Daniel Radcliffe Talks Harry Potter
The famous wizard talks about his new movie
Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter. (Photo: Courtesy Warner Bros. Entertainment)
It’s a big year for Harry Potter, whose final adventure will be published on July 21. Six years ago, Daniel Radcliffe began playing Harry. With only two more films to go, Scholastic News Online talked to Daniel about Harry’s latest caper, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
Q: At the end of the last film, Hermione says that everything’s going to change. What do you think she meant?
DANIEL RADCLIFFE: Well, this film feels like the years before the Second World War. You know that a war is coming. There’s a feeling of growing danger that you can’t pin down. We know it’s Voldemort, but we don’t know when he’s going to attack or even how he’s going to attack.
Q: I think Dumbledore has the line, “Fear makes people do strange things.”
DANIEL: Yes. I think there’s a lot of that in this film. The relationship between Harry and Dumbledore gets really interesting here because of fear. Dumbledore thinks Voldemort might be using Harry’s eyes to see what I’m seeing. And so Dumbledore ends up ignoring Harry at the time when Harry needs him most.
Q: Harry gets into trouble right away in this movie. What happens?
DANIEL: Oh, wow! Well, he’s really irritated at the Dursleys. So he leaves the house and goes to sit in the park. Then, Dudley comes up to him and starts bullying him. But then, a pair of Dementors attack both Harry and Dudley. Harry casts the Patronus Charm to try and send them away. And he then gets a letter from the Ministry of Magic saying that not only has Harry used magic outside of Hogwarts, but he has used it in front of a Muggle. It goes on to say that he’s going to be expelled because of it. Harry and Dudley are in the park and Dudley’s bullying Harry. And Harry’s understandably very, very upset. That’s when he begins to get letters begging him to stay where he is and not to do anything rash. And then members of the Order of the Phoenix take him to Grimmauld Place, which is the headquarters of the as well as Sirius’ old house.
Q: What is the Order of the Phoenix?
DANIEL: The Order of the Phoenix is an organization dedicated to fighting Voldemort and the Death Eaters. In the books, Dumbledore founded it several years before our story. And it’s not only a chance for Harry to fight back, but it also means a lot to him because his parents were in the Order, as well as Dumbledore, Sirius, and Lupin. So I think it’s got quite an emotional value for Harry as well as just being a chance to fight Voldemort.
Q: It doesn’t sound like a fair trial when the Ministry of Magic decides Harry’s fate at Hogwarts.
DANIEL: It’s very unfair. Harry is in there to be found guilty and nothing else. But while he’s in there, Dumbledore, with the help of a witness, manages to sway the jury and the Ministry onto Harry’s side. Well, everyone besides Cornelius Fudge, Percy Weasley, and Dolores Umbridge.
Q: Throughout the five films, you’ve had all these years with all these great actors. You must have learned so much!
DANIEL: It’s amazing. I would say that Imelda and Gary Oldman are the two people who I’ve learned the most from on these films. You just don’t stop learning when you watch them.
Q: Speaking of learning, tell me a little bit about Dumbledore’s Army.
DANIEL: Harry becomes a teacher, using all the knowledge that he’s gained over the last five years to try and train as many other people as he can how to fight because he knows that Voldemort is back. He knows there is a war coming. And so he knows that if Hogwarts isn’t teaching its students what they need to know, they won’t stand a chance against everything that’s about to happen. So he puts together a training group called Dumbledore’s Army. At first, he’s a really reluctant teacher. Hermione talks him into it. As usual, Hermione’s right. She always comes out on top in these situations.
Q: And he has a special student in the class that maybe he gives a little more attention to, right?
DANIEL: Yes. He kisses Cho Chang. And he doesn’t do that with all the pupils. That would interfere with the whole student/teacher relationship. Harry and Cho both knew Cedric and so through each other they feel guilty about their kiss, but at the same time it’s almost therapeutic because they both lost someone. It’s a similar situation with Harry and Sirius. Harry gets to know a bit about his father through knowing Sirius, who was his father’s best friend. And Sirius gets to experience more of his old pal James in Harry. And so they’re both very complex relationships.
Q: I know it wasn’t your first screen kiss, but it was Katie’s. Were you nervous? Was it difficult?
DANIEL: I was slightly nervous because I knew Katie was so nervous so I was quite nervous as well. There was lots of courtesy chewing gum going in my mouth that day. But it’s odd. It’s quite a clinical sort of thing because you’re there and you’ll sort of be in the kissing position and someone will say, “Dan, move to your right.”
Q: Harry gets pretty angry in this film. It seems like the film and the book are trying to make connections between Harry and Voldemort in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. What do you think?
DANIEL: That’s always been one of Harry’s worries—ever since the first film when the Sorting Hat said, “You should be in Slytherin.” So he’s been thinking, “I’ve obviously got potential for evil inside me. That’s what that must mean.” He also knows that he might have a bad side because of his relationship with Voldemort. But I think Sirius really helps him deal with those issues. He tells Harry that it’s our choices that define whether we’re being good or bad in the world, not a Sorting Hat or a magic scar. I think that’s very true.
Q: If you could cast a spell in real life, what would it be?
DANIEL: I’d cast a spell to make myself invisible. That would be cool.
Q: Who makes you laugh the most off the set?
DANIEL: Matt Lewis. He plays Neville and he’s really funny. It’s exciting because Neville really gets to stand up for himself in this film. Voldemort killed his parents and a lot more of Neville’s story comes out here. So Matt’s got a whole new role in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
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Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
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Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
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