Skip to content

MuggleNet

  • Site
    • Contact Us & FAQ
    • History
    • Meet the Team
    • MuggleNet Live!
    • Press
    • Publications
    • Special Projects
    • Volunteer with Us!
    • Year in Review
  • Podcasts
    • Alohomora!
    • Full Circle
    • LITHAPPENS
    • Potterversity
    • Promptly Potter
    • SpeakBeasty
  • Harry Potter
    • Book Quotes
    • Book Series
    • Coloring Books
    • Film Companions
    • Film Series
    • Hogwarts Library
    • Little Things
    • Music
    • Video Games
  • Fantastic Beasts
    • Book
    • Coloring Books
    • Film Companions
    • Fantastic Beasts Film Quotes
    • Film Series
    • Little Things
    • Music
    • Video Games
  • The Quibbler
    • Owl Post
    • Bathilda’s Notebook
    • The Department of MYTHteries
    • The Dirigible Plum
    • Into the Floo
    • Muggle Studies
    • The Pensieve Papers
    • The Three Broomsticks
    • April Fools’
    • The Quibbler Vault
  • The Daily Prophet
    • Book Trolley
    • Editorials
    • Event Reports
    • Exclusive Interviews
    • Features
    • Giveaways
    • Listicles
    • Merchandise Reviews
    • Movie Reviews
    • Television Reviews
    • Theater Reviews
    • Wizolympics
  • Muggle World
    • Charity
    • Exhibitions
    • J.K. Rowling
    • MinaLima
    • Quadball
    • Studio Tours
    • Theatrical Play
    • Theme Parks
    • Wizarding World Digital
  • Fans & Fun
    • Crazy Caption Contest
    • Fan Focus
    • Fandom
    • Fandom Sortings
    • Fandom Timeline
    • Fun Lists
    • Games and Trivia
    • GNOMEs
    • Potter DIY
    • Potter Weddings
    • #PotterItForward
    • Rosmerta’s Recipes
    • Song Parodies
    • Wizard Rock
    • Wizarding Wordle
  • Site
    • Contact Us & FAQ
    • History
    • Meet the Team
    • MuggleNet Live!
    • Press
    • Publications
    • Special Projects
    • Volunteer with Us!
    • Year in Review
  • Podcasts
    • Alohomora!
    • Full Circle
    • LITHAPPENS
    • Potterversity
    • Promptly Potter
    • SpeakBeasty
  • Harry Potter
    • Book Quotes
    • Book Series
    • Coloring Books
    • Film Companions
    • Film Series
    • Hogwarts Library
    • Little Things
    • Music
    • Video Games
  • Fantastic Beasts
    • Book
    • Coloring Books
    • Film Companions
    • Fantastic Beasts Film Quotes
    • Film Series
    • Little Things
    • Music
    • Video Games
  • The Quibbler
    • Owl Post
    • Bathilda’s Notebook
    • The Department of MYTHteries
    • The Dirigible Plum
    • Into the Floo
    • Muggle Studies
    • The Pensieve Papers
    • The Three Broomsticks
    • April Fools’
    • The Quibbler Vault
  • The Daily Prophet
    • Book Trolley
    • Editorials
    • Event Reports
    • Exclusive Interviews
    • Features
    • Giveaways
    • Listicles
    • Merchandise Reviews
    • Movie Reviews
    • Television Reviews
    • Theater Reviews
    • Wizolympics
  • Muggle World
    • Charity
    • Exhibitions
    • J.K. Rowling
    • MinaLima
    • Quadball
    • Studio Tours
    • Theatrical Play
    • Theme Parks
    • Wizarding World Digital
  • Fans & Fun
    • Crazy Caption Contest
    • Fan Focus
    • Fandom
    • Fandom Sortings
    • Fandom Timeline
    • Fun Lists
    • Games and Trivia
    • GNOMEs
    • Potter DIY
    • Potter Weddings
    • #PotterItForward
    • Rosmerta’s Recipes
    • Song Parodies
    • Wizard Rock
    • Wizarding Wordle
  • HP Cast / News

David Bradley Stars in Short Film “Roy”

by Helena Everett · September 23, 2021

British actor and BAFTA award winner David Bradley, best known in the Wizarding World for playing the cantankerous caretaker of Hogwarts, Argus Filch, is starring in a new short film, Roy.

Bradley plays lost soul Roy, a lonely, reclusive widower who spends his days cold-calling strangers from the phone book, searching for companionship, even for the briefest of moments. But when he accidentally calls an adult hotline worker, Cara (Rachel Shenton), an unlikely friendship is born.

 

A shot of David Bradley as Roy

Credit: Floodlight Pictures/Slick Films

 

Although he may be best known to us as Filch, Bradley is a prolific actor who has been cast in many television shows and movies over the years. Outside of the Potter franchise, he has played Walder Frey in Game of Thrones, Ray Johnson in After Life, Gillenormand in the TV miniseries of Les Misérables, and Arthur Webley in the movie Hot Fuzz, among many others.

Alongside Bradley is Rachel Shenton, starring as Cara. Shenton is a British actress known for her roles in Genie in the House, Switched at Birth, and most recently, All Creatures Great and Small – also starring Matthew Lewis. She won an Academy Award for her short film, The Silent Child, in 2018.

 

♥️ 🎥 https://t.co/mQA1eWdb8e

— Rachel Shenton (@RachelShenton) January 5, 2021

 

Roy is written and directed by Tom Berkeley and Ross White. The pair met in college and began collaborating shortly afterward. Their earlier theater works were shortlisted for various writing awards (the Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting, the Papatango Prize, and the Kenneth Branagh Award for New Drama Writing). Roy is their filmmaking debut.

Speaking to Slick Films, one of the production companies behind the short film, Berkeley and White spoke about where the inspiration for Roy had come from. Using their own family experiences, they considered how losing someone you have spent a lifetime with could affect someone. They both felt that it was a subject they had “not seen explored very much on[-]screen.“

Aware that the film could easily become “a very depressing fifteen minutes,“ Berkeley and White knew that it needed a “lightness in the telling and a sense of hope at its core.” The duo wanted to bring humor to the film, alongside the portrayal of grief and isolation.

So while David’s beautiful performance may bring a tear to your eye, we hope that it’ll make you laugh as well. I think that’s something that often gets left out of on-screen portrayals of grief: no matter how deep the sorrow, there are flecks of joy, but in the pleasure, there is sadness there, too.

Berkley and White also spoke about what it was like to work with Bradley, and they stated how much of a remarkable actor he is and spoke of his kindness.

As well as being a remarkable actor and very much at the height of his powers, David is an extremely kind and generous man. [..] It says a lot about David that he would receive a script from a pair of unknown writer/directors and treat it with the same respect as the many others he no doubt is sent. He seemed to immediately resonate with the character and the style of story we wanted to tell, and we were delighted to be able to have him on board.

 

 
 
 
 
 
View this post on Instagram
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

A post shared by Roy (2021) (@roy.film)

 

In early 2021, Roy made its world premiere at the 36th Santa Barbara International Film Festival in California. It was the only British film selected to play in the Short: Fiction category. The short film has also been selected to be shown at various other festivals. Have a look at the Instagram page for all the details.

If this has whetted your appetite, then take a look at the trailer below.

 

 

Roy looks to be an emotive and heartwarming tale. We wish everyone involved in the making of the film all the best of luck at the upcoming festivals it has been selected to be shown at. Have you watched Roy yet? Or do you plan on watching it at one of the up-and-coming festivals?

 

Want more posts like this one? MuggleNet is 99% volunteer-run, and we need your help. With your monthly pledge of $1, you can interact with creators, suggest ideas for future posts, and enter exclusive swag giveaways!

Support us on Patreon

Social:

  • Next story “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” to Be Screened in Great Hall at Warner Bros. Studio Tour London
  • Previous story “Writing It Was a Terrifying Experience”: Miriam Margolyes Discusses Her New Memoir

MuggleNet Archive

Important Dates

May 2025

Mon, May 12

Domhnall Gleeson's birthday
Recurs yearly

Bill Weasley (DH1, DH2)

Tue, May 13

Robert Pattinson's birthday
Recurs yearly

Cedric Diggory

Samantha Morton's birthday
Recurs yearly

Mary Lou Barebone

Zoë Wanamaker's birthday
Recurs yearly

Madam Hooch

Thu, May 15

Pomona Sprout's birthday
Recurs yearly

Fri, May 16

Stanislav Yanevski's birthday
Recurs yearly

Viktor Krum

Sun, May 18

Miriam Margolyes's birthday
Recurs yearly

Pomona Sprout

MuggleNet podcasts are sponsored in part by Secretlab.

Thanks to its research-backed ergonomic design, including a proprietary 4-way adaptive lumbar support system, the Secretlab TITAN Evo Harry Potter Edition will comfortably support you even when you’re up to no good.

Did You Know

Dudley Dursley was almost in the epilogue of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” standing on platform nine and three-quarters with a magical child.

Potter History

March 2000 – Chris Columbus is chosen as the director of “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.” Of note, Steven Spielberg was interested but did not get the job.

Potter Quote

“I’m Draco Malfoy, I’m Draco, I’m on your side!”

MuggleNet is an unofficial Harry Potter fansite.
Please email us if you have any questions or concerns.
© 1999–2025 MuggleNet.com. All rights reserved.
Privacy Policy | COPPA Policy | Terms of Use | Feedback


MuggleNet is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program and Bookshop.org's affiliate program, affiliate advertising programs designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com and bookshop.org.