Grint also shows off his comedic skills in this sixth Potter film. "I have to say, I think this is, for Ron, for my money, in terms of the comedy, this is Rupert's finest hour," said Daniel Radcliffe. "He’s absolutely brilliant in this movie. It kind of reveals himself to be a fantastic practitioner of physical comedy. You balance the dramatics off as well, obviously wonderfully, but the scene on the broomstick in Quidditch which is like something out of Buster Keaton or something. It’s absolutely brilliant, and I was belly-laughing, it was wonderful."
Also attending the press day for the Warner Bros Pictures film was the lovely Emma Watson. Watson has come a long way since the first time we saw her onscreen in 2001 as the sassiest wannabe female wizard at Hogwarts, Hermione Granger. She was just 11 years old when Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone hit theaters, and now she's ready to go off to college.
Emma Watson and Rupert Grint at the Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Press Conference
What did you all learn most about your characters in this film?Emma Watson: "I think in the film, we've seen quite a strong Hermione, quite a girl-power Hermione. She’s the brains behind the operation, kind of dragging the guys around with her. But in this one, I think you see a very different Hermione. She’s much more vulnerable and fragile and emotional. I mean, she's experiencing her first heartache, really. So it was much more of a challenge for me to play this as a much more emotional and vulnerable person. It was also fun to do a lot more comedy with Rupert, which was great. So, I had a lot of fun doing this one, and I learned a lot."
Rupert Grint: "I like to think this is Ron’s best year. He gets a girlfriend, he joins the Quidditch team for the first time. And, yeah, it was nice to have something to really get stuck into."
Has it finally set in that the Harry Potter series is ending?
Emma Watson: "I don’t think Harry Potter will ever die. It's so big and so loved. We have the theme park coming out in 2010. I think kids will keep reading the book and new generations of kids are going to keep watching the films. I don’t really as if it will ever really go away. I think it’s got longevity."
How much time did you spend working on balancing the light comedy and the heavy drama?
Emma Watson: "I think it was a nice break. If Hermione kept going at the rate she was going, in terms of the amount of worrying she was doing, she might have developed a hemorrhage. So it was nice that she had…that there was a bit of light relief, for all of us. Because for kids’ books, they are pretty dark. They can be pretty heavy and pretty serious. I think having some more that that, I think, heightened the pathos at the end, when [spoiler deleted] dies. By having some other light…it was pretty shocking when suddenly a very big figure in this series has just died. It’s really good."
Rupert Grint: "I think it is one of the funniest ones out of all of them. You have two new characters as well, Jim Broadbent, who I think is hilarious in it, and Jessie Cave, as well, who is my girlfriend. [Laughing] Yeah, I really enjoyed it, yeah."
Apparently there was a kissing scene that was filmed but didn’t quite make it into the movie. How disappointed were you about that?
Emma Watson: "I think there might be a small misunderstanding. But the kissing scene that they have is in the seventh film. It wasn’t a case of we did it, it was sh-t and it didn’t make it. [Laughing] Well, we’ll see, because they haven’t gone to edit the last one yet. But yeah, we did the scene about two weeks ago."
Rupert Grint: "We did it, and it was quite a strange thing that we had to think about doing. But, I think it was right."
Emma Watson: "Yeah, David [Yates] doesn’t really let us watch playback, but he let us watch playback for this because Rupert and I were quite nervous that it might look ingenuous because we were desperate to get it out of the way. I think we just felt the pressure of 'this kiss' because there was so much media interest. And also the fans kind of…It's like 10 years worth of tension and hormones, chemistry and everything. And in one moment, we had to ace it. So it was like, ‘Oh God...,’ but hopefully we did it. I’m sure you’ll critique it, but please be nice."
Since you started the films so young, are you able to go back and watch the earlier films and watch yourself acting at that age? Do you cringe or critique what you did at that time?
Rupert Grint: "I haven’t watched one all the way through in a long time. They are on TV, occasionally, and I’ll flick through and it is quite surreal, kind of, seeing that, because it doesn’t really feel like me. I feel quite detached from it. It’s quite weird. But they always bring back good memories, because it was quite an exciting time. It’s nice."
Emma Watson: "Really, I find it easier to watch the earlier films, which might surprise you, because I had the whole bushy hair, chipmunk face, big cheek thing going on, which wasn’t a great look for me. Actually, I find that easier to watch because I can completely disconnect myself. It felt like such a long time ago. I really don’t identify myself with that girl, whereas, the ones from one or two years ago, they’re a little bit close but I’m like a couple of years younger. I find that much, much harder to watch. I’m very self-critical anyway, but it’s still a very nice experience. Actually, I think a lot of actors don’t watch their work."
Page 2: Hormones, the Harry Potter Books, and College
