Press Watch - 2004

Short quotes and comments by and about Daniel Radcliffe from around the media.  If you find any more, please send them to us!

Source: The Sun, 4th November 2004

Actor (and recently retired 007) Pierce Brosnan, speaking at the UK premiere of After The Sunset, when asked to speculate about who might make a good future James Bond:

“For the next Bond, COLIN FARRELL would be great. But if you want to go even younger, Daniel Radcliffe. Give him a few years. You can see it, can’t you? He’ll be great. From Harry Potter to Bond.”

Source: J.K. Rowling Official Site, 15th August 2004

Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, speaking at the Edinburgh Book Festival, throws out a little compliment to Dan amongst some advice to female fans!

I make this hero - Harry, obviously - and there he is on the screen, the perfect Harry, because Dan is very much as I imagine Harry, but who does every girl under the age of 15 fall in love with? Tom Felton as Draco Malfoy. Girls, stop going for the bad guy. Go for a nice man in the first place.

Source: NME (UK), 11th August 2004

Former Stone Roses frontman Ian Brown, who had a bit part in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, talks about Dan's musical tastes:

Harry Potter, the boy Daniel, loves music. He's right into his guitar bands. He says he gets loads of grief at school but he holds it down. We went to the aftershow party and there's about 20 15-year-old girls around him like bees! That kid's got it going on!

Source: Honolulu Weekly (USA), 14th July 2004

From a review of Conversations (similar to Inside the Actors' Studio, sponsored by the Screen Actors' Guild) at the Ernst Lab Theatre at the University of Hawaii-Manoa. Actor Richard Chamberlain had very high praise for Dan in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban:

"He was so centered...he had found a place of such extraordinary knowledge of himself, such amazing honesty. As a person, I had lived outside myself for so long, trying to please everybody, trying to make nice friends and manipulate the world to love me...and [Daniel Radcliffe] had this real integrity...I'm sure he would have no idea what I'm talking about."

Source: Yahoo! News, 1st June 2004

From an article by the Associated Press entitled "'Harry Potter' Actor Wants to Be in a Band":

He's known to millions around the world as Harry Potter, but Daniel Radcliffe wants to be famous for his music. "I'd like to be in a band — a really good band. Guitar music — but like good, intelligent guitar music," he told The Associated Press in a recent interview.

The 14-year-old has spent most of the past four years making and promoting the movies based on J.K. Rowling's fantasy books. But he's not worried about being typecast.

"Hopefully, I've just got to work hard and prove to people that I can do other things," he said.

So what kind of projects would he like to do?

"Anything that's interesting and diverse and kind of original and has a great director, which I know is a lot to ask," he said. "But I have faith that there are things out there like that."

Radcliffe doesn't think he'll ever regret not having a so-called normal childhood.

"What is a normal childhood really? I mean, I don't think there's any such thing," he said. "I love making the films, I love doing them. I don't think I will ever regret it because I think in many ways, I've had an even better childhood than a lot of people. But we'll have to see. Ask me in 20 years."

Source: The Sun (UK), 1st June 2004

From an article by Victoria Newton entitled "Harry Rocker":

If Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe could really wave a magic wand, he would love to be transformed into a rock star, but he doesn't want to end up like his hero, Libertines star Pete Doherty, who is hooked on drugs. Daniel, star of the blockbuster "Prisoner of Azkaban" told me "I'd love to play in a rock band but given that Pete Doherty has been in the Priory, I think I've got the better deal. I don't want to end up in rehab" The actor added: "The Libertines are still the best band in Britain and I can't wait to hear the new album. They are riding the crest of a wave of brilliant British music and they will go down in history as one of the best bands of our generation. I hope Pete gets better and gets back together with the band. It would be a crime if they didn't carry on."

At the film bash I also found out that, if Daniel's music career doesn't take off, he's still got a great future. Harry Potter Director, Alfonso Cuaron thinks Daniel and co-stars Emma Watson and Rupert Grint are magic. Alfonso told me, "Daniel has an outstanding presence and I wouldn't hesitate to cast him in a future film."

"Emma has what it takes to be the next Audrey Hepburn and Rupert has the best comedy timing of any young actor I've ever met"

I hope Daniel sticks to his words and doesn't become a Harry pot-head.

Source: New York Post via Yahoo News, 30th May 2004

From an article, entitled "Scary 'Harry'", about Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban:

Radcliffe, on the other hand, has turned out to be a very hard worker

"Dan is hungry for knowledge," says [Chris] Columbus, who worked on "Azkaban" as a producer. "He stands with the director and asks lots of questions - I can see him being a director himself one day."

Radcliffe has a couple of very intense scenes in "Azkaban," and [Alfonso] Cuaron helped him prepare by screening a few classic movies about disaffected teens, such as Francois Truffaut's "400 Blows."

When it came time to emote, Radcliffe was ready.

"Dan was so willing to go there," Cuaron told Premiere magazine.

While shooting a scene in which he helps Oldman to fight off the Dementors, Radcliffe got so deep into his character that he almost fainted.

"Sometimes I forget to breathe," he explains. "I hyperventilate."

Radcliffe's intensity continues off the set, too.

He's a big punk-rock fan who likes headbanging to Iggy Pop, and is also an inveterate cinephile who counts "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas," "Twelve Angry Men," "Donnie Darko" and "anything with Scarlett Johansson" among his favorite movies.

Source: Philippines Daily Inquirer, 18th May 2004.

From an interview with Alfonso Cuaron, director of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, entitled "The New Wizard Behind Harry Potter":

How was it working with Daniel, Rupert and Emma?

It has been so much fun, they are absolutely amazing. And it is a perfect moment to work with them on the movies. I know they are prepped and are starting to take themselves seriously as actors, becoming more serious about the craft. They have been very courageous also from an emotional standpoint. They are even willing to go into the internal turmoil.

Just like the actors themselves, the characters of Harry, Ron and Emma did some growing up as well. How does this element fit into the movie?

Yeah, that is priceless because of two things. One is they are very generous because they lend that to the characters. And secondly, because there is lot of stuff that they cannot control, and it allows you to mold it and make the decision to just let it happen.

What was the biggest challenge you faced in filming "Prisoner"?

There were scenes that were difficult because of the length of the shoot, for example, the Shrieking Shack shot forever. We shot forever because it was a very long scene that incorporated a lot of actors and we suffered some scheduling problems. The challenge was to do a whole action scene when you don't have all the stuff, like doing a scene with planes bombing except you don't have the planes so you have the actors running around. Daniel Radcliffe was amazing-he has such an amazing visual imagination and he understands the rules so well. It's easy with kids because you can ask them to make-believe. They can do that immediately, but it's not so easy for the adults. With the three kids, I just received them in the best moment. They had done two big movies before, they understood everything about the technical aspects, the craft around them, and they were 13 years old-that means that they are at an age when they start taking themselves seriously as actors and that they want to learn and improve their craft. I'm so thankful for these guys because they really went for it, they really wanted to go beyond what they had done before. For example, previously they used to break up the shots because they had a problem remembering their lines. This time they were older, more focused. In the beginning, they were a little scared because they hadn't done it before, but then they started doing and enjoying it. Now Mike Newell, director of the fourth movie, is going to receive them already knowing the technical aspects and having done an "emotional workshop." Mike is such a perfectionist in terms of performance, after number four, these kids are going to be the best actors in England! I'm really excited about what Mike is going to do with these kids.

Source: The Book LA (USA), Spring/Summer 2004.

From an interview with Gary Oldman (Sirius Black), talking about working with children and animals on the set of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban:

Q: Does that make it hard or easier to act?

A: It makes it a little harder to keep a focus, a continuity, or a level of emotion and energy. But when you take on a movie that involves children and animals and special effects, it's a process that you just have to surrender to. It's time consuming, and it's slow, and it can be bone-crushingly boring, until those moments when you're actually in the moment doing it. But the three main kids, Rupert (Grint), Emma (Watson) and Daniel (Radcliffe), are focused and professional and unspoiled, not remotely precocious or pretentious. They are just down to earth, really nice kids. And I adore Dan, who plays Harry. He is the coolest coolest kid.

Source: Premiere (USA), June 2004.

From an interview with Alfonso Cuaron, director of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, entitled "When Harry Met Alfonso":

Q: Harry's much angrier then we've seen before.  How did you work with Daniel Radcliffe to bring that out?

A: We're talking about themes and subtexts and context, but also we're taking about Harry Potter;. you cannot take Harry Potter and turn it into The 400 Blows.  Even so, I asked Daniel to watch The 400 Blows before we started shooting.  There's a certain aspect of the13-year-old kid who's angry and in discomfort.  [Initially] Steve [Kloves] and I got carried away with that; then, when we were shooting, I remember calling Steve, saying, "Maybe we are becoming too somber with this."  Dan was so willing to go [there] - actually he was too willing; sometimes we needed to bring him back a bit and remind him that Harry Potter's also a cool 13 year-old kid.  The amount of pain that he put into [some] scenes was almost dangerous.  He almost fainted [once], and it was like, "Hey, Dan, let's slow down here a bit."

He was concerned early on about one scene in which he had to cry.  So we worked very closely on that scene; I started questioning him about things that he had to respond out loud [to], and when he got a moment of intensity we rolled the camera and the whole emotional thing came immediately.  I thought, "Oh, man, each time we have an emotional thing, we have to do all this work."  No - next time I see Dan in his little corner, talking to himself.  He learned how to go through his own process.  He's a sponge.

Source: Washington Post, May 12th, 2004

From an interview with Alfonso Cuaron, director of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, entitled "Harry Potter's New Direction":

Q: Why is Daniel Radcliffe so good as Harry Potter?

A: He's amazing. He's really a very special human being. . . . On one hand he's absolutely smart, like a sponge in that he wants to learn everything and devour everything; but also he is absolutely generous and gentle. He has an amazing sense of humor.

Source: Rolling Stone (Mexico), May 2004.

From an interview with Alfonso Cuaron, director of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban:

When I met Daniel, he was into all this punk stuff. You know, Sid Vicious and The Sex Pistols. I teased him telling him he was older than me, and that he was stuck in this 60’s vibe, and didn’t know all this new music. Is impressive to see how much he’s evolved, I’m scared of talking to him now. And now it’s me the one that doesn’t know anything about music, while he’s the expert. The typical teenager that when he’s interested in something, he breathes it. He lives for the music, all day with his iPod, and he has every new album of his favorite band, and knows all the songs. Plus, he’s a little trivia machine. He’s at that age when you start having more opinions, and your own political view on things. We were filming during the war in Iraq, and they had their own point of view about it. That’s a cool age, and the coolest thing was that they left everything to me, which I greatly appreciate.

Source: 7Extra (Belgium), May 20th, 2004

From an interview with Robbie Coltrane (Hagrid in the HP movies), talking about how the trio have grown up:

Q: Despite all the little troubles, you didn't hesitate to continue the journey?

A: Well the first time, I did it for my children. If I wouldn't have done it, they (never would have forgiven me). And I had the intuition that it'd be something huge, and if I didn't accept it, I would have miss my chance at the gold watch. The real fun is to play with young actors like Daniel and Emma. Well, it would be easier for me to play Hagrid without a beard and the morning make up task, but, as for the rest, all is real fun, so I don't complain... too much!   The thing is to not fall in a sort of routine, (to keep cool). The books really help to renew me.. In every case, there is no way I (would) give up my part to another.

Q: How do you judge the evolution of the Trio: Daniel, Emma and Rupert?

A: This is huge. I've known them three years. I saw them growing up. (On) the first set, they were still children. The boys couldn't stop (making their noises). All three of them. They couldn't stay calm. All of this has stopped suddenly. When we saw each other for the third film, I was stupefied by their transformation. They aren't "kids" anymore. They're more mature, calm. They put gel in their hair. This is funny.

Source: Newsweek, May 3rd, 2004

Preview of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban from Newsweek's Summer 2004 movie preview article, "Movies: Summer Muscle":

Being the most famous boy in the world could go to a 14-year-old's head. The first two "Harry Potter" movies raked in $1.8 billion worldwide, so what's truly magical is that Daniel Radcliffe isn't a monster. Not even close. "Being famous is kind of—" he starts to say, but then stops. "I never like to think of myself as famous, because you start to think in a different way and then you become really weird." See? And he hasn't even met J. Lo. As for the movie, this time it's directed by Alfonso Cuarón ("Y Tu Mamá También"), so expect a more stylized ride. Gary Oldman joins the cast as the sinister convict Sirius Black, who's pursuing Harry, along with some soul-sucking Dementors who turn the air arctic whenever they show up—a Cuarón touch that isn't in the book, and made for a particularly wicked game of Quidditch. "It just looks brilliant!" Radcliffe says. "It's this really big action sequence, and all the raindrops turn to ice and start to cut Harry's face. When we were shooting they were chucking water over me before each take." Pause. "They did heat it, I'm glad to say, which I'd like to think means they like me." 

Source: Entertainment Weekly, Apr 2004.

Preview of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, which was second on Entertainment Weekly's list of "10 Summer Movies We Can't Wait To See":

RELEASE DATE - June 4

WHY WE CAN'T WAIT - We've had to endure more than 18 months without a new ''Potter'' picture. Plus, we're intrigued by the choice of Alfonso Cuarón (''Y Tu Mama Tambien'') as director.

THE PREMISE - Renegade wizard Sirius Black (Gary Oldman) escapes from Azkaban prison and comes looking for Harry (Daniel Radcliffe, above right, with Rupert Grint and Emma Watson), now in his third year of study at Hogwarts.

SOURCE - The third book in J.K. Rowling's projected series of seven ''Harry Potter'' novels

THE BACK STORY - Chris Columbus, who directed the first two ''Potter'' movies, stepped back and took a producer's title this time. Successor Cuarón may be best known for his racier recent work, but he also directed the underrated 1995 kids' film ''A Little Princess.''

BURNING QUESTION - Will Cuarón's vision, darker and more freewheeling than that of Columbus, scare the kiddies and alienate the fiercely protective ''Potter'' purists? And will fans embrace a new Dumbledore (Michael Gambon, taking over from the late Richard Harris)?

COME FOR - A streetwear-clad, angry, ''punk rock'' Harry, (in Radcliffe's words)

STAY FOR - New additions to the Hogwarts bestiary -- Dementors and hippogriffs, oh my!

Source: TIger Beat (USA), May 2004

Dan on his weirdest fan experience:

"I was on MTV once and there was this girl in her 20's standing outside in a Harry Potter towel that read 'Nothing comes between me and Harry Potter'.  It was really weird."

Source: Pop Star! (USA), May 2004

From the "Cool Casting" movie gossip column:

We called Harry Potter stars Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint about June's Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and the boys spilled the (magic) beans!  "I think lots of this film is a more emotional journey for Harry," Daniel told us.  And Rupert thinks fans will notice other changes as well: "I've got a bit taller and my voice has broken!"  There might also be some flirtations!  "A lot of people have said that Hermione and Ron (could get together)," Rupert teased.  "but I don't know!  I think it will happen, but I'm not sure!  Ron argues a lot with Hermione, which of course was quite fun to do.  She's got the cat and I've got the rat and the cat kept trying to eat my rat, so we got to argue a lot!"  The set sounds fun too.  It even had... its own golf course???  Daniel told us, "We were making a golf course in Rupert's room.  We made it surprisingly well with the things that we had."  Sorcerers will be sorcerers!

Source: IGN Filmforce, Feb 18th, 2004.

From an interview with Robbie Coltrane ("Hagrid" in the Harry Potter films), on the set of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: 

Q: On the first film, I remember you telling the press that Daniel [Radcliffe] changed your cell phone to Turkish. Have the pranks gotten a little more sophisticated?

COLTRANE: No, the jokes have got worse though. I think he's got a hankerin' to be a comedian. He keeps telling me jokes that, uh - he goes, "You're really gonna hate this one, OK?" And he tests me with them all, because I haven't seen him for a while. He gives me about 40 jokes, most of which were in the [mix] when I was about 10. But they don't know, because they've never heard them before. Some people say there only are 10 jokes.

Source: 7Extra (Belgium), Jan 2004.

On Dan winning their Best Film Actor readers' poll for 2003 (he was also the winner in 2002):

Daniel Radcliffe est magique. Comment fait-il pour plaire autant? Avec de la poudre de perlimpinpin ou tout simplement grâce à son talent? Ceux et celles qui ont voté pour celui qui incarn Harry Potter connaissent déjà la réponse. Orlando Bloom grimpe en flèche à la deuxième place, Brad Pitt ne fait plus l'unaminité et Jim Carrey, irrésistible dans son jeu d'acteur, s'est attiré cette année de nombreuses préférences.

Rough translation:

Daniel Radcliffe is magic. How does he make us like him so much? With magic powder or quite simply thanks to his talent? Those who voted for he who plays Harry Potter already know the answer. Orlando Bloom shoots into second place, Brad Pitt does not get the unanimous vote any more and Jim Carrey, irresistible in his play of actor, attracted numerous preferences this year.

Source: YM magazine (USA), Mar 2004.

Alyssa Vitrano, an editor at the magazine, lists the "Get Born" CD by Jet as one of her "editor obsessions" and thanks Dan in the magazine's March issue for introducing her to the band:

"I owe this one to Daniel Radcliffe, AKA the actor with the cool taste in music who plays Harry Potter. I met him at a photo shoot where he introduced me to the Aussie rock band. Listen, love, then thank Dan!"

Source: Los Angeles Times (USA), Jan 16th, 2004.

From a mini-biography for kids about J.K. Rowling:

Meanwhile, Warner Bros. won the right to make a movie of "The Sorcerer's Stone." Joanne required that she have a say in the screenplay and that the film be live action, not animation. When she met Steve Kloves, the screenwriter, she was ready to hate him. "This was the man who was gonna butcher my baby," she said. But Kloves won her over by saying that his favorite character was Hermione. Joanne thought that if he could appreciate Hermione, they could work together.

Thousands of children tried out for the part of Harry. Finally, 11-year-old actor Daniel Radcliffe arrived to audition. He looked and acted exactly as Joanne imagined Harry to be, and he got the role.

Source: Telepocket (Belgium), Jan 2004. 

Anecdote regarding Dan's support of the Demelza House children's hospice:

Depuis qu'il interprète le rôle d'Harry Potter, l'acteur Daniel Radcliffe reçoit de nombreuses marques de sympathie de la part de ses fans. Pour la fin d'année, il a annoncé à ses admirateurs que tous les cadeaux qu'il recevrait seraient envoyés aux enfants malades de l'hôpital Demelza House. Depuis, l'établissement croule sous les présents.

Translation:

Since he interpreted the role of Harry Potter, actor Daniel Radcliffe has received of many expressions of sympathy on behalf of his fans. For the end of the year, he announced to his admirers that all the gifts which he received would be sent to the sick children at the Demelza House hospital. Since then, the establishment is collapsing under the presents.

(NOTE: The article is a little misleading: Dan's original appeal requested that cash donations be made to Demelza House instead of sending him any presents - click here for more information.)

Source: Bravo (Germany), Jan 2004.  Thanks to Angelika and Sabine for help with the translation.

Anecdote from the June page of Bravo's 2004 calendar:

Finally - on 4 June 2004 the waiting will be over. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban starts showing in our cinemas.

Of course Daniel Radcliffe (14) is playing the leading role again. And while the Dementors are giving us the creeps, Daniel will already be filming Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in England - five days during the week. How is he able to fit this in with school?  Daniel: "Very simply! We have tutors on the set, and when I am not filming, I am learning Latin vocabulary. I just say 'carpe diem'. That means 'Seize the day'."

Daniel has only one big wish for his 15th birthday on the 23rd of July :: "I would like to have a drum set like Lars Ulrich from Metallica - that´s cool!"

Source: Chicago Sun Times, Jan 1st, 2004

In the Sun-Times' list of "who will make it in 2004":

THE BOY WONDER: Just in case you're having Hogwarts withdrawal, it's now less than six months until Harry Potter and pals return for their third-year wizarding. Daniel Radcliffe is back as the Muggle minder in "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban," in which he deals with renegade wizard Sirius Black. We hear that he's been allowed to age like a real kid under the new direction of Alfonso Cuaron.

Source: Empire (UK), Jan 2004 issue

Jeremy Sumpter, star of the new "Peter Pan" movie, on visiting the set of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban::

"When I was in London, [Jason Isaacs] was filming Chamber of Secrets, so he invited me on set.  I met Daniel Radcliffe."  Make no mistake, this is an epoch-making moment, a pre-pubescent passing of the torch...  So, did Sumpter lay the smackdown on speccy four-eyes Potter?  "Of course not!  He's cool.  I'd actually love to work with him," says Sumpter.  "You know how they made Freddy Vs. Jason?  They should make Peter Pan Vs. Harry Potter."  And who would win that titanic struggle?  "I would!"'