After Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone premiered in theaters in 2001, fans were left with one burning question: How long would they have to wait before getting a follow-up? Luckily, the answer came quickly, because Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets debuted just one year later, in November 2002. The sequel offered deeper drama and bigger thrills than its predecessor, with its young stars (Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint) seeming more settled and self-assured in their roles. And two decades later, it’s still just as joyously entertaining to watch as ever.
Chamber of Secrets offered so much to Potter fans, from a wonderfully bumbling new teacher (Kenneth Branagh’s Gilderoy Lockhart) to that mesmerizing flying-car scene to the game-changing reveal of Tom Riddle as none other than Voldemort himself. But even if you’re one of the countless viewers who’s watched the film dozens of times over the past 20 years, there’s a lot you might not know about its magic, both on and off the screen.
To honor Chamber of Secrets’ big anniversary, we’ve rounded up 14 exciting pieces of trivia, from the Oscar winner who almost played Tom Riddle to the drama around Dobby looking just like a certain Russian leader (yes, really).
Rupert Grint Has Never Watched the Big Spider Scene
It’s fairly well known that Rupert Grint, much like his character Ron Weasley, suffers from arachnophobia. But did you know that the actor’s fear of spiders is so intense that he’s never watched the full scene in Aragog’s hollow? In the documentary Creating the World of Harry Potter, he admitted that he felt “uneasy” filming the scene with the giant spider, and when watching the movie in theaters, he found the sequence so “absolutely terrifying” that he couldn’t even look.
Jason Isaacs Wanted to Play Lockhart Instead
It’s hard to imagine anyone else but Jason Isaacs as Lucius Malfoy, but the actor almost skipped out on the role. He initially auditioned to play Gilderoy Lockhart, and when director Chris Columbus told him to try for Malfoy instead, he resisted, thinking it was too similar to his previous well-known role as Captain Hook in Peter Pan. “I thought, ‘Well, I don’t want to play two children’s villains,’” he said in the Return to Hogwarts reunion special. Luckily, he was convinced to sign on, and ended up expressing gratitude for the opportunity.
There’s a Theory That Dobby Was Based on Vladimir Putin
Yes, really. While it’s never been confirmed, there’s long been a rumor that the design for the house elf Dobby was based on none other than Russian leader Vladimir Putin. The resemblance is so uncanny that some Russian lawyers planned lawsuits against Warner Bros. for the character due to Putin finding it offensive, but the cases went nowhere.
Some of the Very Best Lines Were Improvised
While many of Chamber of Secrets’ best lines came straight from the book, some memorable quotes were actually improvised on the spot. Tom Felton came up with Malfoy’s “I didn’t know you could read” line to Harry-as-Goyle because he forgot the real line to say, but Columbus liked it so much, he kept it in. Later, the exchange between Lucius Malfoy and Harry in which the elder man says, “Let us hope Mr. Potter will always be around to save the day,” and Harry responds with “Don’t worry, I will be” was also improvised.
Eddie Redmayne Wanted to Play Tom Riddle
Although Eddie Redmayne is now best known to Potter fans as Newt Scamander from the Fantastic Beasts movies, he almost joined the franchise much earlier in the role of Tom Riddle. The then-college-age actor auditioned for the part but failed to get a callback, he revealed in an interview with Empire in 2016.
This Is the Only Harry Potter Movie With a Post-Credits Scene
Despite post-credits scenes being the norm for many big franchise films, Chamber of Secrets is actually the only installment in the Potter series to have one. In case you forgot, it was a quick scene that showed an advertisement for Who Am I?, the forthcoming book from a memory-addled Gilderoy Lockhart. But that was all we got!
A Cambridge Professor Created Parseltongue
To come up with the sounds and tones of Parseltongue, the language spoken by snakes, the Potter team hired Francis Nolan, a linguistics professor at the University of Cambridge. He created such a thorough language that J.K. Rowling had to make a guide to teach the actors how to speak it properly.
There Was a Big Home Alone Reference in the Movie
Chris Columbus is responsible for numerous childhood classics, including the first two Potter movies and both Home Alone and Home Alone 2. In a sweet tribute to the beloved Christmas films, the director included a scene in which Ron warns Harry about the spiders, just like Marv tries to warn Home Alone 2’s Harry about the pigeons.
The Set for The Chamber of Secrets Was the Franchise’s Biggest Ever
The Potter franchise featured many impressive sets over the years, from the Great Hall to the Quidditch pitch, but the one built for The Chamber of Secrets might be the most noteworthy of all. It was the series’ all-time biggest creation, measuring nearly 250 feet long and 120 feet wide.
The Cast and Crew Held a Funeral for Emma Watson’s Pet Hamster
How adorable is this? When Emma Watson’s pet hamster Millie died during production, the set department created a custom-made coffin just for the animal, and they had a funeral to honor her. “I don’t think a hamster has ever had a better send-off,” Watson said at an awards show years later.
Jason Isaacs Did the Basilisk’s Voice
As if the basilisk wasn’t scary enough! In addition to playing Lucius Malfoy, Jason Isaacs provided the creepy, hissing sound for the basilisk after Chris Columbus requested that he put his sizable voice-over skills to use. Speaking of voice work …
The Mandrake Screams Came From Babies and Women
To provide the baby mandrake plants with those ear-piercing noises, the movie’s sound editor combined two surprising sources. “For the sound, we started with a baby crying. A woman whose husband was working on the movie had a 1-month-old baby, and we recorded it in this little trailer inside one of the shooting stages,” said Randy Thom in an interview with Mix. “Then we combined that with some female screams to make it just exotic enough so that you think, ‘Hmm, I’ve never heard anything quite like that before.’”
There Was a Subtle Nod to The Half-Blood Prince You Probably Missed
Earlyish in the movie, the opal necklace that ends up playing a pivotal role in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince years later can be very briefly seen inside a display case in Borgin and Burkes, a shop in Knockturn Alley. Lest you forget, the necklace was cursed and used by Malfoy in a misguided attempt to assassinate Dumbledore.
It’s the Longest Movie in the Entire Series
Despite several later movies in the franchise having more plot and twists packed in, Chamber of Secrets has the longest running time of all, at a whopping 161 minutes (nearly three hours). Not every critic was in favor of this, with some complaining that it was excessively long, but at the end of the day, who can be mad at more Harry Potter?
Rachel Simon is a Raleigh, North Carolina-based writer who has contributed to The New York Times, Glamour, and Marie Claire. Follow her on Twitter @rachel_simon.
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