David Holmes, Daniel Radcliffe’s Potter Stunt Double, In Play Of His Life

EXCLUSIVE: David Holmes, Daniel Radcliffe’s Harry Potter stunt double and close friend, has turned the story of his tragic accident during stunt tests for Deathly Hallows: Part One that left him paralyzed from the waist down into a stage play, Deadline can reveal.

The Boy Who Lived (the title comes from the first chapter of the first Harry Potter novel) is currently in development and has been workshopping all this week at the Olivier Award-winning Kiln Theatre in Kilburn, North West London.

Producer Paul Taylor-Mills tells us exclusively that The Boy Who Lived will premiere at the Kiln Theatre in 2027 and the plan is for Holmes to portray himself.

The production is based on director Dan Hartley’s 2023 HBO/Sky documentary David Holmes: The Boy Who Lived and on an account written by Holmes of his life before and after the accident at Leavesden Studios in January 2009. The memoir was published two years ago. It has been adapted for the stage by Philip Wilson, who will also direct. He’s a former artistic director of the Salisbury Playhouse Theatre.

Taylor-Mills says that he watched the documentary over two years ago during a flight and was struck by the positivity generating from the gymnast-turned-lead Radcliffe stunt double. Also by how Holmes’ family and many friends have helped in his recovery after countless operations, knowing there’s no going back to his former life.

The producer was also taken by Radcliffe’s warmth and deep friendship towards Holmes. Radcliffe not only appeared in the documentary, he was also an executive producer. “They’d been close, like brothers, and still are,” says Taylor-Mills.

He adds: “And it’s not pity porn, it’s about how when something so traumatic can happen in your life and then you still live and deal with it. He’s got this incredible very, very blue, very naughty sense of humour.”

As Taylor-Mills got to know Holmes, he suggested that he “be in it as himself.”

Taylor-Mills describes the show as “half stand-up comedy, half TED Talk, half My Son’s a Queer. We’re doing a workshop of it this week with David and the creative team at the Kiln and it’s with a view that we do it here next year.”

The development process has so far taken two years, much of that time taken up with wrapping up rights from HBO and Warner Bros plus seeking permissions from Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, Radcliffe, and Sue and Andy Holmes, David’s parents. Today’s workshop will be videoed and posted to relevant parties, including Radcliffe. 

In response to a question about Radcliffe’s involvement with the play, Taylor-Mills explains that the actor will receive a video of it “with a view that he’s hopefully involved.”

And would there be a “Radcliffe” character in the play? “TBC, TBC. Very much to be confirmed,” he answers. “It’s still being developed and written.”   

The HBO documentary is a remarkable film about plain, old-fashioned resilience. Following the accident, after months spent undergoing several operations at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, Holmes asked family and friends to “try and hope for me to be happy like I am, not happy like you want me to be.”

That level of stoicism and his “let’s get on with it” attitude is inspiring coming from someone who has endured 17 years of pain and discomfort.

Taylor-Mills says he was impressed by a moment in the film where Sue Holmes recalls a conversation she had with her son about whether they should take legal action. He told her: “Why mum? My life’s been ruined, why would I want to ruin anyone else’s life?”

After going through other scenes in the film, Taylor-Mills nods admiringly and says that “to have that level of wisdom and just generosity of spirit after something like that happens is … extraordinary.”

The play has a final workshop session today with Holmes portraying himself, with four actors around him playing his parents, and also the younger David when he was an acrobat. “It’s much more interactive than him there telling his story. And we’ll have moments where he looks back at some of the Harry Potter films and talks about how some of the stunts happened,” he explains.

“It’s about how one day you can go to work and then your life changes, and I was struck by his humility really. He is an incredible human being and the show will be peppered with funny stories about just how he lives now … he’s got this incredible outlook on life and I thought it was such an important story to be told,” Taylor-Mills says.

One important bonus of having the play premiere at the Kiln is that a few years ago the theatre and cinema complex was redeveloped with a big focus on accessibility front of house and backstage.