If you could sift through the Pensieve of actor Alfred Enoch, you'd see much more about Dean Thomas's past and future than the "Harry Potter" films could reveal.Enoch was the latest guest on EW's Binge podcast, and he talked a lot about his popular Gryffindor character -- reacting to J.K. Rowling's original plan to name Dean "Gary"; discussing backstory that did not make the films; and speculating on what Dean Thomas and his buddy Seamus Finnigan are doing today.
The "How to Get Away with Murder" star was in seven "Harry Potter" films, all except Part 1 of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows." He told EW Binge hosts Marc Snetiker and C. Molly Smith that he wished Dean's backstory had been showcased in the films -- including how Dean grew up believing that his parents were Muggles but his biological father was a wizard in hiding who never revealed the truth to his mother before he died.
"I was cheering for all of this to come out," Enoch said. "I was like, 'What a great story!' But that was one of the difficulties of the films, and this is something people — initially at least, before the films became canonical, for want of a better word, in their own right; or before the films became legit, which seems like an odd thing to say, but at least in the eyes of fans — the first couple times people were like, 'Where's Peeves? How could they cut out this? How could they cut out that? How could they cut out the other?'"
Enouch said he remembered there being something like 10 hours of footage for the first movie, which they obviously had to cut down. "So much has to go." Then he had his brainstorm.
Alfred Enoch: "Oh, I just had a thought. Maybe they should do like what they're doing with Star Wars, the 'Rogue One' thing."
Marc Snetiker: "A Dean Thomas standalone movie."
C. Molly Smith: "I'd watch that."
Alfred Enoch: "A Dean Thomas standalone movie! That's essentially what I'm pitching. You've outed me. I thought I was making it more subtle."
Hey, we're down to watch any and all Harry Potter standalones. For the record, Enoch thinks it's "nuts" that Dean was going to be named Gary ("Wow, Gary? No, I can't work with Gary") and he praised J.K. Rowling for making the "right choice" to stick with Dean.
Listen to the full podcast for more. Would you watch a Dean Thomas standalone movie? Maybe they could do web shorts on Pottermore for various characters. Luna and Neville could use their own solo stories, at the very least.
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