Who is David Holmes? All about Daniel Radcliffe’s Harry Potter stunt double who gets paralyzed after on-set accident

David Holmes, the British podcast host and former stunt performer, was Daniel Radcliffe’s Harry Potter stunt double. He worked closely alongside the actor from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone to the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1.

However, while working as Radcliffe’s double, David was left with a broken neck when a stunt went wrong during Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 in 2010, as per The Independent. The now 42-year-old Essex-born David has been paralyzed from the chest down ever since.

Daniel Radcliffe is making a documentary about David, titled David Holmes: The Boy Who Lived, which will shine a light on the “tragic” incident that “turned his world upside down.” According to Variety, it will premiere on HBO and HBO Max on November 15, 2023.

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A dive into the life of David Holmes after he was paralyzed

David Holmes is a 42-year-old actor and former stunt performer who worked in the Harry Potter franchise. His career began when he was six years old as a competitive gymnast. In 1998, the podcast host received his first body-double job for the science-fiction film Lost in Space, starring Matt LeBlanc and William Hurt.

In 2001, the first Harry Potter film, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, was released, and David Holmes played Daniel Radcliffe's stunt double. Holmes was part of almost all the movies of the Warner Bros. magical universe, right up till the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1. In an interview with Mirror in 2014, David talked about the accident that resulted in his paralysis.

The stunt in question was a flying scene at Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden, in 2009. David Holmes would have been pulled into the air on a cable, simulating a shockwave that would send Harry flying. However, the double was pulled with too much force than anticipated, and he crashed into a wall. Talking about the incident to The Mirror, David said,

"I hit the wall and then landed on the crash mat underneath. My stunt coordinator grabbed my hand and said, ‘Squeeze my fingers.’ I could move my arm to grab his hand, but I couldn’t squeeze his fingers."

He said that he looked into the coordinator's eyes, and that’s when he realized "what happened was major."

"I remember slipping in and out of consciousness because of the pain levels. I’d broken a bone before, so recognizing that weird feeling across my whole body from my fingertips right down to my toes, I knew I had really done some damage."

He expressed that his initial thought was, “Don’t ring Mum and Dad; I don’t want to worry them.”

The stunt double was rushed to Watford General Hospital before being transferred to the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital in Stanmore, northwest London, where he remained for six months. The collision had ended up breaking David's neck, resulting in lifelong paralysis from the chest down, as per Variety.

Holmes has since dedicated his life to raising awareness about the work that stunt people do, founding his own production company and running a podcast named Cunning Stunts, where he interviews action specialists. As per The Independent, the stunt double is still friends with Radcliffe, Tom Felton, who played Draco Malfoy, and other people from the Harry Potter production.

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Daniel Radcliffe and David Holmes are collaborating on a project named David Holmes: The Boy Who Lived, as per HBO. The documentary will feature “candid personal footage shot over the last decade, behind-the-scenes material from Holmes’s stunt work, scenes of his current life, and intimate interviews with David, Radcliffe, friends, family, and former crew.”

Directed by British filmmaker Dan Hartley, the documentary will premiere on HBO on Wednesday, November 15 at 9 pm EST before being made available to stream on Max in the US. The United Kingdom viewers can stream it on Sky Documentaries and NOW from November 18, 2023.