One of the things about book-to-screen adaptations that fans will likely never fully agree on is whether the actors are exactly right for the characters they're portraying. The topic of Harry, Ron and Hermione's casting for the original Harry Potter movies is tricky, I think, because on one hand, none of the actors cast for the roles perfectly fit the description, and yet, it's hard to imagine anyone else playing them. But what did J.K. Rowling think about Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint when she first met them? Apparently, she thought they were all too good-looking, but there's more to it than that.
As of this writing, I have just over an hour left of the final Harry Potter full-cast edition audiobook to listen to, and then I'll be sad it's over all over again (possibly sadder than I was while listening to that one scene in Book 6). Listening to Audible's new full-cast editions of J.K. Rowling's beloved, magical series has made me a bit nostalgic about the movies, which is how I ended up poking around in the bonus features of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. It was there that I came across the interview Daniel Radcliffe and J.K. Rowling did with each other in the 2012 bonus feature, which includes the conversation they had about her first impressions of him, Grint and Watson when they were cast to play their characters. On that subject, she started with:
To be honest, you and Rupert and Emma are all too good-looking. Frankly. You are. The characters were geeky, and you...
While there are definitely differences between Harry and Radcliffe (like their eye color), and Ron and Grint, the differences between Watson and Hermione might be brought up the most. Hermione is described as having big teeth and bushy hair in the book. While the movies did seem to try to add some volume to her hair in the first two, let's face it, Emma Watson has always been beautiful.
Rowling brought up meeting Watson for the first time, and she prefaced this by saying it was lucky she'd met her over the phone beforehand, because it sounds like Watson exuded Hermione energy during that conversation, but didn't quite look how the writer envisioned her character. Here's how Rowling described both interactions, starting with the phone conversation:
She said to me, 'I've only ever acted in school drama plays before and God, oh my God, I'm so nervous, I can't believe I got the part.' And spoke for like 60 seconds at least without drawing breath, and I just said, 'Emma, you're perfect.' And then when I met her and she was this very beautiful -- which she still is, of course -- beautiful girl. I just had to go, 'Ok, it's film, you know, deal with it. I'm gonna still see my gawky, geeky, ugly duckling Hermione in my mind.'
If you're a fan of the books, you know that Hermione's appearance at the Yule Ball in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is a total glow-up. She had her teeth shrunken down a bit (following a mean spell cast on her by Malfoy that elongated them), and went to extra lengths to tame her hair for the big dance. Radcliffe brought this scene up with Rowling during their conversation, specifically questioning if they shot themselves in the foot for this scene in the movie, since she was already beautiful, to which Rowling agreed with a laugh:
Big deal. Now she's a beautiful girl in a beautiful dress. Putting her in Fair Isle sweaters in the first film didn't make her ugly.
Of course, Hermione was never described as ugly in the books, and Rowling made that clear by adding:
Not that Hermione in the books is ever ugly, but it was quite a big deal for me that I had written, you know, a strong female character who was primarily about brain, and that she chose to become a little more groomed and glamorous, as us geeks do at a certain point in our lives. I accepted it. Emma's a great actress and I loved her as a person, and I felt there were so many connections between her and Hermione, that it didn't matter that she was beautiful, come on.
I think it's interesting what she said about the character having the choice to "become a little more groomed and glamorous." From how she put it, this was intentional for the character in the book, but I think we can all agree that it gets lost in the movie.
Hermione being a geeky girl who's brave, smart and vital to the success of so much that happens in the story is what makes her such a great character, and that's more than enough. If I recall correctly, she was actually a bit put off by how much work it took to get her hair fixed up, which seems very on brand for the character. She can make herself look glamorous if she wants to, but it's not going to be her top priority. Still, as Rowling said, "it's a film." She'll continue to see the character as she does in her imagination, the same way we can when we read the books if we want.
As much as I would've loved to see Hermione get a true glow-up in the movies, it's not a major game-changer for the plot that the film's Hermione is beautiful from the start. However, I do appreciate Rowling's sentiment here, particularly as she sounds more than satisfied with how Emma Watson played the role.
Fans already have takes about the casting for the upcoming Harry Potter TV show. And there will undoubtedly be more opinions once the series premieres this holiday season. In the meantime, I strongly encourage you to give the new Audible full-cast audiobooks a shot if you're a fan of the books and/or love audiobooks. I've had so much fun listening to them. It's almost like getting to experience the story all over again.
