David Bradley talks about roles from “Game of Thrones” to “Harry Potter”

Harry Potter fans recognize David Bradley as Mr. Filch, the bad-tempered Hogwarts caretaker, but the British actor has appeared in a number of other iconic shows and roles. From Doctor Who to Game of Thrones and Broadchurch, and most recently The Strain, David is a hugely recognizable face. In a new interview with Vulture, David spoke about his career and his most famous Harry Potter line.

On the way that Game of Thrones fans have reacted to his role in the series, David said,

I can hear my voice in the background [of YouTube reaction videos] and then whole groups of people jumping up! All over the world, people just jumping up! People swearing at the screen, and shouting, and crying, and leaving the room! I must say, there is something that I find very funny about it. I should have known better, having been in Harry Potter, how into this the fans get. But I love it, actually. I think it’s great.

David also spoke about how he tries to work out what someone is a fan of as they approach him:

When somebody’s face lights up as they’re walking towards me, I’m trying to guess, ‘What is it they watch?’ It’s a little game, and I always get it wrong. [laughs] With Harry Potter, you get parents who say, ‘Can I get your autograph? It’s not for me, you understand. It’s for my son,’ or for my daughter. They won’t admit to the fact that they watch it. [laughs] And for many years, it was only Potter fans who would stop me on the street. But I suppose the age group for Game of Thrones is a much broader spectrum, people of all ages. And I gather that The Strain is breaking records for people between the ages of 18 and 49, which is an interesting age group. Sometimes people will say, ‘Will you do a smiling one? Now will you do a Filch one?’ So I have to look unpleasantly at them. Or they want me to say one of my lines for their ring tone on their phone, one of my most horrible Filch lines from Harry Potter in my harshest Cockney voice, so I usually oblige. Why not? I appreciate the fact that they watch the stuff. Without them, I wouldn’t be working!

His most requested line he says is:

Oh, dear, we are in trouble.” [laughs] You know, that one wasn’t even in the original script for the second movie. That line was in the first book, in the scene when the boys and Hermione have just gotten away with getting the baby dragon Norbert safely to Charlie, and they come down the tower. Filch says, “Well, well, well, we are in trouble,” with pleasure. Chris Columbus did the first two Harry Potter movies, and when we were doing the second film, the boys were coming up the wide stairs, having just encountered the Whomping Willow with the flying car, and I had a line – something like, “Oh, it’s detention for you lot!” or something – but I thought it was a weak line. So I said, “Chris, there’s a line from the first book, ‘Oh, dear, we are in trouble.’ Can we use that instead?” [He said,] “Sure, sure, sure. Go for it. Say that.” Chris Columbus, even though he was doing these big movies, was flexible enough to say, “Yeah, if you want to say that line, say that line.” Some directors would say, “Just stick to the script, will you?” But luckily, he was flexible enough to let me play with a line I liked, and now that’s the one that people quote back to me all the time, that they like the most! Funny, isn’t it?

David also talks about his most recent role in The Strain, revealing some more about the next series:

The basic heart of it is in the books that Guillermo del Toro wrote with Chuck Hogan, but they take liberties, and they’ve reimagined it rather than lifting it straight from the book. They took a risk doing that, but they’ve obviously got plans for it to make it last for three to five seasons. So now that season two has the green light, hopefully they’ll be able to start shooting it all the way through. We start again in November, so it’s going to be another very cold winter in Toronto. I like the people, I like the city, but by God, it was cold. That’s okay when you’re filming in the studio, but when you’re filming on the street, and it’s 35 below plus wind chill, try getting your mouth to work in that! It’s quite hard. But there’s something about icicles on the beard that make it look authentic.

Read the full interview here.

Would Filch have been the same without that infamous line in Chamber of Secrets? Have you seen The Strain? Let us know in the comments!