Benedict Clarke

Benedict "Ben" Clarke (b. 5 December, 1996) is a British teen actor who portrayed young Severus Snape in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.

Career
Clarke made his film debut in the commercially successful Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 when it was announced in late 2010 that he had been cast as the younger version of Severus Snape, played by fellow British veteran Alan Rickman as an adult, respectively. To date, this was his first and only professional acting role.



Then 13-years-old, he auditioned for the parts of either young James Potter or young Snape sometime in late 2009 to early 2010. In January, he was called back for a second audition (known as a recall). He subsequently received a screen test with then 10-year-old Ellie Darcey-Alden (who would be cast as young Lily Evans) at Leavesden Studios.

Filming his scenes along with Darcey-Alden (young Lily), Ariella Paradise (young Petunia Dursley), Alfie McIlwain (young James Potter) and Rohan Gotobed (young Sirius Black) took place in April 2010.

According to Darcey-Alden and Clarke at a 2013 LeakyCon cast junket in London, production alternated between sets at Leavesden Studios and on location shooting by the River Lea in the gardens of Hatfield Park near Hatfield House—both set in Hertfordshire, respectively. Of the river scene in particular, Clarke elaborated by saying:

"[W]e did so many ludicrous camera angles, we had a camera up on a crane looking down at Ellie and I. And we had a camera crew coming across the river on a boat for one of those, and then they could play around [...] decide what they wanted, how they wanted to pan across the river and take a look at us. I thought it was really outstanding how they had such a ridiculous extent of angles to play with."

- Benedict on filming The Prince's Tale

Darcey-Alden added:

"We only did half-and-half at Leavesden. [...] There was the actual Hatfield House there and we got to have a look around and it was really beautiful."

- Ellie on filming The Prince's Tale

Shooting only lasted four days where one scene was shot per day.



Since completing Potter, he has appeared in many amateur short films, including lead parts in In the Wake of Sirens–a modern interpretation of William Golding's Lord of the Flies set within the confines of a locked car, is nearly 8 minutes and was completed in late 2012 –and Andys. The latter was loosely based on Philip K. Dick's 1968 science fiction novel Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep? and was directed by fellow Harry Potter alum Alec Hopkins, best known for playing the teenage incarnation of Snape in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. The film is a little over 10 minutes in length and while it was shot in March 2012, before Sirens, it wasn't released online via Hopkins' official Vimeo until early 2014. The gap in the production of both films is obvious given that Clarke's voice is noticeably deeper in Sirens.

Behind the scenes

 * He has appeared at many Harry Potter events and fan conventions, including the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 world premiere on 7 July 2011 in Trafalgar Square in London, LeakyCon 2011 in Orlando, Florida,, and LeakyCon London 2013.
 * He attended school with fellow Harry Potter alum Alfie McIlwain (young James Potter).