5 Surprising Behind-The-Scenes Facts From Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

In 2002, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets was released worldwide. Unlike The Philosopher's Stone, which was more of an atmospheric fairy tale, The Chamber of Secrets turned out to be a rather dark movie, shot in the best traditions of English Gothic.

For all Harry Potter fans, we have collected five amazing facts about the making of the longest running movie in the history of J. K. Rowling's magical franchise.

1. Jason Isaacs Voiced the Basilisk & Was Considered for the Gilderoy Lockhart Role

In The Chamber of Secrets, Jason Isaacs gave an absolutely brilliant performance as Lucius Malfoy, but the actor hadn't originally planned to play the character. Isaacs' agent tried to get him the role of Gilderoy Lockhart, but during the auditions, Chris Columbus suggested that the actor try the villainous image of Draco's father.

At first, Isaacs was reluctant; he had recently played a villain in Peter Pan and did not want to repeat himself. However, the Chamber of Secrets film crew managed to persuade him to take on the role.

In addition to Lucius, Isaacs also helped create the Basilisk. The hissing sounds heard in the movie when it moves were made by Jason Isaacs.

2. The Movie Contains a Reference to Home Alone 2

Chris Columbus is also known as the creator of the cult Christmas comedies Home Alone and Home Alone 2. While working on Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the director decided to include a cute Easter egg in the movie that only the biggest fans of Home Alone could notice.

In the famous scene in the Forbidden Forest, Ron tries to warn Harry about approaching spiders, just as Marv warned his accomplice Harry about a flock of pigeons in Lost in New York.

3. The Recording of the Mandrake's Cry Was a Real Baby

To make the mandrake's cries as realistic as possible, the film's sound designer decided to use real babies to record the sound.

As it turned out, the wife of one of the crew members had recently given birth, and her one-month-old son's cries ended up in the scene. The sound designer decided to mix the baby's cries with female voices for the most exotic effect.

4. Part of the Soundtrack Was Used in Star Wars: Attack of the Clones

During the Quidditch match between the Gryffindor and Slytherin teams, the music from George Lucas' Star Wars: Attack of the Clones can be heard. The tune plays during the scene where the Seekers, Harry and Draco, begin their pursuit of the Golden Snitch to lead their team to victory.

Both Attack of the Clones and Chamber of Secrets were released within six months of each other in 2002, both are sequels to popular franchises, and both were scored by renowned composer John Williams.

5. Parseltongue Was Invented by a Cambridge Professor

To create the snake language, the film team hired Cambridge University linguistics professor Francis Nolan.

Nolan was very responsible in his approach, and as a result, J. K. Rowling had to create a special guide so that the actors, especially Daniel Radcliffe, Christian Coulson, and later Ralph Fiennes, could speak at least a few phrases in Parseltongue.