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Young
stars Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson share their
experienc es on-screen and off... Q: There's
a line in this movie that Kenneth Branagh says: celebrity is as
celebrity does. You guys are all celebrities now. What's the last
year been like for you? Is there a good story you can tell? Radcliffe:
The best thing so far for me was at the premiere (of Harry Potter
and The Sorcerer's Stone in London) I met Ben Stiller. That was
really cool. And then I went to the New York premiere and I met
Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon. So that's probably been the best
bit so far. Grint: Getting
recognised is pretty cool. One time I got recognised up a mountain,
when I went to Switzerland. That was cool. Watson:
Probably the best thing is going to really, really cool premieres
and getting to pick really cool outfits. Q: Daniel,
Chris Columbus said that you'd developed as a leading man, a hero
and even a bit of a heartthrob since the first film. Do you feel
like a heartthrob and do you have girls coming up to you now? R: Personally,
I can't actually see it, but if other people can, great. Q: Can
each of you pick one thing that you think will happen to your characters
later on in the books? W: Hermione
will be something really clever. She'll be a doctor or something.
She'll be really academic in her job. R: Does
it have to be about my character? I think these two (Hermoine and
Ron) are going to get together. That's my prediction. G: I
was going to say I hope Hermoine and Ron don't fall for each other. Q: Last
year, you were quite enthusiastic when talking about music. What
are you listening to now? R: I've
developed an interest in and I love original punk rock, not so much
the new stuff, although The Hives are good. I like the Sex Pistols,
the Undertones, the New York Dolls, the Stranglers, and those kinds
of bands. Q: Can
you describe the kind of fan mail you get? Are any of the letters
particularly funny or creep you out? R: I'm
just amazed at the amount of effort (that's put into the letters).
Around my birthday time, I got lots of presents. Just the effort
that was put into them was unbelievable. It's so amazing. W: For
my birthday someone gave me a massive, big, white cuddly bear about
as big as me. They sent it by post to me. I just think that was
completely amazing as they've never met me. It was just really weird. G: It
was my sister's birthday and somebody got her something as well. Q: This
movie has more action and it's darker than Sorcerer's Stone. Do
you think some younger kids will be frightened by some of the scenes,
like the spider sequence? R: I
personally don't think so. It's all in the book and if you take
away the darkness from the film, then you haven't done the book
justice. And so, if they've read the book, I don't think they'll
be scared at all. W: I
think the fans will be really, really happy with it. I think (for
younger viewers) it just depends on the parents. G: It's
pretty scary. And as Emma said, it's up to the parents if they want
to put their child through that. Q: What's
the best thing and worst thing about playing these characters? R: I
think the best thing, without a doubt, is playing a character that
has inspired children all over the world - and adults. Honestly,
I don't think there is a worst thing. W: It's
the acting, which I really, really enjoyed. Even when you take away
the glamour and attention and premieres and everything, it still
comes down to the fact that you're acting. (It was also great to)
be with fantastic directors, actors and just the people I worked
with. G: For
me it was coughing up slugs and coming to New York. Both were best. Q: What
did you do during down time on set with each other? G: We
did loads of funny stuff. I just can't remember any of them. R: When
we weren't filming, I just basically locked myself up in a very
small room and watched films. W: When
I'm not filming, I'm at school and I play lots of sports, do a lot
of art and hang out with my friends most of the time. Q: Daniel,
in the second film Harry comes back to Hogwarts as a sort of a celebrity
based on his achievements in the first film. That's both good and
bad for the character and his life at school. Does your own life
reflect that experience at all? When you went back to school were
you liked or disliked by some people because you were famous? R: I've
moved schools. All the people that I've met have been absolutely
fantastic. There's no jealousy. I haven't been bullied or anything.
Everybody's been really nice. Q: The
three of you seem to be such great kids. But have you guys ever
had a fight? Did Chris ever have to come in, be referee, say "Make
up; it'll be better tomorrow"? R: I
threw Rupert through a window. No. We've never had a fight. Q: You're
all at an age where changes are happening rapidly. When you're acting,
does Chris want you to play younger or do you just play your age? W: We
play our age, I think. It's great. It's like we're growing up with
the books. We're the same age as (the characters), so we're kind
of growing up with them. Q: How
did the experience of filming the first Harry Potter affect you
this time around? Did it give you more confidence? R: I
felt I was certainly a lot more confident with Chris. If I had an
idea I was more comfortable talking to him about it, whereas on
the first one, I wouldn't have been able to do that. G: I
was a bit more comfortable because we knew from the first one what
everything was. We knew about the scheduling and everything. W: I
think everyone was a lot more confident and a lot more comfortable
because we all knew the crew and we knew the director and we knew
what we were doing for starters, which was good. I just think everybody
came back feeling a lot more confident. Q: Would
you all like to continue on with the series, doing all seven? Or
do you want to go off and have a normal life? W: I
don't even know if they're going to make a fourth or a fifth film
or whatever. But it's been a really, really good experience and
I've really enjoyed them. So, yeah, I suppose. R: I'm
definitely doing the third film. We're all doing the third film.
After that, who knows? It takes more or less a year to film (each
movie), so we've got quite a long way before we have to encounter
that decision. G: What
was the question? I've really enjoyed doing them all. Q: A
special effects question for each of you. Emma, can you talk about
being petrified? Daniel, can you tell us about the climactic battle
with the snake? And Rupert, can you talk about coughing up slugs? R: In
the books, the basilisk is supposed to be 80 feet long, I think.
They built 25 feet of it, including the head, which was actually
quite hard to fight. I kept knocking the teeth out of the mouth,
so they had to spend endless hours repairing it. G: The
slugs scene was probably my favourite because I had to try out all
these different flavoured slimes. There was orange, lemon, peppermint,
chocolate and they made it taste really nice. I really enjoyed it! W: There
was this amazing wax model of me (looking petrified). I had to have
a whole (body cast) made of me. I didn't have to actually lie down
like this (looking stiff) for a half-hour. Q: Emma,
can you talk about having to hug Daniel? W: Well... R: Be
careful. W: OK,
I'll be very careful. For starters, it was cringe, but then it was
OK. It's hard to hug somebody in front of 300 kids and then everybody
else in the entire world. But then it was OK. It was good. Daniel
was really nice about it. You'd think he'd be like, 'Eew, get off
of me'. But he wasn't. He was very nice. R: I
was thinking, 'Absolutely, get off me. Absolutely, get off me'.
No, I wasn't. I was cool with it. I didn't mind it at all. Would
you, mate? Why would I mind? Q: How
are your families dealing with your fame? R: My
parents are really amazing because they've helped me with absolutely
everything that I've done. I couldn't have done anything like this
without them. G: My
parents have helped me keep my feet on the ground. W: My
parents, I think, have been really, really supportive. Q: Which
scenes for Azkaban are you three most excited to shoot and which
scene - dramatic scene as opposed to effects scene - were you most
excited to shoot? W: I'm
really looking forward to flying on the hippogriff (SP). My favourite
scene from this movie was probably the Gilderoy Lockhart scene.
I thought that was pretty good. R: In
the third film I think I'm really looking forward to doing all the
stuff with Lupin and Sirius Black, with those characters. In this
film, I loved filming the duelling scene because there was a huge
crowd in there and I love all the scenes with loads of people and
plus having Ken Branagh and Alan Rickman together was fantastic
to watch. G: My
favourite scene in this film was the flying car, because that was
just wicked. And in the third film, I'm looking forward to meeting
one of the dementors. Q: If
you could really do magic, what's the one spell you'd most like
to cast? G: I'd
like to have the flying car. I think that would be really cool. R: I'd
like to have the invisibility cloak because if you get into trouble,
then you can just run off very, very fast in the opposite direction. W: I
would like to have an invisibility cloak, too. Q: You
had two new actors working on this film, Jason Isaacs and Kenneth
Branagh. Can you talk a little bit about working with them and did
you do anything to initiate them into the group? R: It
was amazing working with Jason Isaacs and Kenneth Branagh. Not only
are they two of the most fantastic actors, but they're two of the
nicest people. So far as initiation, there was nothing that I know
of. W: They
are two of the most fantastic actors on the set and off the set
they're two of the nicest guys ever. They're the funniest guys I've
met as well. G: I
was a bit nervous about meeting them at first. But they're just
really nice people, very down to earth and funny. Q: You
guys have given three years of your lives to this film series so
far. What's been the most satisfying aspect of it all? Is it the
attention? Is it acting? Is it meeting the people? G: It's
meeting the people. It's going to places like New York. It's coughing
up slugs. And it's seeing the final (version of the film). That's
really good. R: I
think one of the best things is actually seeing the finished product,
like Rupert said. You work on it for 10 months and then you finally
see it, and it's a really great moment when you actually see it
all completed. W: You
guys nicked my answer. You spend 10 months doing it, but you haven't
seen the special effects. You haven't seen the editing. You haven't
seen anything. So it's this massive surprise when you see it. That's
really, really rewarding. Q: What
do you each identify with most in the characters you're playing?
And has that carried over into your real life at all? W: In
my real life I don't go around saying 'Holy cricket' too much. Sometimes
I find myself saying some of the lines from the film, but not very
often. R: I
think I'm going to have to go and have therapy one day because when
I keep reading the books I just found out more about myself that
Harry has in his personality, too, like curiosity, loyalty, not
being afraid to stand up for yourself, getting into trouble. G: When
I was reading the books I was starting to relate to Ron because
we're kind of similar. We both have ginger hair. We both are scared
of spiders. We both have quite a big family and we both like sweets. Q: You
guys will be 75 years old, in your rocking chain and still known
as the Harry Potter children. Is there a downside to that? R: If
I do go on to act or whatever I decide to do, I think I'll try to
separate myself from the character. At the same time, it's not something
I'll ever be ashamed of. This is a huge achievement and something
to be proud of. W: I
think I could be 100 years old and be in my rocker, but I'll always
be very, very proud to say that I was in the Harry Potter films. G: Yeah,
me too. Q: Daniel,
this character has a dark side to him in this film. What did you
learn from that? R: I
think everybody has a dark side, really. However much you show it
or whether you're afraid to show it, I think everybody has it. So
it was great to be able to show Harry's dark side. It was just great
to be able to show that he's not flawless, he's not the perfect
person. Q: Do
you have a favourite subject at school? And what do you want to
be when you grow up? W: I'm
not very academic. So I'd have to say sports or art. If it had to
be academic, it'd probably be English and history. What do I want
to be when I grow up? I have absolutely no idea. I'm just going
to go with the flow. R: I
love English at school. That's what I really love, reading and writing.
So I think I might like to be a writer or, as well, because I was
given a love of film by Chris Columbus and (Potter producer) David
Heyman, I might be a director. G: I
don't have a favourite subject. I feel I'll carry on doing this
(acting) because I really enjoy it. Q: Some
fundamentalists over the past couple of years have taken note of
Harry Potter and said, 'Oh my God, it's witchcraft!' What's your
reaction to those criticisms? R: I
can't really see how it's Satanism or anything. In the first book,
the thing that saves Harry from being killed is the love that his
mother had for him. I don't see how that can be judged as evil. Q: What's
on your Christmas wish list? G: I
don't know. More socks, I think. R: A
DVD of The Royal Tennenbaums. W: More
clothes. (Asia Features) |
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