Daniel Radcliffe at the Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Press Conference
Since you started the films when you were so young, do you cringe or critique the earlier films when you watch them?Daniel Radcliffe: "I haven’t watched any of the films after they’re done. I think it would be an entirely disruptive experience for me if I was actually to watch that. I’m far too critical. I remember we were having a conversation on the fourth film. I remember I said something like, 'God, I saw a clip from the first film the other day. God, I can’t believe how bad I am in it,' or whatever. I said something to the affect of, 'Why did they cast me?' The only reason I remember it was on the fourth film that we had this conversation was because Mike Newell’s massive booming voice on the other side of the set came back, yelling, 'Because you’re absolutely bloody charming!’ [Laughing] In answer to your original question, I have not watched any of the films."
Can you talk a little bit about the sexual tension in the film? They're great at magic but they can’t control their hormones. Do you continue to reconcile it in the seventh film?
Daniel Radcliffe: “I think it’s kind of a wonderful thing in the film, the fact that these guys are all… Particularly, I find it very endearing with Harry, the fact that he’s this kind of very, very acclaimed wizard and he’s crap with women. I think it’s a wonderful, rather endearing quality that he has. I think this film does demonstrate basically two types of teenage relationships. One, which is mine and Bonnie’s, which is that kind of teenage thing when you’re just in love and it’s pure and innocent and it’s all that matters in your life, is when you’re like 14 or 15 and you fall in love with somebody. That’s all there is. And the other kind, which is kind of much more carnal and energetic, which is the one Rupert was lucky enough to have. [Laughing] Yeah, but those are my thoughts on the relationships in this sixth Harry Potter film. You kind of lost me, slightly, to be perfectly honest, in the reconciling thing. I wasn’t sure I quite got what you meant about that."
You have such great control over magic but not over hormones.
Daniel Radcliffe: “Absolutely, and I think that is probably quite true of teenagers, a complete inability to control hormones or desire. And it’s no different with wizard children."
J.K. Rowling was still writing the books as the earlier ones were being filmed. How did the process work of you reading these books, knowing that you were going to have play what these characters were doing, specifically in books six and seven?
Daniel Radcliffe: "My reading of the books was always one of sort of, ‘Oh God, another one’s dead. It’s another death scene. Oh God.' I always would be able to very much enjoy them when they came out but I would, also there’d be a lot of… I would get nervous when I’d read them about whether I would be able to do justice to certain aspects, which is probably not the healthiest mindset to be in when you read them. But I don't know, I couldn’t help it."
After doing six Harry Potter movies, will you continue acting or do you have any other ambitions?
Daniel Radcliffe: "I think certainly from my point of view, I definitely want to go with acting, as long as I can find employment. I love it, and to be honest, I’m never happier than when I’m on a film set. So long may that continue. I just want to keep working on this, to be honest. Not on Potter, just acting."
How would you characterize your relationship with David Yates compared with the other Harry Potter directors?
Daniel Radcliffe: “I’ve had nothing but great things to say about David. We get closer every year. We get on very, very well off set. We have a very, very good relationship, not only professionally but personally as well. I think as we go on in the films, we become more in tune with each other to the point that he could say cut and I will immediately know, without having to see or hear him, know whether what I’ve just done is what he wanted. Simply because I know what he’s looking for in a performance. At least I think I do, but I can’t always get there. He’s always very good at being honest with me as well, saying to me, 'You can do better than that.' And that’s a wonderful thing to have, that trusting relationship with a director."
“I think also the thing with David is that even if he was shouting, you wouldn’t really be able to tell. He’s a very, very softly spoken man, so his manner is wonderful on set. You would never pick him out as the director. Nothing about him screams, ‘I am the creative powerhouse of this movie!’ He’s a very quiet and gentle man. What he had in a good way as a director, which is brilliant, is that he has the ability to be able to see the entire storyline in his head in one frame almost, and be able to encapsulate it all in his mind at any given moment. So he can pick out moments from the end of the fifth film and find a relevance with them at the beginning of the seventh. He will find things, link moments constantly in the story. He’s just got a fantastic vision of the films from day one. Also, one thing I will say, very quickly, before I bore you all with this praise is his enthusiasm for being on Potter is the same now as it was on day one of the first film he did with us."
