Harry Potter actor suffers severe injuries in car accident

Harry Potter actor Jim Tavaré (Tom the bartender in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban) has sustained extensive injuries.

Jim Tavaré, who had a small but memorable role in the Harry Potter movies as Tom, the barman and innkeeper at the Leaky Caldron, has suffered serious injuries from a car accident.

His wife Laura explained the situation on his Facebook page.

“He has 15 broken ribs, fractures in both breastbones, a punctured lung, multiple breaks in his right leg, and a broken neck. He’s had 2 blood transfusions so far and is about to go in for his first surgery” Those are grave injuries. Many are already wishing Jim well on Facebook. We add our voices to theirs.

Outside of his role in Prisoner of Azkaban, Tavaré is probably best known for the BAFTA-winningThe Sketch Show, which he cowrote and starred in. He’s primarily a comedian, although he trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in England.

Tavaré wasn’t actually the first actor to play Tom. The character also showed up in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, where he was played by Derek Deadman. In that movie, Tom was the barkeep. In Prisoner of Azkaban, he’s the innkeeper, as in the books. Also, when he popped up in Prisoner, his appearance has changed. He’s straight-backed in Sorcerer’s Stone, but appears to have a hunchback in Prisoner of Azkaban.

We imagine the changes were mandated by Prisoner director Alfonso Cuarón, who took over from Chris Columbus after Columbus directed the first two movies in the series.

At the moment, Jim Tavaré has several movies completed or in post-production, including The Magnificent Room, Warmed-Over Krautrock, and I Spit on Your Grave: Deja Vu. Hopefully this set-back won’t slow him down. We’ll be thinking of him during his recovery.

Next: Harry Potter and the World of Modern Technology

h/t People