It must be hard to resist taking souvenirs from a film set, especially if it’s a fantasy movie. All those uniquely tailored magical items! Jason Isaacs attempted to grab something for himself making the Harry Potter movies, but some security rumbled him.
“I once tried to take a copy of The Daily Prophet because there were thousands of them. I said I’d like one of those to director David Yates, who said, ‘No problem mate’,” he told Bang Showbiz, per CinemaBlend. “I put it in my bag and when I got to the gates, they said, ‘David said can he have it back.’ It was so embarrassing. So I got nothing.”
According to Isaacs, the odds of getting something were made considerably more difficult due to Alan Rickman who, at the start of the franchise, decided to pilfer Gringotts. “It was very difficult to steal things because Alan [Rickman] god love him, god rest his soul,” Isaacs says. “He nicked all of the Gringotts coins on the very first day he did, swiped in and out like a supermarket. I couldn’t get away with it.”
It appears that Rickman’s theft, while good enough on the day, had repercussions, even if there were many duplicates of the object in question. It sounds like Isaacs got nothing from his time as a Harry Potter character, which is a shame!
Alas, Rickman didn’t just sneak out a load of gold. He gave helpful advice to many of his younger co-stars. Rupert Grint, who played Ron Weasley, recalled that Rickman helped him to stop corpsing, feedback that he’s carried with him his entire career.
If you’d like to see what’s next for the Wizarding World, check out our guide to Fantastic Beasts 4.