Daily Archives: November 17, 2010

Harry Potter and the Beginning of the End With Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Ralph Fiennes, More!

Posted on November 17, 2010 by James Rocchi

If you’ve had your eyes even half-open during the past 10 years of pop culture, you may be acutely aware that “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1″ is coming to the big screen on this Friday. The first installment in the two-film adaptation of the final book in J.K. Rowling’s acclaimed series, it’s the beginning of the end for a film series that’s run over a decade and made billions of dollars while still managing to be impressively well-made and unexpectedly engaging. “Deathly Hallows” isn’t just a rousing adventure in its own right; it’s also full of hints as to how the final film will play out: with real action, real stakes and real consequences.

Talking with Daniel Radcliffe in London, I have to ask him about his reaction when he was first told the final book would be, in fact, split into two films — was it a sigh of exhaustion, or one of relief? “My reaction was, I was overjoyed, to be honest,” he says. “I was advocating it should be two films when I read the book, because I just thought it was impossible. The thing is, people say, ‘Yeah, but it’s not the biggest of the books.’ Well, the fourth (‘Goblet of Fire’) and fifth (‘Order of the Phoenix’) books, they’re big, but there’s so much you can cut from them.”

Diplomatically, Radcliffe explains, “Not being horrible, but if you’re being tough and ruthless about this, you can strip away a lot of stuff (from books four and five) so that you’re still left with the main story. In (“Deathly Hallows”), there aren’t really any subplots. Everything is contributing and vital to the main story, so it’s very hard to tell that story if you cut it down into one movie. Also, I think a lot of the stuff that would have been cut is the stuff that is in this first film where we’re in the forest, and that journey. That’s the really interesting character stuff where we get to explore the relationship. So I think if we had to cut all that, it would cut all our action in the movie, and I would have lost a lot of heart.”

Radcliffe is also honest about what pieces of Harry’s world he’s already grabbed for himself — and what he’s going to miss. “Well, I’ve got the glasses; I’m taking the glasses,” he says. “But also, there’s all the stuff in Dumbledore’s office. Dumbledore’s office is a very, very cool set, because it has a kind of amazing astrolabe and stuff like that. I’ll probably never get to work on a film again where it’s just the norm to have these amazing set pieces everywhere you go.”

This raises the question: Is it going to be hard for Radcliffe to adjust to other films in the future, where the material — and, more importantly, the budget — aren’t going to allow for the level of splurge and spectacle the Potter films have enjoyed? “Very, very few films have a budget comparable to ‘Harry Potter,’ he says. “It’s wild. So, I’m on a film now (‘The Woman in Black’) which is not made for a fraction of the money that ‘Harry Potter’ is, but is, I think, going to be just as good in terms of quality and in terms of how it looks. But I do think I’ve been spoiled, especially in terms of the sets that you just get to walk around. The fact that a huge amount of the exterior stuff of that we do in (“Deathly Hallows”) was actually filmed in the studio where we build forests. There are very few films I’ll go into where they’ll have that kind of capability.”

Finally, I ask Radcliffe what it’s like to be done filming the saga but not done with the release of the saga, as “Deathly Hallows: Part 2″ isn’t slated to hit theaters until July 2011. Is he finished with the films? Is ‘Potter’ frenzy in his metaphorical rear-view mirror? “To an extent, I am finished, but every so often I see it coming up, and then behind me again. I’m on another film at the moment, and next year I’m doing a musical in New York, ‘How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.’ So I’ve got lots of stuff already going on … but July of next year, I will be doing ‘Potter’ again, so it keeps coming back. I think the premiere of the last film will be where I draw the line.”

–From my article at The Rundown

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Emma Watson on Harry Potter: 'Everything Is at Stake'

Posted on November 17, 2010 by James Rocchi

With her cropped hair evoking ‘Rosemary’s Baby’-era Mia Farrow, Brown University’s most famous (and wealthiest) undergraduate, Emma Watson, laughs when I ask her if the escapes and chases her character, Hermione Granger, faces in the first part of “Deathly Hallows” represented a high point in on-screen action for her. “Oh, no. The best is yet to come,” she says. “‘Part 2′ is much more action-y. But you’re right: I did do a lot of running. I would come home in the evening after filming and be unable to work. I was so sore. We did so much crazy running. It’s not just any running; it’s like running for your life kind of running, so it was pretty exhausting.”

With grisly murders and brutal torture, “Deathly Hallows: Part 1″ nicely demonstrates one of the more intriguing things about the Potter series, which is how series creator Rowling transitioned children’s books into young adult novels with more action and increasingly dire consequences as the characters aged year by year, book by book. I ask Watson if she appreciated that slow-but-steady upward trend of risk and action in the series. “I think there’s definitely an awareness in this movie that everything is at stake,” she says. “You really get a sense of that right from the get-go. It’s very intense.”

And yet, even in the chases and fights, director David Yates finds moments of grace, like a scene where Harry and Hermione, in exile, dance to Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds’ “O Children.” I ask Watson if those moments were not just nice but, in fact, essential. “Absolutely,” she says. “I think it’s a reprieve from the darkness and the danger and everything. To have that fun moment of us having this dance and him cheering me up and us just being innocent and silly and kids … it’s a really important scene.”

And for all of Watson’s time in the limelight — and her status as 2010′s best-paid actress, with a $30 million-plus payday for “Deathly Hallows” — she’s still enjoying her youth, and she smiles when I ask her what Potter props she intends to take with her. “I was a good girl — I asked permission — but I took Hermione’s time-turner and her wand and her cloak,” she says. “I got those three. Maybe I’ll pull that out for Halloween one year.” And, I note, go out dressed as herself, which is either ‘vain’ or ‘awesome.’ Watson laughs. “Yes, I’m not sure. It’s a fine line.”

And while Watson can see the finish line approaching with next July’s release of the second half of “Deathly Hallows,” her closing remarks to me make it clear that while she’s aware of the Potter series ending, she’s also aware that the Potter legacy is just beginning: “It’s funny, it’s kind of ending for me in stages. It’s kind of gradually ending, which gives me lots of times to process it. Next summer, when the last movie’s released, that’ll be when it’s really put to bed. But I think — I hope — these movies will keep getting praise for years to come, so it wouldn’t ever really be over; films last years and years and years and years.”

–From my article from The Rundown

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Harry Potter's Rupert Grint: Jealous, Paranoid … and Loving It

Posted on November 17, 2010 by James Rocchi

Looking surprisingly beefy in a long-sleeved T-shirt, Rupert Grint — best known as Harry Potter’s pal, right-hand man and comedic relief Ron Weasley — is, like his co-stars, grateful that the last book in the series that made him a household name (in households with kids, anyway) was going to be two films. “I think it was a really good decision, actually,” he says. “Especially from our point of view: ‘Deathly Hallows’ being such a messy book, with so much detail, we could get a lot more in two films. Really, we didn’t really notice, because we filmed it as one film. It just felt like one long film.”

Grint also gets some nice scenes in “Deathly Hallows,” where, under the spirit-crushing burden of a locket containing part of series villain Lord Voldemort’s soul, he gets grunged up with sallow skin and haunted eyes like something out of ‘Trainspotting,’ lashing out at Harry and Hermione. Did that, I ask, make for a nice change? “Yeah, it was good,” he says. “It was fun. For all the characters, it’s a much darker environment. The whole dynamic of us really changes, and we’re not school kids anymore. Ron’s frustrated with Harry because he’s kind of leading us into death traps, and we’re not progressing that much. He’s jealous and paranoid. It was fun to see that side of him.”

Grint also offers how he enjoyed the more run-and-race tone of the action-oriented “Deathly Hallows.” “No, I think this is definitely a nice action movie,” he says. “We’re kind of running for our lives, really. We aren’t at the school (Hogwarts); we’re kind of on the run, and out in the real world. We changed the wand fights, as well. It’s kind of more inspired by sword fighting. It’s really more aggressive. This one is really kind of setting us up for ‘Part 2,’ which is like a war film, really. It’s like one massive battle; characters are dying as well, which is kind of shocking for a Harry Potter movie.”

Asked about his last day of filming, Grint is clearly taken back to the recent past — and, perhaps, a little unsure about what was going to happen in a future where his life has no “Potter’ in it. “I still don’t quite believe it, actually,” Grint says. “It was a really emotional day. I was surprised how it would affect me. We actually cried. It was really bizarre. But it just really overwhelmed me. It’s just been such a long time, and it comes all down to just one shot and we just … go home and relax. It was really weird.”

–From my article at The Rundown

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Ralph Fiennes: Playing Voldemort and 'A Very Light Grasp on Power'

Posted on November 17, 2010 by James Rocchi

Never mind the snake-faced makeup the series has put him in, or his status as the franchise’s big bad villain Lord Voldemort — any fan of great acting would feel a moment of caution sitting down with Ralph Fiennes. I ask him — and make it very clear I’m not suggesting acting is merely playing dress-up — if putting on Voldemort’s face helped him get into character. Fiennes smiles. “Any dressing up can be helpful for actors, so even if you have a mask, you look at the mask and you put it on and it helps. You become something, so it can be a help in the sense of transformation. One of the reasons I wanted to do the ‘Harry Potter’ films was the artwork they showed me for the look of Voldemort, which I thought was great. Like the shape and look of his nose-less face was scary — almost sort of reptile-meets-death’s-head.”

So, I ask the Oscar-nominated actor who’s played soldiers, explorers and gods how exactly one prepares to play an undying, all-powerful dark wizard? “To be honest, it’s something instinctive,” he says. “The long robe is a kind of thing we start with. We’ve had different versions of it, but essentially it’s a long robe. That dictates a certain amount. It limits your movements and encourages a certain way of walking. You want to try to float, and not stride too much. And also, I had this wand, which had a hook on it.” Fiennes demonstrates, arm outstretched, how he could use the hook and just dangle his wand casually in his hand: “A very light grasp on power.”

So, I ask, between unleashing murderous pythons and committing brutal acts of torture during scenes … did Fiennes ever snap out of character to ask his fellow actors how their weekend was? “Well, sometimes,” he says. “The thing about (director) David Yates is he takes these films very, very seriously, which is great because every actor was challenged to really make the moment tell. So with David pushing you, you have to stay focused. He wants whatever the moment is. If it’s Voldemort threatening Snape — Alan Rickman and I do have a fun showdown, between Snape and Voldemort — I think we needed to keep the focus going. We couldn’t break away too much, have candies.”

Fiennes just wrapped his directorial debut, an adaptation of Shakespeare’s “Coriolanus” with an all-star cast including Gerard Butler, Brian Cox and Vanessa Redgrave. Has he, I ask, been conspicuously keeping his eye open for learning opportunities while he’s been acting in recent years? “Yeah,” he says, “and I think for many years I’ve been more and more quite aggressively curious about the other side of the camera, so that’s how ‘Coriolanus’ started to come to be a reality. Especially on ‘Deathly Hallows,’ which was the last film I did before shooting (‘Coriolanus’), I was very aware of everything being done by the camera, and also the rhythm of sets. I think over the years you build up a sense of what a good set can be, the atmosphere and the momentum. While I was making ‘Coriolanus,’ it’s very important to me that the energy and the concentration on the set was right.”

–From my article at The Rundown

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Harry Potter Director David Yates on Risk and Rewards

Posted on November 17, 2010 by James Rocchi

After talking to the leads of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1″ I had a chance to sit down with director David Yates, the man who’s been responsible for  and the final four films of the Potter saga. I asked him what happened every time one of the Potter books, hot off the presses, arrived in the mail. “You know what we do? My partner in all of this is (screenwriter) Steve Kloves, and Steve dives straight in and he starts the adaptation,” he said. “Steve does the first bash through; equally, I’ll go through the book and note certain set pieces that I love, all the secrets that I think are important.”

Considering the scope and sweep of Rowling’s final Potter novel, that wish list got fairly full fairly fast. “That’s one of the reasons we made two movies, because I did the list of things I’d like to put in the film, and we budgeted those,” he said. “The budget went through the roof, so by spreading the cost across two movies, I’m able to bring as much as possible to the audience — which, for me, is important, because I got hammered on the fifth film (‘Order of the Phoenix’) and the sixth film (‘Half-Blood Prince’) by some fans for not including, say, Quiddich in ‘Order of the Phoenix.’ It was the right thing to do in the adaptation of ‘Order of the Phoenix’ because the rhythms of that film didn’t need Quidditch, but they missed it — this is going to be the last-ever Potter experience for them, and we wanted to give them as much as possible.”

I mentioned to Yates how much I liked how the saga’s Ministry of Magic, under Lord Voldemort’s new management, looks oppressive and fascist. Did “Deathly Hallows” give him a welcome opportunity to layer some grit and darkness on the Potter universe? “That was one of the joys of (‘Deathly Hallows: Part 1′), the fact that it gets quite intense,” he said. “It’s edgy; it’s a thriller; it’s a road movie. The subversion of the ministry, the way that the Death Eaters and Voldemort ultimately start to creep into that — I found that really fun. There’s something quite Kafka-esque about the whole Ministry of Magic to begin with: When it gets turned into producing pamphlets which are basically propaganda about how dangerous Muggles can be and how important it is to turn in any ‘impure bloods,’ those are very key part of themes in the movie.”

And, luckily for Yates, his cast weren’t just willing to go into the darkness, but were even pulling him behind them in some cases. “There’s a wonderful moment Emma Watson came up with, actually, which I thought was terrific, which kind of summed it up,” he said. “We were shooting a scene in Malfoy manor where Bellatrix Lestrange (Helena Bonham Carter) is torturing Hermione. It’s quite an intense scene, and I shot it for about five minutes. It’s an improvised scene; there’s only about 20 seconds from it in the movie. Helena and Emma really went for it. I remember the crew, we sat there and were filming it, people were looking at me saying, ‘When’s he going to stop this? When’s he going to cut it?’ Because I’m always looking for a moment that absolutely chills. Emma wanted to give everything, and Helena wanted to give everything. Emma came up with this beautiful idea which I just thought was brilliant: She said ‘Is it all right if Helena writes ‘halfblood’ on my arm in blood?’ That kind of summed up one of the dark themes in the film … and that’s what we showed.” “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1″ opens nationwide this Friday.

–From my article at The Rundown

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