"They made the last book into two films, and it was a fantastic experience because everyone who is left alive is back… and even some of the dead people," he said with a sly smile. "There is one long sequence where everyone who is left standing is there when the forces of good meet the forces of evil."

"I think over the years that they've been adapting these incredibly popular and successful books, they've increasingly become more and more confident in their ability to make great cinema experiences out of it and where they need to change the book or the central thrust of the story, they do it now with real aplomb and with Jo Rowling's blessing," he continued. "Everybody is very savvy to the notion that this is a much-loved franchise and this will be the end of an eighth film, and it needs to have weight and substance and you need to feel drained by the end of it. It's a ten-year roller coaster ride, not a two-hour roller coaster ride, and we all know it and we all felt it, and it was in the air while we were shooting it."

"This franchise goes out in an epic way," he concluded. "I think the end of the films will be a fantastically cinematic and visual feast and it will more than satisfy the readers of the books, but what you won't get is the book on screen. You will get something more and different."

You wrapped on that recently. Could you talk about your experiences on the last two films?
Jason Isaacs: Well, it’s very sad for me. I was already nostalgic for the history of Harry Potter while I was still making it and I knew the end was coming. It was two film…they made the last book into two films and it was a fantastic experience because everybody’s back…everyone who is left alive that is…and even some of the dead people. There is nothing greater than sitting around on a Harry Potter set when you’re not filming and listening to the likes of Maggie Smith, Michael Gambon, Bill Nighy and Jim Broadbent tell stories. And watching everybody chew the scenery up in the few moments you get on screen - trying to out ham each other is magnificent. This big franchise goes out in an epic way. But I was always cognisant of the fact that I’d have to pack up my little furry friend of a wig and stick it in a box and say goodbye to the cane. All the joy was tinged with sadness for me.

A lot of fans have been looking forward to that ending sequence of the second movie…for that huge battle. Can you talk about filming that sequence and what do you think fans are going to take away from it?
Jason Isaacs: I think over the years that they’ve been adapting these incredibly popular and successful books, they’ve increasingly become more and more confident in their ability to make great cinema experiences out of it and where they need to change the book or the central thrust of the story, they do it now with, I think, real aplomb and with Jo Rowling’s blessing. And I think the end of the films will be a fantastically cinematic and visual feast. It will more than satisfy the readers of the books…but what you won’t get is the book on screen. You’ll get something more and different. Everybody is very savvy to the notion that this is a much-loved franchise and this will be the end of an eighth film, and it needs to have weight and substance and you need to feel drained by the end of it. It’s a ten-year roller coaster ride, not a two-hour roller coaster ride, and we all know it and we all felt it, and it was in the air while we were shooting it.

Did they use you for the theme park or any of the attractions?
Jason Isaacs: Do you really want to go on a Lucius Malfoy ride? The carriages would fly off or something.