Joking that he spent his money on 'sex, drugs and sausage rolls', Holmes told UNILAD: "I was like we all were in the generation of men.

"[You are] just trying to work out what it is to be a man and to identify with masculinity. "

He went on: "On reflection now, looking back, we have to accept that maybe misogyny might be a default of men in my generation because of the society that we grew up in at the time.

"I've done it all and I've even made mistakes trying to recover that life post injury."

Daniel Radcliffe and David Holmes created a close bond after working together for 10 years.
Sky

Holmes added that he was 'a 17-year-old stuntman with a well-paid job working on the biggest film franchise in British film industry' and, with that in mind, tried to 'behave but misbehave'.

The 42-year-old even admitted to a time when he went round Newcastle in the UK, telling all the girls he was a Harry Potter stuntman while out drinking.

"I got myself in trouble a few times," Holmes chuckled.

"It's all part of my journey and my growth.

"I made mistakes trying to recover that sense of life, post injury, you know, but at the same time now I'm very much in a different headspace."

David Holmes: The Boy Who Lived will be available on Sky Documentaries and streaming service NOW from November 18 for UK audiences.

Additional reporting by Jess Battison.

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