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A Harry Potter TV show cast member reveals why filming Season 1 was “brutal.” The show is scheduled to be released on HBO and HBO Max later this year in December. One of the cast members spoke out about the challenge of being on set, revealing that young actors had to put in long hours.
Why was filming the first season of the Harry Potter HBO Max TV show a brutal experience?
During an interview with Andre Pilli, Adriano Goldman, HBO’s cinematographer for the series, revealed that the main challenge during Season 1 was accommodating the child actors’ schedules. They had to study at school and adhere to specific rules regarding working hours and the number of working days.
He said, “You have to shoot really fast, and the faster you go, the more you compromise quality. There's no way around it, right? Obviously, we have a lot of resources, but it's brutal. The kids' screen time is really brutal. So the methodology is very specific. You practically have to pre-shoot all the scenes while they're in class.”
Goldman pointed out that Dominic McLaughlin, the actor who plays Harry Potter, plus Alastair Stout and Arabella Stanton, have a limited time to perform on set. That’s why the crew prepares every scene ahead of time and shoots it quickly.
He added, “It's really hard. You shoot everything out of order, right, because of that kind of scheduling. So the process is really complicated, but I've done one now."
The demanding schedule is also tied to the cast’s education requirements. According to a July 30, 2025 article by the BBC, Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden set up a temporary school for the production. Classrooms are arranged so that the young actors can continue their education despite the exhausting work schedule.
The temporary school can make space for up to 600 students during big shoots, though it usually serves only 150. It opens every day at 5:30 a.m. and closes at 8:30 p.m. This allows children to take classes between filming, re-shoots, and location work.
The Harry Potter TV series will air on HBO and HBO Max in the United States on December 25, 2026.
