The most remarkable thing about the Harry Potter movies is the fact that they got made with such continuity. Aside from the sad and untimely death of Richard Harris, the entire cast has remained signed on and portrayed their respective wizards through what will be a full decade by the time Part 2 of The Deathly Hallows premiers in Summer 2011. And nowhere is the full breadth of this accomplishment more apparent than in the young actors who play the central characters in JK Rowling's sprawling epic.
The three main wizards, Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter), Emma Watson (Hermione Granger) and Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley) recently spoke with reporters at a New York press conference with other cast members, Bonnie Wright (Ginny Weasley) and Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy) about growing up in a magical universe.
"I think in the films we've seen a very strong Hermione, a very 'girl power,' Hermione," said Watson about how her character has changed over the years. "But in this one, I think you see a very different Hermione, she's much more fragile, and vulnerable and emotional. She's experiencing her first heartache. It was a challenge for me to play this much more vulnerable person."
Harry himself has changed a great deal, according to
Radcliffe. "The big change this year is Harry's relationship to Dumbledore.
This year it's very much a General with his favorite Lieutenant. Harry becomes
a foot soldier in this one."
Indeed, growing up is a big theme for this third film, Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince. The young actors are all of age now, and have completed their primary schooling in Britain. It's only natural they be portraying such well-known characters going through some of the same problems.
"Well, I'm dating my stalker. Haven't you heard? I can be very demanding, but he's so into me," said Watson with a weary sense of humor about the seemingly endless press speculation over her and her cast mate's personal lives.
The rampant coverage is only heightened by the knowledge (if you read the books) that these old friends begin to pair off into romantic relationships beginning with Half-Blood Prince and continuing into the final movies. Watson and Grint, in production for the two-part final book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, recently filmed their first kissing scene.
"It was quite a strange thing to think about having to do it," said Grint. "I think it was alright in the end."
"Rupert and I were quite nervous it would look ingenuous," admitted Watson. "I think Rupert and I felt the pressure of this kiss. There's so much media interest in it. And also the fans. This is like ten years' worth of tension and chemistry in one moment. We had to ace it."
Radcliffe, who in real life is quite a frenzied, fast-talking ham for the press, also lamented seeing his first kiss with Wright on screen at the London premiere a few weeks ago.
"My God, I have the lips of a horse! They're just distending
independently away from my face! So, I apologize Bonnie."
There's even a scene where Harry takes a "Good Luck" potion where he got to act a little closer to true life.
"To be honest, I just sort of let out the more manic side of myself that I suppress for 23 hours a day," said Radcliffe. "I became the uncontrollable, vaguely irritating, but lovable and but also vaguely amusing person that I keep hidden."
"I think drugged Harry is closer to Daniel as a real person," laughed Watson.
Humor seems to keep these young millionaires relatively grounded, and the group appears to have come out of adolescence with no small amount of grace and humility about becoming so famous so young.
All of the boys in the group plan to continue acting, but both Watson and Wright have decided to go to college in the fall.
"I'm a bit nervous," said Watson. "But If I'm going to have this experience, I'm going to do it properly. I'm going to do it like everyone else."
"But, she's dating her stalker! This girl can do anything!" chimed in Radcliffe.
True life after Potter is sill more than a year away, though, with the extended release of the double-feature final book. Until then, life will continue as it has for more than half of their young lives: surrounded by the magic of movie making.
The fame of their original roles will probably never leave them, as Watson found out when she postulated on what kind of college roommate she would be, and what her roommate would be like.
"I really hope they're a MASSIVE Harry Potter fan," joked Radcliffe, with a gleam in his eye. "I really hope you walk in and the first thing you see if your face on a poster!"
