Ooh, he's a magic man
Daniel Radcliffe says growing up Harry was strange indeed, but he wouldn't have it any other way
LONDON -- Harry Potter has grown up. Do you hear that, teenage girls?
Although sometimes, he says, it's easier to remain a child forever.
Just the other night, Potter himself -- actor Daniel Radcliffe -- was at one of the first London screenings of his new film, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix."
(Warner Bros./AP)
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Boy to wizard
And then -- total mortification!
"There's a part in the new movie where there's a picture of me onscreen from the first Harry Potter film. Harry is remembering his past and they show a clip from the old movie. All of a sudden all of the girls in the audience start sighing and going, 'Ohhhhhh, you were so cute.'
"It was soul destroying," Radcliffe winces, clutching his heart in pain.
A few days later at the Claridges Hotel in London, he arrives in dark slacks, a dark shirt and that trademark short, spiked hair. He doesn't wear Harry's trademark little round specs, but he does have that warm, sweet smile known to moviegoers across the globe.
Radcliffe starts with the news that just made headlines. He is signed for the next and last two "Potter" films -- "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" and "Harry Potter and the Darkly Hallows." The last one is based on the final Potter book, due out on July 21. He says signing on to finish the series was a no-brainer.
"It is important to realize that it's a lot of work and commitment. It can't be rushed into lightly. But the media made more out of if we would sign or not than was true. All of us wanted to come back to finish the series from the start," he says of his own motives, plus those of actor Rupert Grint, who plays his wizard friend Ron Weasley, and Emma Watson, who plays the brainy girl with powers named Hermione Granger.
Radcliffe says the last three films will be especially daunting. In "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," the fifth movie in the megapopular franchise, Harry and his friends are fighting for their lives against the life-sucking Death Eaters and the evil Lord Voldemort.
Their school, Hogwarts, has been taken away from their mentor Dumbledore, and they must confront Voldemort, whose plan for Harry becomes clear: One must die in order for the other to live.
"It's dark, which means it's really important for me to leave the character and all of his problems on the set at the end of the day," Radcliffe says. "At the same time, it's hard to detach myself from Harry. I do get attached."
He says Harry really grows up in the new film. "He starts off as a reluctant leader in this fight against Voldemort," he says. "By the end of the movie, he is Henry V. I even got notes to rein it in a little bit."
There is a major action scene in a room filled with lights, mirrors and the devil himself.
"The only problem with filming those scenes is there was real fire and mirrors all around me. It was like working in an oven," Radcliffe says.
He says audiences even will see a moody teenage Harry in this film. "He lashes out at his two best friends. But a lot of teens do that because of the intimacy with the friends. You know it will be OK," Radcliffe says. "Harry can also be selfish now. He feels like he needs to live up to this image of the great defender of all things magical."
Radcliffe had a long talk with author J.K. Rowling about the change in Harry's demeanor. "I talked to Jo about how a lot of people said they didn't like Harry's anger in book five," he says. "Jo just said, 'He has a right to his anger.' "
He's not that angry. Harry also gets to have a screen kiss with another student at Hogwarts.
"I love the scene after the kiss," Radcliffe mentions. "We were all in hysterics on the set. It was genuine and all of us were in a giggly mood. We couldn't keep it together."
The London native says growing up with the character was a strange way to live his childhood, but he wouldn't have it any other way. "People want me to say that I couldn't live without Harry Potter," he says. "The real question is: Did being him influence me? And the real answer is: I don't know. I don't think he has influenced my character.
"Maybe I influenced him," he says.
Radcliffe says international stardom hasn't really influenced him. He hasn't even gone crazy spending his Potter paychecks. "I'm quite interested in artwork, but I'm not into cars," he says. "Of course, people expect me to have a classic car collection. I read that I just bought a very expensive Fiat and it was reported in London that I was waiting for them to get me the right shade of green car.
"It never happened," he says.
His fans, which span all ages, should be happy to hear Harry Potter won't be zipping around in a racecar. "It's funny, it's such a unique, varied audience that I have fans of all ages. Potter is one of the few films that appeal to every demographic from all around the world.
"The kids who were 10 when the first film came out and are now growing up -- they're our age," he says. "And now their younger brothers and sisters are into it."
Radcliffe is sure of his future once the Potter franchise wraps forever. He plans to act and direct. He also just starred on London's West End stages in the play "Equus," where he was naked for part of the production. "The stage experience was phenomenal," he says. "It came along at the right time for me. To spend 16 weeks in front of a live audience, just taking chances, was fantastic."
Radcliffe will star in the indie film "December Boys" due out later this year and shot in Australia. "It's about four boys growing up in a Catholic orphanage in the outback," he says. "They're sent on holiday due to a generous donation and have various rights of passage.
"It's a warm, heartfelt film," he says. "It's also very different from Harry Potter. The boy I play is more restrained than Harry.
"I want to carry on -- maybe even write someday. I'd like to write poems," he says.
Do you hear that, teenage girls?
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