 Robbie Jarvis talks playing James Potter, Marauders & being a great Harry Potter fan
Actor Robbie Jarvis, who portrayed a teenage James Potter in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, chatted with SnitchSeeker about working on the series, his thoughts on the fandom and the Marauders (books and film), Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and the upcoming Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them series, last month at Oz ComicCon.
Jarvis, a massive fan of the series itself, shared his thoughts about James and his friends in both screen and book, how he hopes the short Harry Potter two-page prequel featuring James and Sirius would be adapted to screen, and what he thinks of Fantastic Beasts' lead Eddie Redmayne. That, and much more, with Jarvis' interview with SnitchSeeker correspondent Rotae, can be read here.  SnitchSeeker: What do you think about the Marauders being cast a lot older in the films, and do you think it changed the way the characters were perceived by the audience?
Robbie Jarvis: (laughs) Yes, yes, do you know why they did that? So I was told, apparently they didn’t think the American audience would be able to wrap their heads around two parents in their twenties, with a son that was a teenager. Because obviously they died when he was a baby, and they thought that the audience wanted to see parents that were sort of commensurate to him, when he saw them in the Mirror of Erised, rather than sort of, “Oh! Well, there’s two twenty year olds, like, you know, a young couple, with a teenager”.
Yeah, but no, it is one of the questions I get asked more than anything; “Why was James so old?” I don’t know! Don’t ask me! You’re preaching to the choir! I’d have happily played him right the way through. But yeah, Adrian’s cool, so, I get why, but yeah. It’s one of those film things, like the Privet Drive house? They made it identical to all the other houses because apparently when Americans think of English houses, they think of them as being all like these cookie-cutter houses, like they’re all exactly the same, whereas you go over to the States, and all the houses they look all completely different. So yeah, it was an American audience thing, apparently.
SnitchSeeker: Like The Sorcerer’s Stone.
Robbie: Yeah! Exactly. Exactly like The Sorcerer’s Stone. It’s when marketing people get involved. Yeah, no, that’s why we ended up with a bunch of us being James as opposed to just the two twenty year old James and Lily. But hey! That’s how we ended up with Gary Oldman. Oh, no, because Gary Oldman would have been older. That’s the weird thing about it, because if you think about it, it would have made a really weird group. Because James would have been in his twenties, the age he was, and then you would have had Sirius and Remus being a lot older as well…
SnitchSeeker: In their thirties.
Robbie: Yeah, exactly, in their thirties.
SnitchSeeker: They’d be… 33? In Prisoner of Azkaban?
Robbie: Yeah, Azkaban, yeah, sure.
SnitchSeeker: Do you have any theories or headcanons about James that we don’t see in the films or books?
Robbie: Oh man. I mean, because we’ve only found out recently where the money came from. We were asked at one of these [cons], where we thought where Harry’s fortune came from, and we were kind of talking about how it was, you know, [James] working for the Department, or you know, whatever else he was doing, and some guy yelled out, “It was Snape’s lunch money!” and I was like (overs hands with face and looks embarrassed), “Oh man… it could have been… with interest over time.”.
Yeah, I mentioned I wrote fanfiction. It was sort of stuff for them after they’d finished at Hogwarts, and then before The Order, you know him, and Remus and Sirius, sort of coming around, and them getting into scrapes and bumping into Snape when they’re older, so yeah. Not as far as canon goes… I didn’t sort of get into where they link up with Harry, so yeah, I suppose not.
SnitchSeeker: How do you think James found out about the Levicorpus spell, if it’s non-verbal, and Snape created it?
Robbie: That’s a good question. I actually wondered if [James] ever got hold of, you know, the book? I don’t know whether it would have ever been something he was aware of at school, whether it would have been something he caught, and sort of stole… either that, or I guess he sort of saw Snape use it. Have you got any ideas about that?
SnitchSeeker: Well, I don’t know, cause it’s happened around The Order of the Phoenix time, and Sirius or Remus says something about how it was like a fashion?
Robbie: Yeah, yeah, yeah!
SnitchSeeker: Like, you couldn’t go down the corridor without someone lifting you up? So it made me wonder how something like that could have got out, if Snape created it, and if it’s non-verbal…
Robbie: But yeah, exactly. I think the thing is; would Snape have been using it? Like, would they have seen Snape using it? Because it’s one of those things, when you’re in such a small community as Hogwarts, it would have been - well we know - it’s difficult to keep secrets. You know, Dumbledore is the only person to keep, well, and the Marauders, sort of, keeping stuff away from Dumbledore, and sort of trying to keep it to themselves, to be able to do that.
I guess the number of people who would have known about Levicorpus would have been really small… Yeah! That’s interesting! There must be a story as to when [The Marauders] found out about it, and how excited they would have been to have found out this thing, and then them kind of use it, and take it, and sort of see if they could, yeah.
SnitchSeeker: And because they were the most popular boys in school, you know, like, everyone else does it!
Robbie: Yeah, exactly, yeah! (laughs) Of course! Them finding out, and then, how ****** they’d have been at Snape having this thing that they didn’t know about…
SnitchSeeker: Yeah! And then like, Snape gets it used against him as well!
Robbie: (laughs) Exactly, yeah! Which is really brilliant as well, but for him, yeah, I guess so. I guess, it’s funny actually, because we [Evanna and Robbie], talk about this, she and I talk about this. Because as fans, we haven’t - and I think I’m right in saying she hasn’t read the books since she finished the movies, and I haven’t either - and we had these guys come up and one of them was like, “I’m a massive fan!” and his friend was like, “No you’re not! You’re not a fan at all!” and he’s like, “I am!” and so he turned to him and was like, “All right then, what was Snape’s mum’s name?”
SnitchSeeker: Eileen Prince.
Robbie: Yeah, yeah, yeah, Eileen Prince, and we were there and Evy was like, “Oh, I don’t know! I don’t know!” and I was like, “Here! Take my phone!” and she was like, “Oh, yeah! I should have known that! Eileen Prince!” So yeah, that’s one of those funny things, isn’t it? Yeah, it’s always scary for us at these, because as big a fan as you are, there’s always someone who’s just put Half-Blood Prince down now, and then come straight to the con, with it like, fresh in their minds.
SnitchSeeker: No, I get that! There’s just so much to it to remember.
Robbie: But that’s what makes it so great! That’s why I said Order’s my favourite book. Because the same way with Game of Thrones, that I like where they kind of open up somewhere new that you can go, the thing about Order is it’s the first time that you’ve kind of ever been introduced to previous generations and it’s when you start to go, “Oh, hang on! This isn’t just the various different places that Harry goes, this world has sort of been existing for generations, and there’s so many places you can take characters in your own head. That’s the magic of it. That’s why it’s such an enduring thing, because it allows people to sort of play with them and take it new places.
 SnitchSeeker: Do you kind of wish they’d changed the costume design so that you could witness Snape in all his “glory”?
Robbie: Are you kidding me? Yes! Actually, I was ******. Because, when we sorted costume for that scene, didn’t have enough of a say, the young boys didn’t have enough say over what we were wearing, and they were very clear that they wanted to make it obvious that there was a time difference between our costumes, and [the current] costumes. But the thing was, because they’re the coolest boys in school, you know how you sort of modify your school uniform to make it kind of cooler? At one of the fittings, I sort of came out, and kind of rolled my sleeves up, like this (gesturing to himself), sort of like I would, and slump off the robes and stuff, particularly because in that scene they’ve just come out of their exams, like, you wouldn’t be there in everything! You just sort of shuck it off, and you kind of sort of-
SnitchSeeker: Want to get away from it-
Robbie: Yeah! You tailor it, yeah! I mean, as the cool boys - particularly Sirius - would have tailored it to look cooler and be more Sirius about it! I mean, even if Remus was there in the whole thing! [Sirius] and I would be chilling out. Yeah, so that was one of things that I would like, I don’t know, I’m interested to see what they do with Cursed Child, whether how Jo’s sort of, imagining of those characters makes its way from what we already know to where, it’s like you know the start of the story, and the end of the story; it’s how she fleshes out the middle bit.
SnitchSeeker: So what do you think [Harry Potter and] the Cursed Child is about?
Robbie: Well, I mean, I guess it’s that? I guess, what we talked about. It’s Harry Potter, The Prequel, it’s where we…
SnitchSeeker: But she’s said it’s not a prequel!
Robbie: Yeah, I know! But, I don’t know whether that means it’s not going to directly feed into Harry Potter [and the Philosopher’s Stone], and sort of generally take us there, or whether it’s going to be about The Marauders, and their legend and how Lily and James sort of got from where you see them in the books to sort of…
SnitchSeeker: Yeah! (laughs) It’s a big turnaround!
Robbie: Precisely! Precisely. Yeah, I guess it’s that thing. And the thing is, and this is why James is such an enduring character for me, was because you see him in a certain light, but then you know the man that he comes to be, because you see how much Dumbledore trusts him. And the mistake in that was that James trusted-
SnitchSeeker: The wrong person-
Robbie: Yeah, exactly, but it wasn’t Dumbledore’s mistake, or any lack of faith from Dumbledore, it was James’ mistake. And the fact that Dumbledore allowed, or sort of permitted him to make that kind of mistake means that he absolutely trusted his judgement. Yeah, Godric’s Hollow… I think there’s a ton of stuff there that you could kind of go into. I’d like to know more about it.
I know [Jo] has put some on Pottermore about the Peverells, and how the line sort of extends back as well, and how you can kind of link them up. Because all the wizarding families - that’s the great thing about it - is that because it’s a relatively small community, she talks about how they all cross over and how they all intermingle anyway. As soon as they get to that point, where I can get my agent and say, “At least get me a script! I don’t care what you do; even if I’m not allowed to audition for it, just get me script!”
SnitchSeeker: So you’ll audition if you can?
Robbie: Oh, if I can, are you kidding? Yeah. No, I love stage. I started in that. One of my first jobs was Romeo in Romeo and Juliet, for the National Youth Theatre in England, and we have a Harry Potter connection through there, because that’s where I met Harry Melling [Dudley Dursley]. Because Harry joined the NYT, and we did a couple of shows - not together - but we were doing shows there at the same time. And so that was before I was cast in Potter, but he was already Dudley by that point. But yeah. Harry Potter stage show? I mean, it’s going to be huge, and it’s going to sell out.
SnitchSeeker: I know! I’m hoping to go. I mean, myself, my friend, and my parents want to go. And my parents are currently in Europe at the moment, and they were like, “The minute you hear!”
Robbie: (laughs) Yeah, yeah, yeah! I’m pretty much the same at the moment. It’s one of those things, you kind of hope that it’s going to happen. I actually wrote- so in England, I don’t know whether it came over here, I guess it probably did, Jo wrote sort of a postcard sized story about James and Sirius?
SnitchSeeker: Yeah, Elvendork, unisex, yes.
Robbie: Yes! So, I’m pushing that. So after that, I sent an email through my agency to David Heyman, and said, “Look… I think it would be cool if, even if it’s just like, a DVD extra, or maybe like, we sort of expand it into a TV series or whatever, just, if you’re thinking about it; let me know”. And he sent a lovely email back, very polite, saying, “Not at the moment, we’re not in that place right now, but if we do, we’ll let you know and thanks for, you know, sort of suggesting it, and thinking about it”, but yeah, there’s so much stuff. And I think it’s one of those things, it’s one of those sandboxes, which so many people would love to jump into, so many people would love to play with.
Because that’s the clever thing, I think, about The Marauders in the books, they give you enough to get a sense of the characters, but not so much that you kind of get weighed down by stuff. And that’s why in terms of fanfiction, like obviously there’s Snape and Lily, and you know, people will run off and go with that, and you know, you have The Marauders and people will run with that, yeah, there’s so many things that you can do within that world. Neil Gaiman gave this quote, which I love, which is, “Fanfiction is a sandbox for writers”, so it’s an opportunity to play with someone else’s characters, but take them in your own direction.
SnitchSeeker: It’s really good practise; it’s how loads of people learn to write.
Robbie: That’s it. Yeah, that’s the thing. I mean E.L. James has made a career out of it! (laughs) But yeah, it’s one of those things. I think the fact that we’re going to find out more about that is going to be really fun. I hope that we don’t get- I mean- because J.K. Rowling has such a hands-on thing, I think that if someone else was taking it, and doing something with it, I think that maybe the fandom might turn around and sort of go, “Oh no! I didn’t want that! That wasn’t what I was-” but if she said it, “This is where we go…” and that’s, yeah. Yeah, no, as soon as I get hold of that script- I will get hold of it, don’t worry! I will get my hands on it one way or the other! Yeah, as soon as I get it, I’ll be putting it all onli- no, no! No, I’m joking (laughs).
 SnitchSeeker: So this question is based on you saying that you wrote a Peter-centric story. Why do you think Peter was a part of The Marauders-
Robbie: Good question.
SnitchSeeker: And why do you think he was Sorted into Gryffindor?
Robbie: (dark laughter; takes a moment) Okay, two things: I think he was part of The Marauders in the sense that every friend group needs a balance. You know, you can’t have too many alphas together, otherwise you don’t become friends, you become enemies. I think there is like, an alternate universe, where Wormtail wasn’t corrupted or otherwise quite as impressionable and he actually ends up being a good friend. Because you do, like, every good friend group has that person, that is kind of like, “Yeah, okay, guys! Yeah! Let’s do that! That’s really cool!”. I think there was sort of, an opportunity within that, if he hadn’t, you know, been a sh**head, where they could have been really good friends.
And I don’t think as well, that he would have perceived their friendship in the same way that the other three would have perceived it? I mean, obviously, they relied on him, and thought he was a better friend. And I suppose simply, school is funny in that way; that you make friends with people who you may not have a huge amount in common with, but you make friends with them because of proximity at first, and then you spend so much time together, you think that really bonds you…
The Gryffindor thing is interesting, yeah. I guess… I guess it does take a certain kind of courage to do what he did, in the sense that he makes a huge decision; a massive betrayal, and that does take a certain amount of strength to do that? But at the same time, you do go, but, hang on, you knew that you were going to be leaving behind everything that you’ve known, it’s kind of, you’re reinventing yourself, and yeah, sure, I guess it’s that sort of that weaker person needs a stronger person in some ways, but at the same time, he could have assumed a more instrumental, a more important role.
SnitchSeeker: Yeah. It’s kind of like, you know, people always brings up the parallels between Neville and Peter, and sort of starting out meek?
Robbie: Exactly! Exactly! Yeah, in that way, but in the way that Neville- actually, I saw someone with a t-shirt that said “Neville Up!” you know, in the way that he kind of “Neville Ups”, you sort of hope that Peter would do that, and he just never did. Yeah, it’s tough. I mean, he is kind of one of those enigmatic characters in the books that you don’t really understand why he’s made this choice, and where he’s come from, because he’s just catastrophically misunderstood a relationship. Because he sort of thinks he’s becoming more important right up until the end, he thinks he’s made the right decision, until it’s obvious, you know, you just have no idea.
I guess, the other thing is, if you’re a wizard, you have to be Sorted into one [of the Houses]. Like, where else do you put him? He’s not a Hufflepuff, he’s certainly not a Ravenclaw, he’s not clever or Machiavellian enough to become a Slytherin, I guess Gryffindor is the only- and I suppose the whole process of the Sorting Hat is kind of that brilliant nature and nurture thing, you know, how much of you is the stuff you were born with, and how much of you is the choices you make?
So I think maybe he could have been [brave]. And I’m sure as I said in the fanfiction, like, I imagined him as not always being that Wormtail, you know, sort of the reviled Wormtail, he would have been valued by the boys and he would have had strengths, and he would have had attributes that they thought were cool, and you know. Yeah, he might not be the fastest with a joke, or the one with the ladies, but he would have had his qualities. And yeah, I guess the Sorting Hat used its opportunity to sort of say, “Well, this is your strength, now go and flourish”, and he withered on the vine instead.
SnitchSeeker: What do you think of the casting for Fantastic Beasts, and what advice would you give to the new cast, especially Eddie Redmayne?
Robbie: (laughs) Well! I’m not going to give Eddie any advice! Eddie doesn’t need advice from me, that’s for damn sure! I think the casting’s been inspired so far, because not only is Eddie - I was lucky enough to be on set when he was filming The Theory of Everything - and not only is he an actor with an immense amount of skill, and ability, and empathy, he’s also phenomenally hard working. And so he will, and he’s already said he’s a fan, but he will immerse himself in this to like, a special level, to like, to an Evy kind of a level, and yeah, I can’t think of anyone better.
I know that there were a few other names, I think Andrew Garfield was kind of thrown around initially, and again, that would have been a good choice, but I think that, yeah, I think Eddie is going to be perfect. The only advice I’d give to them is; be nice to us when they meet us at cons, and welcome to the family.
All information comes exclusively from SnitchSeeker's one-on-one interview with Robbie Jarvis on Sunday, September 27, and transcribed and noted by SnitchSeeker exclusively. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without proper credit and accreditation.  |
x12 
x12
