Twenty-five years ago three children filed into a room full of camera crews and sat at a table set up with microphones, glasses of water and bowls of sweets, to face the world’s press.
Mere muggles, they were about to be swept into a magical universe that would catapult them to global stardom and make them multi-millionaires.
Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint – then aged 11 – would go on to bring the magic of Hogwarts to life as Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley in the blockbuster film franchise of JK Rowling’s wizarding world.
A lot has happened since that press conference in August 2000, when only four out of the seven Harry Potter books had been published.
But it may be of particular interest to another trio of muggles, who are about to have their otherwise ordinary lives go up in smoke – as if by magic.
This week Dominic McLaughlin, Arabella Stanton and Alastair Stout were unveiled as the children picked to play Harry, Hermione and Ron in the hotly anticipated TV adaptation of the series.
Uncannily like their predecessors in both appearance (just look at that red hair) and, as the Mail has learned, experience and background, they were chosen from more than 32,000 children who sent in audition clips in the hope of landing roles in a series set to be every bit as popular – and lucrative – as the original.
The rumour mill suggests the HBO show could cost a staggering £75million an episode to produce, although this week that was reported to be a slightly more modest £12million. But the investment is in line with expectations that it will bring in much, much more.
No wonder then that there is speculation the three child actors could land themselves even bigger fortunes than the original stars, with estimates that they are being paid at least £1million per series to begin with, rising to £10million to £20million each by the end of the seventh season.
For Radcliffe, Watson and Grint, their bank balances remain in astonishingly good shape, 14 years after they finished filming the last instalment. According to this year’s Sunday Times Rich List, Radcliffe is estimated to be worth £100million, Watson more than £60million and Grint north of £40million.
How far they have all come since that initial press conference. Back then, Watson was asked about how things might change. ‘I don’t want to change,’ she declared, before confessing: ‘So far it’s sort of turned things upside down.’
Given how superstardom took over their childhoods, that was an understatement. Our three new stars will doubtless have been cautioned about the exciting, but life-changing, whirlwind that lies ahead.
HBO has certainly taken a different approach with announcing its cast, perhaps mindful that for the original three fame came with not only riches but pitfalls.
Radcliffe, now 35, has been open about using alcohol as a coping mechanism in his teens. Watson, also 35, has spoken of going to therapy to help with the side-effects of fame. So, unlike their predecessors, McLaughlin, Stanton and Stout haven’t yet been properly introduced to the public.
Instead, the casting news was delivered in a brief press release and social media post from HBO, in which only their names were revealed.
There was a single photo of the trio. No press conferences and no tricky questions.
Yet while they might not have contended with such exposure before, these actors are already accustomed to success.
Take Arabella Stanton, who recently turned 11 and is in the final year of primary school. She has already had a starring role as the eponymous schoolgirl lead in Matilda The Musical.
Her West End debut was in September 2023, which she celebrated by standing next to a balloon creation bearing the words ‘keep shining, you’ve got this’.
Clearly cut out for stardom, one review of her performance gushed: ‘I’ve seen many child actors in theatre, but Stanton is simply mesmerising… A star in the making, to say the least.’
Arabella’s parents Melanie and Dan are lawyers as, coincidentally, are the parents of Emma Watson.
Her maternal grandfather is also a lawyer, while her paternal grandparents are both physiotherapists. The family live in a modern detached home near Woking in Surrey, and as well as performing, Arabella plays the clarinet, swims, plays hockey and enjoys skiing and horse-riding.
There was a blanket no comment from organisations Arabella is involved with this week – she has one-on-one singing lessons, attends dance school and takes musical theatre classes at two institutions, as well as masterclasses with another company – indicating the HBO publicity machine is carefully managing the exposure of their new stars.
Her father, meanwhile, very politely, declined to comment on his daughter’s success.
Playing Harry is Dominic McLaughlin, a Scottish schoolboy who has a similar stage school pedigree behind him. It’s thought his parents are a lawyer and a doctor. Dominic’s impressive CV includes an appearance opposite star Ralph Fiennes in Macbeth.
He’s also already chalked up his first movie role, in an upcoming Sky film titled Grow starring Alan Carr and Nick Frost.
The Performance Academy Scotland, near Glasgow, where he trained for five years, shared the news of his success this week, writing: ‘This one is MAGICAL! We said from the start that Dominic was the perfect Harry and we are thrilled for everyone else to see this soon too.’
The least experienced of the trio is Alastair Stout, 11, whose most prominent role appears to have been in an advert for Albert Bartlett’s Jersey Royal potatoes.
He grew up in the Salford suburb of Worsley, where he is a long-standing student at the 3Two1 Theatre school.