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Summary:
He’s the most famous wizard in the world and he’s looking for a girlfriend …

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Questions and answers

Daniel Radcliffe

He’s the most famous wizard in the world and he’s looking for a girlfriend …

How much a different experience has it been with a new director?

Chris Columbus had a very high-energy approach to the whole thing. Alfonso Cuarón is much more laid-back, yet with an intensity that is suited to the third film. As I haven’t seen anything on the third film yet, I can’t compare them visually yet.

Has he given you a new perspective on the character?

Definitely. The leap from the second book to the third book in terms of Harry’s character is the biggest out of the whole series because Harry is basically becoming a teenager now and that brings so many things with it. He’s got angst and is unsure of himself and confused.

Do you feel the same as Harry?

In certain things I do. I can’t say I feel isolated from people; I’m surrounded by huge amounts of people every day. I think in the sense of confusion I do, the things every adolescent goes through. A universal thing. When you are a teen you question the world a lot more than you do when you are nine or 10. When you first see him, he’s 11. When he turns 13 in this book, it opens up a whole new world; he’s starting to notice girls, which brings a huge amount of other stuff into it.

Do people still see you as Harry?

You know, people who’ve known me five years have started to call me Harry. People I meet on the street actually call me Dan. That is confusing – people who don’t know you seem to know you better than people who do. Very confusing. It is kind of weird, as I have actually started to talk about Harry as if he is another person that I know, like one of my friends. Which is actually quite worrying.

Do you ever hate Harry?

Wow, not really. There are parts of his character that are not particularly nice, but everyone has them. I think in some aspects he is extremely arrogant. In a way, his negative points are what I love about him because he is not like the perfect hero. He’s incredibly flawed and that’s what makes him such a real character and you can associate so much with him.

Are you never annoyed with people associating you with him?

I don’t think so, it never annoys me that people associate him with me. I’ve been playing Harry for three and a half years now and it would be pointless to be angry about being associated with him. Such a huge amount of my life has gone into it.

Do you have a girlfriend yet?

No, I don’t. There are a whole load of girls that I really, really like but I haven’t got a girlfriend as such. Yet. I get a lot of free time to relax, I get weekends and there is six months this time between the films. Apart from having to go back to school.

Is this movie an exact adaptation of the book?

There are always going to be things left out because you would have a four-hour film if you kept everything in. Especially in terms of the characters it is very loyal. What makes Alfonso such a logical choice is Y Tu Mamá También was a film about teenagers becoming men and Harry Potter 3 is about children becoming teenagers and he understands, and gets, teenagers. I think he was the perfect choice.

Have you read the fifth book?

I thought it was absolutely fantastic. It was big, I’m normally a very slow reader but I read it like in five days.

Is it like reading the future?

In a way it is weird, because you start comparing the future Harry to the Harry now. And that is what I started doing. In a way I couldn’t read too much into it, but I had to have an idea where Harry is going. If you start to concentrate too much on that Harry then it will affect the Harry you are playing now.

What are you into at home?

I’m watching The Deer Hunter at the moment, which is fantastic. I love Christopher Walken. I’ve watched Donnie Darko and the other day I watched Double Indemnity, which was really cool. I also watched Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas because I’m reading the book. It was awesome. I love Johnny Depp.

Is there a sense of loss not having Richard Harris who played Dumbledore around?

There is that. I do miss Richard because he was Richard, I loved him. But, Michael Gambon, I can’t think of anyone better to stand in. Like on his first day, he came out with the costume and beard and the way he walked and talked in an Irish accent was a tribute to Richard, really good. He’s going to be great.

Will there be life after Harry?

I’d like to think so, yes. I hope so.

Yeah, but look at Mark Hamill after Star Wars.

But he did get to do a voice on The Simpsons.

23 May 2004

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