Harry Potter: Why Peeves Wasn’t In The Movies

Why wasn’t the poltergeist Peeves in the Harry Potter movies? The actor cast for the film role, Rik Mayall, once provided insight into the cut role.

Peeves the poltergeist was a prominent character in the Harry Potter book series, so what’s up with the Peeves Harry Potter movies absence? The mischievous poltergeist of Hogwarts appeared in all seven novels as a truly disruptive force, but he was notably left out of the film franchise. Throughout the books, Peeves caused constant trouble for Hogwarts students and staff alike, blocking corridors with his hijinks and coming up with a ton of nasty songs to boot. However, his exclusion from the Harry Potter films wasn’t always the plan, with actor Rik Mayall filming never-seen scenes as the ghoul for the first Harry Potter movie.

The Peeves Harry Potter movies absence was glaring among fans, along with other characters who didn’t make it into the Harry Potter films. The character of Peeves was a constant trouble-making presence in the halls of Hogwarts throughout the books, teasing the students and often targeting Argus Filch. He craved chaos and wasn’t opposed to vandalism or throwing tangible objects at the living, although did respect Fred and George Weasley for their similar troublemaking demeanor. During the Battle of Hogwarts, Peeves fought to defend the school by attacking Death Eaters. He even created a victory song to praise Harry and the demise of Lord Voldemort — here’s why he was left out.

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Peeves Was Supposed To Be In The Harry Potter Movies

The ghost, known for his hijinks and brightly colored Jester clothing, was a fan-favorite among book readers, so the Peeves Harry Potter movies absence was a huge surprise and displeasure among many fans (although he did make it into the tie-in games). Fitting of the poltergeist, the truth behind that wasn’t exactly simple; while English actor Rik Mayall was cast as Peeves for Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, all of his scenes were cut without his knowledge.

Mayall was revered as a British comedy legend before his untimely death in 2014. Outside of the Peeves Harry Potter movies absence, he’s best known for his work in The Young Ones, Blackadder, Bottom, and Drop Dead Fred, among many other projects. The brilliant comedian was often praised for his creative approach to humor, helping jumpstart the alternative comedy movement in the 1980s. Mayall’s career continued through the 2000s, which is when he was cast as Peeves for the Harry Potter films.

Mayall later opened up about the experience and the Peeves Harry Potter movies absence to InternetGore.com (via YouTube), revealing an honest account of what happened. He ended up playing Peeves despite limited interest in the Harry Potter books (he described the resulting film as “sh*t“) and spent three weeks filming on location. It wasn’t until much later that he learned all of his scenes had been cut, and his children didn’t find out until after seeing the movie, in which they’d believed that he played the role of Hagrid.

In the interview, he didn’t have great feelings about the movie, but it seemed like there was no malice behind his words. Instead, he was poking fun at the situation in his typical style of humor. Although Mayall didn’t explain the reasoning behind the Peeves Harry Potter movies absence, he did mention how his jokes caused distractions on set, with him causing the child actors to break character every time cameras rolled. Given that, it’s a shame that the filmmakers cut Mayall’s portrayal as Peeves – and have refused to release any of it online – because all the evidence proves that he would have done a fantastic job at playing Harry Potter‘s master of mischief.

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Peeves Is In Hogwarts Legacy

The Peeves Harry Potter movies absence aside, he does make an appearance in-game in the latest Wizarding World venture Hogwarts Legacy. Peeves appears various times throughout the narrative, all in his book accurate jester-style clothing, and causes nothing but disruptions as is his fundamental right as a poltergeist. The Hogwarts ghost was a huge character in the books, and it came as a massive surprise that the trouble-making spirit didn’t make it into the Harry Potter movies in some capacity.

While many of the Hogwarts ghosts’ best stories were cut from the feature films, Peeves was a much more boisterous presence in the novels than the other ghosts, making his cut appearance nearly inconceivable among fans. Either way, at least his antics are present in Hogwarts Legacy, even if he was nixed from the Harry Potter movies.

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