You’ve obviously known Dan for a while now. Did that make the romantic scenes easier or more difficult?
Bonnie: I thought it would make it more difficult because we’ve known each other as friends and within a working environment. But it actually made it easier in the sense that from having known him for so long, there’s that familiarity. Also the crew helped to make it much more relaxed. They let us get on with it and didn’t make this big drama around it, and it just slipped into place.
Hermione and Ron obviously have a bit of a romance in the movie. Were you excited for this storyline?
Emma: Yes, I was very excited. It might not be the most obvious storyline in a way. I think a lot of fans always saw Hermione and Harry together, but I think that Hermione and Ron are very strange, but kind of perfect for each other. They’re very different, but you know, they make each other laugh. Ron lightens her up. Hermione’s quite a serious character, so I think they’re good for each other.
Does it daunt you when you stop and think of the size of the franchise – the biggest film franchise in cinema history! When you think about that does it freak you out or have you got used to it? Rupert: It’s strange because when we first started we had no idea where this was going or how long it would go on full sail. Every year it of comes as more of a shock in terms of how popular they seem to be getting. For me, it’s really crazy but nice, I enjoy that kind of thing.
And you’re also taking part in something of a first for the Blu-ray this time around. Tell me about the Blu-ray Live Community Screening? Dan: Yes, it’s on December 12th and it means that anybody who has got the Blu-ray copy of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince can use the BD-Live function on the disc which means that everybody can join in with me and David Yates who are going to be watching the film together. And then everyone around the world will be watching the synchronized version of the film and then they can ask David and I questions – which we will attempt to answer as cogently and interestingly as we can!
Home Media Magazine is reporting that for “the Dec. 8 Blu-ray Disc release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince will be the first to include a worldwide live community screening with audio, featuring actor Daniel Radcliffe and director David Yates.”
“It’s a wonderful way for fans and for those directly involved with making a film to share opinions and ideas,” Radcliffe said of the Dec. 12 community screening, which Blu-ray owners will be able to access via BD Live at noon PST.
The screening will be open to the first 100,000 fans who sign up and respond to an emailed invitation to the event. Those fans will be able to ask questions live of Radcliffe and Yates, who will respond live from London.
“It’s a tremendous honor to be invited to host the first worldwide live community screening and to have the opportunity to talk directly to fans across the globe,” Yates said.
There are some additional details on the Half-Blood Prince BluRay including some fun news about the special features!
WB Maximum Movie Mode with director David Yates, producers David Heyman and David Barron, and cast members Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson and Tom Felton, including Focus Points, picture-in-picture and image galleries (BD exclusive)
Additional scenes (6’31”)
Close-Up with the Cast and Crew of Harry Potter: hosts Matthew Lewis (“Neville Longbottom”) and Alfred Enoch (“Dean Thomas”) lead us on an entertaining look at the cast of Harry Potter as they explore their interests away from acting and spend a day on set with the production team (28’30”)
J.K. Rowling: A Year in the Life: a fascinating and intimate look into the life of J.K. Rowling over the last year of writing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (49’32”)
One-minute Drills: the cast has 60 seconds to describe their character’s personality, history, relationships and other traits before time runs out (6’43”)
What’s on Your Mind: hosted by Tom Felton, the cast is put on the spot when asked a series of rapid-fire questions on their likes and dislikes. (6’41”)
There is a new video online at YouTube that has video interviews with the cast where they talk about Half-Blood Prince and more! Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Tom Felton, Bonnie Wright, Michael Gambon, and director David Yates are interviewed:
Thanks to RG.net for letting me know about the interviews they had with Dan Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, David Yates, Tom Felton, Bonnie Wright, Jessie Cave, Evanna Lynch, and Matt Lewis.
Vanity Fair has a new interview with director David Yates!
Why did you and Warners decide to split the last installment, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows into two parts?
Three reasons. One is it’s a huge book so there’s so much stuff in it. You go through the list of things you want to put in the movie and there’s so many huge set pieces that by the time you get to the end of it you kind of go, “Whoa this would be the most expensive movie of all time.” Far more expensive than any conventional blockbuster. You have to find a way of somehow keeping all the things you want to do, so it is easy to split it across two films. [Screenwriter] Steve Kloves was working on the adaptation as we were shooting Half-Blood Prince and he just rounded us up and said, “Look guys I am having a real problem stuffing this story into two-and-a-half hours. I think narratively this might suit two parts.” There was that. I get frustrated when fans say, ‘Why didn’t you put this in or put that in?’ So it was a combination of the adaptation process and the fact that I just want to give the audience everything we can from the book, basically.
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