Derek Hough looks back on his Harry Potter debut

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To fill out the Hogwarts student body of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, the production recruited hundreds of kids from London-area theatre schools to occupy the four houses. One of those kids was Dancing with the Stars alum Derek Hough who, together with his sister Julianne, can be seen in the first movie. Here, Derek Hough talks about doing a scene with Emma Watson and trying to eat the Hogwarts food.

“We were at Pinewood Studios for three months. We attended school in these trailers, and then we just messed around and got into trouble. We’d have dance-offs during breaks in our full robes. We’d battle it out in between takes! I was a Ravenclaw. Since I was a blond kid, I would be a stand-in for Draco Malfoy. That was my claim to fame! Being young, it was pretty cool to see behind the scenes, but we’d also be there all day, so we’d get hungry. In the Great Hall they had all of that food, so we would try to eat it but then realize, ‘Oh, wait, it’s plastic.’ We were pretty disappointed.

“There’s a specific scene where Hermione is leaving for Christmas while carrying her suitcase. We pass in the hallway. I was holding an owl. That’s my big moment. I’m right in the camera’s viewpoint, so every time you look at Hermione, you can see me, clear as day.

“Julianne got to be in the Quidditch match scene. She had a crush on Daniel Radcliffe. She wrote him a love letter and sent him a teddy bear. They were like 12 years old.

“We only did the first film. Julianne and I were traveling and competing a lot. Sometimes when I meet kids, they don’t know me from Dancing with the Stars or from what I do, but if someone mentions I was in the first Harry Potter movie, they’re like, ‘What?? What character were you?’ I was the guy who walked across the scene for five seconds. Look, I’ll show a picture so I’m not lying! Then they have this look of utter disappointment because I was nobody special.“

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