The Making of the Potterverse (24 page)

QUESTION:
What was cut?

EMMA:
Oh my goodness. There were a couple of fights with Ron that were cut. There was an awkward hug with Ron.

QUESTION:
Why was it awkward?

EMMA:
Well, just on the exterior, I think, Hermione and Ron spend the whole film just arguing with each other. Ron is convinced that Hermione’s cat has eaten his rat. But I think that it’s a bit of a cover-up really, because they have a bit of a soft spot for each other, and it’s a classic love/hate relationship. You always tease the ones that you like.

QUESTION:
How do you prepare for the tough scenes in the film, and was it difficult to clean it out of your system afterwards?

DANIEL:
I don’t know. Harry, being a teenager, has the same feelings as every other teenager basically, but because of his past I think that he feels those feelings of anger and loneliness more strongly. I think that was kind of hard for me. But because I’m obviously feeling the same things as him, I just basically exaggerated them and listened to music or something to get me in the right state of mind for filming and I just kind of hoped for the best.

EMMA:
I have to say that Dan focused so hard on a lot of the scenes
in this. One of the scenes he did, he was so into it he almost fainted.

DANIEL:
I do this kind of stupid thing where I forget to breathe properly. I haven’t done it lately.

QUESTION:
You’ve been able to work with some amazing actors. . . .

DANIEL:
It’s amazing. I’ve watched I’d say 90 percent of Gary Oldman’s films and I have so much respect for him as an actor. I think that he’s one of the greatest actors of his generation and it was a complete inspiration to work with him. He’s actually the nicest guy as well. He gave me a bass lesson. He’s a really great bass player. It was so amazing for us to be working the [in] same room as Gary, David Thewlis, Alan Rickman and Timothy Spall all in one go. It was unbelievable.

EMMA:
Daniel almost bit my head off at one point. He said, “Gary Oldman has been cast as Sirius Black,” and I went, “Who?” Now I know that is the most terrible thing that I could possibly say, ever. Even though I didn’t know him, just working with him, he did such a good job. He’s great.

QUESTION:
Did you learn anything working with these casts?

EMMA:
Working with Emma Thompson, I had such a good time with her. I had really good fun with the scene that we did, because she was very creative and very involving with me, and she said, “Why don’t we try this? Why don’t we do it this way? Wouldn’t it be good if we said this line here?” It was really flattering for her to involve me like that. It was really great and I had a really good time with her on that. I hope it gets some laughs in there.

QUESTION:
How did you enjoy having your own story line in this film?

EMMA:
I loved it. It’s my favorite book. It’s such a fantastic part for Hermione. She really comes into her own. I think that you see a really different side to her than you have in the other two. I think that it’s much more personal, and this film has tested and challenged me. I’ve definitely enjoyed it the best out of three because of that.

QUESTION:
What do you think about Michael Gambon’s transition in the role of Dumbledore?

EMMA:
I think that, obviously, it’s very hard to follow Richard Harris. A lot of people thought that he was a perfect Dubmledore. He did a really, really great job. Instead of trying to make himself look exactly like Richard Harris, trying to copy him, he did his own thing with it. He’s still Dumbledore, but he put a different spin on it.

DANIEL:
He’s more of a mischievous Dumbledore.

QUESTION:
What’s been the funniest thing you’ve experienced with a fan?

DANIEL:
I went to MTV and I’m about to go again. It was the first time that I’d been there, and you’ve got the huge windows all around, and Carson Daly took me over to one of the windows and pointed down and there was a girl down there, and you’ve probably heard this before, but a girl was standing there wrapped in a towel and nothing else and holding a sign that said, “Nothing comes between me and Harry Potter.” It was a Harry Potter towel as well.

Penn State announced a Harry Potter–related program designed to tie in to
Prisoner of Azkaban
that would explore the world of science as presented in Harry’s realm. Action Potential Science Experience camp director Rebecca Peterson said, “The Harry Potter books are capturing the imaginations of our young people, so we are providing them with a stimulating context for learning about the science behind the magic.”

Feeling the film was immoral, the Chinese government banned
Prisoner of Azkaban
, noting that it and other forms of media were having a corrupting effect on the youth of that country.

Edinburgh University bestowed an honorary degree on J.K. Rowling in recognition of her contributions to children’s literature. The author enthused, “To receive such a tribute from the city I now call home, and to be in such distinguished company, means a lot to me.” Elsewhere she announced that she would be offering a public reading at the ticket-only Edinburgh Book Festival. “This will be my fifth appearance at the Edinburgh Festival,” she said. “There have been readings for each of the first four Potter books, and this time my appearance will coincide with the UK publication of
Order of the Phoenix
in paperback. I am looking forward to the event very much, because there will be a relatively small audience, which means I can see faces and take questions directly from the fans.”

News of mentally disabled children being kept in cages in the Czech Republic shocked J.K. Rowling, who was vocal in the public demand for an investigation. “I am sure that I am not alone in feeling a deep sense of shock that a fellow member of the European Union like the Czech Republic could permit such abuses,” Rowling exclaimed. In response, Czeck President Vaclav Klaus wondered to the media if the author knew more about the situation than she had read in the media, claiming that the situation had been exaggerated.

A Missouri post office was shut down in an anthrax scare caused by a letter sent by a Harry Potter fan that contained white powder. The sender intended it to be “floo powder,” using talcum powder as a substitute. Oops!

Harry Potter fell under attack again, this time by a French professor who criticized the novels for their “individualism, excessive competition and a cult of violence.”

British actress Miranda Richardson was announced for the role of
Daily Prophet
“journalist” Rita Skeeter in
Goblet of Fire
.

J.K. Rowling’s official Web site reportedly received 220 million hits in just eight weeks. When she had launched the site, the author wrote, “Everything on here was written by me, J.K. Rowling. This is where I can tell you the truth about rumors or news stories, where I can share the extra information I haven’t put in the books, where I can give you hints and clues about what’s going to happen to Harry next and where I can announce I’ve finished book six. And, no, that’s not going to happen very soon.”

A pair of prop diaries used in
Prisoner of Azkaban
were reportedly sold for more than $4,000.

British actor Ralph Fiennes was cast in one of the most important roles in the Potterverse, that of dark Lord Voldemort, in
Goblet of Fire
. “Voldemort is someone who knows no love,” David Heyman notes. “He thinks of love as a flaw. He is the embodiment of pure evil. Someone who is powerful and attractive. Ralph is an actor of great depth, and he captures the complexity of Voldemort’s charisma and darkness brilliantly.”

At a public reading of her work in Scotland, J.K. Rowling offered some interesting albeit cryptic news items about her future Harry novels. Reported the
Guardian
, “The writer revealed a few morsels about her hero, including the revelation that he ‘survives to book
seven,’ although she refused to confirm whether he would grow up to be a wizard. She also revealed that there were two vital questions she had never been asked about the series that might help to unravel its mysteries. She said they should be asking themselves, “not ‘Why did Harry live?’ but ‘Why didn’t Voldemort die?’” “The second question, she added, is: “‘Why didn’t Dumbledore kill, or try to kill, Voldemort?’”

He Who Is Named Ralph Fiennes, who was announced as Voldemort for
Goblet of Fire,
goofs around with Daniel Radcliffe. (Stuart Ramson/AP Photo)

Despite rumors to the contrary, J.K. Rowling noted that the character of Gilderoy Lockhart was
not
based on her first husband, adding that “the living model is worse. He was a real shocker. I can say this quite freely because he will never in a million years dream that he is Gilderoy Lockhart.”

On the release of the paperback edition of
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
on August 17, Scholastic was thrilled to learn that the tome had immediately hit the top of the bestseller lists.

According to
The Times of India,
director Mira Nair (
Vanity Fair
,
Monsoon Wedding
) was offered the directorial chair for film number five,
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
. Said Nair, “I read it over the weekend. I’m still deciding. I’m not letting all of this go to my head. I’m grounded. I practice detachment; it helps me keep my balance. My son Zoharan’s excited. I’ve seen all the Harry Potter movies with him.”

In China,
Order of the Phoenix
sold over 1.1 million copies in 2003, an astounding number for the territory.