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May 28, 2004 - The normal life of a teenage superstar!

Apart from being the most famous schoolgirl on the planet, life is pretty normal for Emma Watson, who plays Hermione.

Homework, boys, oh, and starring in a major blockbuster! Life is good for Emma. Lizo finds out what famous teenagers get up too.

Lizo: What do you think of the film?

Emma: There has always been so much pressure from the start, I just hope that the third film has done justice to the book, and I have done justice to Hermione, because it’s my favourite book.

Lizo: What’s it like being the most famous schoolgirl on the planet?

Emma: I don’t really feel like that. It feels like I am famous for about two days and then it goes back to being me again.

Lizo: Do you get to have a normal childhood, do all that teenage stuff?

Emma: Yes, I do definitely. When I’m not filming I go back to school, I see my friends. I get to do normal teenage stuff again.

Lizo: What is a typical normal weekend?

Emma: Well, when I’m not filming, sometimes I have some homework to do, I see my friends.

Lizo: In this movie, apart from the glorious moment you get to punch Malfoy, what is the favourite bits for you?

Emma: Apart from that. I was privileged that I got to work with people like David Thwelis, Gary Oldman, Timothy Spall, Emma Thompson, all these fantastic actors and actresses. And I had a great time doing that.

Also, the last scene in the Shrieking Shack really challenged me. So I had a good time doing that.

Lizo: Now the whole Ron and Hermione thing seems to be hotting up in this movie?

Emma: Yes it does! On the outside they spend the whole film arguing because Ron is convinced that Hermione’s cat, Crookshank’s, has eaten his rat. But I think it’s a bit of a cover-up really, because they have a soft spot for each other. You always tease the ones you like!

Lizo: Do you think they are well suited?

Emma: NO! They are completely not suited. But that is what makes them so sweet, I guess.

Lizo: What were the other good bits? What was it like working with Crookshank’s? Was it a real cat?

Emma: I loved working with that cat, he’s so cute. He looks like he has been smashed in the face with a pan. He’s so ugly, bless! But I love him, he’s lovely and fluffy.

Lizo: How did Rupert and Dan get on with him?

Emma: They were just mean to him, they were just teasing him all the time.

L: Did you protect him?

Emma: Of course.

Lizo: What was it like working with Alfonso, how different was it to working with Chris?

Emma: I suppose he has different style and techniques, different ways of doing things.

Lizo: Are you still having fun?

Emma: I still am really enjoying it!

Lizo: Have you met the actor playing Victor Crum?

Emma: I have, he is really nice actually. He’s good fun.

source: BBC.co.uk

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May 25, 2004 - Interview: Daniel Radcliffe & Emma Watson

Things have changed for now 14-year olds Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson. Greeting the press the day after the world premiere of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban in New York, there remains a quietly eloquent maturity in these two British teenagers whose lives have changed since the first Harry Potter film burst in the public consciousness four years ago. Radcliffe is sporting a white t-shirt and jeans, while a glowing Watson wears a sparkling red outfit out of Sgt. Pepper. Full of smiles, the pair agree they have developed over the three films, but don’t know exactly how. “We have just been getting older and maturing”, a reticent Watson begins, now waiting for her male counterpart to finish her thought. Adds Radcliffe on cue. “I think we probably HAVE changed as actors but I’m not conscious of myself changing. I haven’t watched the first film for about three years now, so I can’t really compare it to the third because it’s not very fresh in my mind, “he says. But both admit their confidence has increased throughout the three films, Radcliffe says. “Just because we’re really more experienced with different directors.”

The different director Radcliffe refers too is Mexico’s Alfonso Cuaron, who replaced America’s Chris Columbus for the much darker Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Comparing the two, says Radcliffe, stems from what the pair learnt initially with Columbus. “Basically I think, everything we learned with Chris, we were now able to put into practice with Alfonso”, says Radcliffe. “The reason why he was able to do longer takes and more complicated shots, was because with Chris we just didn’t have the experience or the focus to do that kind of stuff. And it IS harder and more challenging, because we’re getting older and so if we’re NOT getting challenged there’s really no point in doing it.” In Prisoner of Azkaban, Radcliffe may be the title character, but it’s the ever blossoming Watson who ultimately dominates the fourth adventure, punching her nemesis in the nose and virtually saving the day. “I refer to it as my kind of girl power”, Watson laughingly exclaims. Continuing on that theme of the prevalence of girl power in Prisoner of Azkaban, Emily says she hopes she did the character justice this time around, “because it’s my favourite book and such a great part for her, so I hope that she’s what they all thought she’d be.” She adds that Hermione “finally comes into her own in this one. I think you see a really different side to her than you had in the other two. I think her journey is much more personal and this film has really tested me.”

But with that maturity, comes with it growth as adolescents and hormonal change. Both actors laugh when asked about the state of their love lives, admitting, in unison, that they don’t have one. “Sorry to disappoint you”, laughs Radcliffe. But of course both teenagers have become increasingly aware of, let’s say, the opposite sex, Radcliffe shyly concedes. “I’m sure both of us have noticed members of the opposite sex, because we’re both fourteen going through what any teenager is going through.” Daniel does admit, however, that he has begun noticing young women noticing him more. “I’m not complaining”, he adds laughingly. On their down time, with hormones chasing them in all directions, Radcliffe overcomes his hormonal frustrations, he says, by “listening to a lot of rock music” in between takes. Then he smilingly adds. “Hormones are very interesting things and the music definitely helps let off a little steam.”

Nor are they complaining about leaving behind some aspect of their childhood, shooting the Potter films, such as a conventional school life. “I do better at school when I’m on set”, Radcliffe concedes. “I get to see all of my friends without having to do all the work.”

All three of the teenagers are about to begin Harry Potter 4 under the direction of Mike Newell, but beyond that, neither Radcliffe nor Watson are prepared to disclose whether audiences will see THESE actors beyond a fourth adventure. “Each one takes a year to do, so it’s something I’m not focussing on”, says Radcliffe. “One film at a time”, Watson adds laughingly. Yet if age well and truly catches up with the teenagers Radcliffe does admit it would be tough handing the role to another actor. “In my mind it would be very hard to watch someone else play the parts, but the reality is, we ARE getting older.”

Of course for both actors, there is life and ambition beyond the Potter films. Radcliffe says that he really enjoys acting. “I love it and I think it’s really something i want to go on with, but I also want to develop my music and writing.” As for Ms Watson, “I feel incredibly lucky to have been given the opportunity to have been in such a fantastic film. I mean my ambitions could not have even DREAMED of the scale and greatness that Harry Potter is”, enthuses the diplomatic young actress. “But I love performing and being creative. There are so many different aspects of the film world, that even if I don’t pursue the acting, there’s something else I’m bound to end up doing. I’m just going to go with the flow and see what happens.”

Source: Dark Horizons

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Harry Potter stars ‘could outgrow the films’

Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe may be worshipped by schoolgirls across the globe, but his days at Hogwarts could be numbered.

With his 15th birthday approaching, the child star is fast outgrowing the boy wizard he plays in the latest Potter movie, the Prisoner of Azkaban.

Although Radcliffe is already cast to appear in the fourth movie, The Goblet of Fire, producers of the Potter films have warned that at some point the actors who bought Harry, Ron and Hermione to life, may have to step aside to make room for someone younger.

David Heyman, who has produced all the Potter films so far said: “There will come a point when one, two, or all three of them will move on.”

“I don’t know when that will be - with the fifth, sixth or seventh movies - but it’s inevitable,” he told the New York Post.

Harry Potter ages one year with each of the books by author JK Rowling. But movie-makers have been unable to keep pace, with a two-year gap between the second film, The Chamber of Secrets, and The Prisoner of Azkaban.

For now, the child stars are taking school exams and waiting until filming starts in full force on the fourth Potter movie in July.

The Potter movies have brought huge riches to the three young stars, who graced the red carpet for the premiere of the Prisoner of Azkaban on Sunday. Radcliffe is reported to be the second richest teenager in Britain following Prince Harry, after recently overtaking singer Charlotte Church.

Robbie Coltrane, who plays Rubeus Hagrid in the latest Potter movie, which opens in Britain on May 31, told how the child stars were growing up and coping with fame.

“They’re definitely getting older, they’re not children any more. They’re not quite as moody as adolescents.

Source: Telegraph.co.uk

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May 12, 2004 - Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban: An Interview with Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson

Sequels have a way of changing actors. For one thing, depending on the time frame, their appearance is different. Another thing is maturity. For Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson, playing Harry Potter and Hermione Granger, they certainly have faced and experienced many things in the years that have followed the first Harry Potter film. Back again for the third time in “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban”, Daniel and Emma spoke about the changes they have faced.

How have you changed since the last Harry Potter film?

Emma: We’ve just been getting older and maturing.

Daniel: I think we probably have changed as actors as well but I’m not conscious of myself changing.

Do you notice more attention from the opposite sex now that you are maturing?

Daniel: I don’t have a girlfriend, no. I’m sorry to disappoint you. I’m sure both of us have noticed members of the opposite sex because we’re now fourteen. We’re just now going through what every person goes through (at that age). I’m not complaining about the extra attention. At the MTV studios (in New York) there was a girl outside who was wearing just a Harry Potter towel with a sign, saying ‘Nothing comes between me and Harry Potter!’

Adolescence is hard enough, but you have to do it in the public eye?

Daniel: I’m kind of just going through what every other teenager goes through except with posters. It’s not as different as people would expect I don’t think.

Emma: There was a rather awkward hug with myself and Ron (Rupert Grint). On the exterior Hermoine and Ron spend the whole film just arguing because Ron is convinced that Hermoine’s cat has eaten his pet rat. But I think it’s a cover up really they have a bit of a soft spot for each other and it’s a classic love hate relationship to tease the ones you like.

How are you dealing with teenage angst?

Daniel: Hormones are interesting things. I listen to a lot of rock music which I think does help to let off a lot of steam, definitely.

Emma: Daniel and I both have very supportive families. I’m trying to do exactly what I do before I even started the film. Between films I always go back to school, I see all my friends, I play sport and I go to normal teenage parties. All of my money is locked away in a bank until I’m twenty-five and I’m never going to see it until then! I have good friends and family who keep my feet on the ground and keep it real.

Daniel, your character is exploring some intense darker moments. How did you tap into those feelings?

Daniel: Harry being a teenager has the same feelings as every other teenager basically, but because of his past I think he feels feelings of anger or loneliness stronger. I obviously am feeling the same things as him so I basically just exaggerated what I was feeling and listened to music to get me in the right state of mind for filming. One of the scenes was with the Dementors (the flying reaper-like characters who come to suck out the soul of Sirius Black to take him back to prison) and me and Sirius (Gary Oldman) by the lake. I have my soul sucked out and I did this stupid thing where I forgot to breathe properly and I hyper-ventilated and almost fainted.

How did you handle Richard Harris’ death and the replacement of Michael Gambon as Dumbledore?

Daniel: It was awful. I have what I think is the kind of supreme, amazing honor of being able to say that I was in the last scene that he ever shot. I don’t think Richard is the kind of guy who would’ve wanted us to mourn over him. He would’ve wanted us to be happy and just remember him for all the times he made us smile and just laugh.

Emma: Obviously it’s very hard to follow on for Richard Harris. He was a perfect Dumbledore. Michael (Gambone) did a really great job instead of trying to make himself look exactly like Richard Harris or try and copy him, he did his own thing with it and he’s put a different spin on it. He’s a more mischievous Dumbledore.

What was it like working with Gary Oldman?

Daniel: I watched ninety percent of Gary Oldman’s films and I just have so much respect for him as an actor. He’s one of the greatest of his generation. It was a complete inspiration to work with him. He’s actually the nicest guy as well. He gave me a bass lesson and he’s a really great bass player. It was so amazing for us to be working in the same room.

Emma: Dan almost bit my head off when I said at the beginning when he said, ‘Gary Oldman has been cast as Sirius Black.’ I said, ‘who?’ Now I know that is the most terrible thing that I could possible say ever! Even though I didn’t know him, he’s great.

Do you find that you are missing out on your normal lives now that you are committed to the next Harry Potter film?

Daniel: I do better at school when I’m on set, quite a lot better. I still see all my friends all the time so for me I don’t think I’ve lost anything.

Emma, in the film your character Hermoine Granger gets to teach the obnoxious Malfoy a lesson by punching him in the nose. How much fun was that?

Emma: (laughs) I loved it. I loved every single second of it. Girl power, it was great! I would’ve done it for a whole week but we got in a couple of takes. I wanted to do it again! It was fantastic. It is a great moment. It was cool. ) I hope I’ve done justice to her character because it’s my favorite book and it’s such a great part for her in the third book.

Since you are committed to the next film what will you do as you get older than Harry in real life?

Daniel: We are getting older than the characters because there was a longer gap between the third and fourth. I’m now fourteen and go to fifteen in a couple of months. I am getting older than Harry but we are taking it one film at a time. If they don’t want me to do it after five, we’ll have to see then I suppose.

What are your future ambitions? Do you have any political ambitions?

Daniel: God help the nation I’m a politician for! I really enjoy and love acting. I think it’s something I would like go on and do but there’s loads of stuff I’m interested in well mainly music and writing. I’d love to maybe form a band (whether I actually have the organizational skills to get me and some other guys together), but that would be amazing. I’d love to make a record but whether that will happen or not films are something I’d love to carry on doing.

Emma: My ambitions couldn’t have even dreamed of the scale and the greatness that Harry Potter is so I feel really lucky about that. There are so many different aspects of the film world that I might end up doing. I’m just going to go with the flow and see what happens. I’d like to do some stage work because I love to sing and dance and I love the adrenaline rush that you get when you’re right there on stage with an audience responding to you.

Did you fulfill any fantasies of meeting somebody famous?

Daniel: I got to meet some of my favorite actors like Gary Oldman, I actually got to work with him, who I’ve always loved since I’ve started acting.

Emma: Someone I was dying to work with was Emma Thompson who got cast as the part of Professor Trelawney (the quirky spiritualist in the film) because I love her. She did a really great job. She is hilarious. I had really good fun with her because she was very creative and very involving with me. It was really flattering for her to involve me like that

Source: Black Film

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May 8, 2004 - Summer Sneaks — ‘Harry’s’ shape-shifters

Hermione and Ron move to the fore in the third “Harry Potter” film, ready to make magic.

By David Gritten, Special to The Times

It’s been almost three years since J.K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter” characters moved beyond the literary phenomenon and became part of a hugely successful movie franchise. In that time, the primary image associated with the films has been Daniel Radcliffe, playing the wholesome teen wizard Harry, with his trademark round glasses and his perpetual expression of faint surprise.

Well, things are about to change. Now it’s time for Harry’s sidekicks to grab a piece of the action. The third film in the series, “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” (it opens June 4), spreads the story much more evenly among Harry and his Hogwarts school pals Hermione Granger, played by Emma Watson, and Ron Weasley, portrayed by Rupert Grint.

Alfonso Cuarón, the Mexican director of “Prisoner of Azkaban” (he succeeded Chris Columbus, who directed the first two), notes: “Ron and Hermione are companions in adventure in this film, and they effectively drive the third act. It’s pretty amazing to see.”

There’s no question Watson is pleased with her contribution to “Prisoner of Azkaban,” even before she has seen it. She strolls into a room near the production offices, sits upright on a sofa with three embroidered cushions with a likeness of Harry Potter and an owl, and starts chatting.

“The third book is definitely my favorite, and it’s a good script for Hermione,” she says. “She has some great scenes.” There’s a split second in the trailer for the new film when Watson as Hermione apparently punches someone, then says: “That felt good!” And did it? “You’re very right about that,” she giggles. “Yes, I loved it. My first screen punch! It was fantastic!”

So who was on the receiving end? Wouldn’t you know, it was Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton), the rather odious Hogwarts pupil who is a constant thorn in the sides of Harry and his two friends.

“It’s been building up for ages through the first three films,” Watson says, flailing her arms wildly. “He’s been insulting, rude and really hateful. Harry’s going, ‘Ignore him, don’t say anything,’ and suddenly Hermione gets so angry she ends up punching the guts out of him. It’s fantastic! Very girl power!”

Even apart from this scene, Watson thinks Hermione is finally coming into her own: “She’s had two films of being put down by teachers and rudely insulted by Malfoy. In this film, she thinks, ‘Right, that’s it, I’m not having any more of this.’ She storms out on a teacher, punches Malfoy, fights with Ron. She’s really fired up. She’s not taking nonsense from anyone.”

Watson is disarmingly articulate in explaining this. Slim, petite, with a sparkle in her eyes, she wears a pale green cable knit sweater over a T-shirt, flared jeans and cream sneakers with a gold trim. She looks like many English girls of 14 and reveals a bristling intelligence when she speaks. She also has a finely tuned sense of humor. Since landing the role of Hermione, she has constantly stressed how little she has in common with her character. Now she feels less sure.

When Cuarón (who’s noted for his work on 2002’s “Y Tu Mamá También”) met the three young actors, he asked them to write an essay about their characters — what they felt, what drove them, what they believed. The way the three responded fit their characters perfectly: Radcliffe wrote one page and felt he had done rather well. Grint, in true Ron Weasley style, somehow avoided doing it at all. Watson, reacting like Hermione to a set task, wrote some 16 pages — which prompted much on-set teasing.

“Was it 16?” she says now, covering her face and blushing slightly. “Might it have been 12 … or a little less? All right, I enjoyed writing it. But my handwriting’s big! I leave big spaces between words.” In retrospect, she found it a useful exercise. “It made me see Hermione in a completely different way. Alfonso made me think: Why does she do the things she does? Why is she such an annoying bookworm? I thought maybe it’s her mask, her front, so she doesn’t have to show any emotions or feelings. I’d never thought about that before, so for me she became a much deeper person.”

At this point, Grint enters, having completed a tutoring session. (There is an unofficial Harry Potter school at this studio, and all the young actors and their doubles have lessons for up to five hours a day.) His red hair is worn longer than in the films, almost falling into his eyes. He is ultra-casual in T-shirt and baggy pants.

There’s a telling teenage moment between him and Watson; he moves toward a chair next to the sofa but is then persuaded to sit beside her. After much eye-rolling from them both, with Watson complaining he has forced her to move from a warm spot on the sofa, they finally settle down.

Grint agrees that the new film offers more scope. “There’s a story line developing between Ron and Hermione,” he reflects.

“It’s like a little thing going on between them, and there’s a lot of awkward moments in this third one. A few hugs. And we fall out a lot as well. Alfonso thought that was a replacement for our relationship.”

What he enjoys most is being involved in stunt work. In one scene, Ron is pulled along the ground and through a hole in a tree. “That was fun,” he says with a smile. “I did swallow a lot of grass, though.”

Grint, who will be 16 in August, admitted it was hard to adjust to another director after two films with Columbus. “But Alfonso was great. He was into us having a say about things. He wanted us to customize our school uniforms. He thought it would look different, for instance, if we all wore differently knotted ties.

“So I did mine a bit scruffy. I had my shirt half untucked, the top button of my shirt undone.” He pauses for effect. “A bit like I wear my real school uniform, actually. Dan was a bit tidier than me, but Emma being Hermione, everything was perfectly done up.”

He’s an engaging young man, with sleepy eyes, a slow smile and an ability to stay quiet in conversation, then deliver a funny line almost sotto voce. Grint is an intriguing contrast to Watson, who talks fast and energetically, in perfectly formed, complete sentences.

Both want to continue acting. “I’d be up for doing all seven Harry Potter films,” Grint says. “I really enjoy acting. You meet new people, go to different locations.” Another trademark pause. “It’s quite easy as well.”

Watson has learned she likes performing and expressing herself: “I love art. I love being on stage, singing, dancing. So even if I don’t end up acting, maybe I’ll try screenwriting, whatever gets thrown at me.” She wrinkles her nose. “I can’t really see myself in an office.”

The adults around them think they can fulfill these ambitions. Cuarón says of Watson: “If she decided, she could have a big career. She’s growing up so beautifully. I’d love to work with her again, away from ‘Harry Potter.’ She listens intensely, and there’s an intelligence and warmth about her.” As for Grint, he enthuses, “I’ve never seen a young actor with such a brilliant timing for comedy. But that’s Rupert in real life as well. Definitely there’s a career there for both of them if they want it.”

An important neutral voice is also pushing Watson’s claims. Jina Jay, one of Britain’s leading casting agents, specializes in finding child actors, including Jamie Bell for “Billy Elliot.” “I feel Emma has enormous potential as a future leading actress,” she says. “I’d expect her to explore her abilities carefully beyond ‘Harry Potter.’ I also feel she’s clever and focused enough to only choose material and directors for whom she feels passionate.”

It’s striking how unspoiled and natural Watson and Grint seem. “They’re not like stage kids at all,” says David Heyman, producer of the “Harry Potter” films. “They don’t behave like stars, and we don’t treat them as such. A lot of the cast and crew are like family here. They’ve been on all three films. So the kids get gently teased, and treated like everyone else. There’s a mischievous air on set.”

It helps that these unlovely studios, situated in the middle of nowhere about 20 miles north of London, lack glamour. And they are hard to find. In the three years since filming started on the first “Harry Potter” film, only a handful of fans have even made it as far as the security gates.

Watson and Grint are determined to remain levelheaded. “I still do normal things,” Watson insists. “There’s nothing I can’t do now which I could before the films. I hope I’m exactly the same person.”

Grint echoes her sentiment: “My friends don’t think I’ve changed. I’ve tried to stay pretty normal throughout all the films, and my friends and family have helped in that. I’ve just kept living the same way.”

Source: L.A Times, Veritaserum, DanRadcliffe.com

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