Harry Potter: No, Daniel Radcliffe's Scream in the Fifth Movie Wasn't Cut Because It Was 'Too Intense’
“Damn, this take was so real and intense it sent shivers down my spine. Let’s not use it in the final movie and cut it out so no one will see it,” said no director ever.
Harry Potter as a franchise has always been surrounded by countless myths and speculations, and while some of them die off after being disproved, others stick around for years. They stick around for years, and people keep repeating them over and over again on various forums and in discussions, and we can’t take it anymore.
We’ve all heard the take that Daniel Radcliffe’s scream was cut from The Order of the Phoenix movie because it was “too intense,” right?
We’re talking about the scene of Sirius Black’s death, of course: as his Godfather falls through the Veil, Harry screams at the top of his lungs — and in the movie, his scream was muted.
One too many Potterheads seriously believe that the reason for that was the raw intensity of Daniel’s scream. Like, that the director simply complied with international humanitarian laws and spared the viewers all the drama. But think about it for a second: what director in their right mind would cut such a brilliant shot from their movie?
Not only does this take have no evidence, but it also has evidence of the opposite. Here’s how David Yates, the director of the movie, explained the scene during the special 50 Greatest Harry Potter Moments. Let’s count every time he says “intense.”
"I wanted [the scene] to feel quite operatic. That’s why it’s slowed down. And yeah, I wish I'd slowed it down even more, actually. In hindsight, I sort of wanted to really milk it,” the director said.
When it comes to the scream itself, there are some myths about Daniel shouting so desperately because one of his relatives died that morning. Well, let’s see.
“[Gary Oldman] came up to me and said, ‘Do you mind if we get a bit intense?’ And then he came towards me. I thought he was going to hold me, but he shook me and screamed at me! So hard that when he let me go, I almost fell. I wanted to go crawl up in a fetal position. And then he said, ‘Throw your head back and scream.’ And it worked,” Radcliffe explained.
As you can see, there are no extra layers to this scene. Daniel Radcliffe screamed the way he did because of his elder colleague’s “shock therapy,” and the scene itself was slowed down and muted as David Yates wanted it to feel operatic.
There’s never been anything more to it.
Source: 50 Greatest Harry Potter Moments