In a new interview, Billy Nighy talks about his role as Rufus Scrimgeor in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

“It came about simply because they asked me, finally, to be a wizard – I thought I was going to be the only English actor of a certain age who wasn’t in Harry Potter but now that turns out not to be the case,” he said.  “I know most of the cast, I’ve worked with most of them at some point or another. They were all very generous and it was a really nice job,” he said.

“I am working again with David Yates, who I’ve worked with four times altogether now and I love working with him. And it was nice to see Julie Walters, who I sort of started out with.”

Bill also met stars Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint.  “It was great working with Daniel and all the guys and they were very very good fun. They all made me very welcome, because they’ve all been together for years and years and years,” he added.

Thanks SnitchSeeker

According to The Press Association, Daniel Radcliffe has been voted as the celebrity thought to be the best Valentine’s Day kisser.

The 20-year-old actor – who has locked lips with Cho Chang and Ginny Weasley playing the wizard on screen and bared all on stage in Equus beat off competition from Hollywood hunk Johnny Depp and Twilight’s Robert Pattinson to be crowned dream kisser in the poll by www.getpark.co.uk

Daniel gained a whopping 2,653 votes, 53 per cent of the 5,000 who took part in the survey, while Pirates Of The Caribbean star Johnny lagged behind in second place with 1,811 votes – 36 per cent.

Despite being such a teen heartthrob Pattinson was third with just 160 votes.

There are two new interviews online today with Tom Felton.  In one he discusses his new film, The Apparition, and the other he talks about Potter.

“It’s a world away from Hogwarts for me,” the 22-year-old British actor said. “A world away from Draco. It’s a real step outside what I’m used to and what I’ve been doing for the last 10 years.” […] “Without revealing too much, the obvious difference is going to be physical appearance,” he said. “Draco has an iconic look with his pale skin, blond hair and rather sharp dress. It’s a completely flip side in [‘Apparition’]. Expect not to recognize me. I can say that my hair is no longer blond for this. I’m probably going to get in trouble for saying that. No more blond hair for me, so I’m excited about that.” […] “As far as my character goes, obviously he’s not an evil, jealous wizard,” Felton laughed. “He’s a college student, a very intelligent, confident young man who’s really excited about what he’s getting himself into. At the same time, he has no idea what he’s getting himself into. This character has such a wide range in one movie. He starts off as a real go-getter, and as the story goes on, you really see him turn.” […] “It’s not just satisfaction,” he said of the part in “Apparition.” “It’s nervousness. It’s anticipation. It’s a dream role for me.”
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As Felton told MTV News from across the pond, Malfoy undergoes changes in J.K. Rowling’s final boy-wizard book that reveal previously unseen layers within him and which present a welcome challenge as an actor.”It was one of the things I was really looking forward to with ‘Deathly Hallows,’ ” he said. “My personal opinion is, deep down, Draco is desperate to get out of what he’s in. In ‘Half-Blood Prince,’ he had a real wake-up call, realizing this is not what he wants to do, this isn’t the path he wants to go down. Unfortunately, his parental influences aren’t too good. He’s kind of forced into the dark side. It’s hard when Voldemort is sort of your step-uncle, in a weird way.”

But in “Deathly Hallows,” Draco begins to indulge some of his more redemptive qualities, leading to a few compelling moments between him and longtime adversary Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe). Felton said he’s had long talks with director David Yates about the best way to approach the good/evil duality within Draco, and the payoff has been a couple thrilling on-camera confrontations with Radcliffe. Harry and Draco almost have a bond, and they save each other’s lives on numerous occasions,” he said. “It’s a really weird love/hate relationship. It’s great that it’s left to our interpretation of how and why this is all happening. We have shot some really interesting stuff with me and Daniel — me saving him and him saving me. For once, we’re not just bickering!”

In particular, Felton is proud of his work on a massive battle scene at Hogwarts between Harry Potter and his Dark Arts-enabled adversaries. “That’s a fantastic moment in the courtyard, where it’s kind of like a Western showdown between good and evil, and Draco’s the only character where you have to go from one side to the other,” he said.

Back in January, I posted about Daniel and other Potter Stars doing poetry readings. Now the audios are online and you can listen to Dan’s reading below!

I will update with the other audios as soon as possible! Thanks DanRadcliffe.com

UPDATE: Added Alan Rickman’s reading

Update: Added more thanks to SS!

A few of the Potter films will be airing on television at various times this month. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone was already on ABC last Saturday.  Coming next is Chamber of Secrets this coming Saturday, February 13th, on ABC at 8pm EST.  Then we have Prisoner of Azkaban airing the next Saturday, February 20th at 8pm EST, also on ABC.

I assume that Goblet of Fire will be airing on ABC as well, but it’s not on tvguide.com’s listings yet.

Finally, thanks to SnitchSeeker, we know that Order of the Phoenix will make its network tv debut on ABC on Saturday February 27th.

“Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,” starring Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Ralph Fiennes, Maggie Smith and Harry Melling, airs as the “ABC Saturday Movie of the Week,” FEBRUARY 27 (8:00-11:00 p.m., ET), on the ABC Television Network. The film, winner of two People’s Choice Awards, will be broadcast in HDTV format with 5.1-channel surround sound and Spanish audio via SAP.

Eurogamer has posted up a preview of the LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 Video Game which will be released in May!

It’s been created with typical class: sunlight slants through windows, beds in the dorm rooms are ripe for bouncing on, and everywhere you look there are pots of LEGO flowers to destroy for studs, or promising stacks of bricks gently spasming on the floor, calling out for investigation. The latest LEGO game may be unusually focused on a single location, but it’s the series’ biggest area yet, and its busiest too, filled with endless distractions and little gags.

Far more than a simple interactive menu, the school is the place where Harry and friends will attend lessons, learning new kinds of spells, which will in turn open up more of the story. Starting the game – which, as the title suggests, charts the narratives of the first four books – with no knowledge of magic whatsoever, by the end of the adventure, Harry will have filled up a reassuringly spacious selection wheel of powers.

With four books’ worth of plot to wade through, over a hundred characters to unlock and thousands of colourful things to investigate, smash, and generally mess around with, Traveller’s Tales is clearly onto another huge hit. Its template might be a little too familiar to pass as genuine magic any more, but at its heart this looks like another competent and witty outing: a near-bottomless pit of collectables for OCD children, and a pitch-perfect exercise in global branding.