USA Today has posted a new article about Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows that has the first official photo from the movie! It also has interviews with Rupert Grint and David Yates. See the photo, which is of the trio, here in the gallery.
The first installment finds young wizards Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson) struggling to find their way in the Muggle (human) world, with their own lives in the balance and the fate of the magical realm in their hands.
“They’re paranoid,” says Grint. “It’s quite a scary world because the Snatchers and Death Eaters are running around everywhere. Harry, Ron and Hermione are just camping out in random places, living rough, in regular clothes.” Snatchers and Death Eaters are minions of the evil Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes).
Grint adds, grinning: “Me and Dan actually have some stubble.” His facial hair served as a kind of invisibility cloak for the lanky, redheaded Grint, who went unrecognized by fans recently while on location in the Welsh countryside. Dubbed a “road movie” by producer David Heyman, Hallows was envisioned by director David Yates as more grounded in reality than the previous Potter movies.
“It’s going to feel very real,” Yates says. “We’re going for a vérité approach. Being away from Hogwarts, they’re like these three refugees on the run. They’re out in the big bad world, facing real danger, unguarded by those wonderful benign wizards at Hogwarts. They don’t have a home to go to.
“We’re kind of pulling away from the magic a bit and bringing more reality to it,” he says.
Thanks to SS we know that Adrian Rawlins will be returning to his role as Harry’s father in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, as listed on his agency‘s website.
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!
SkyNews recently spoke to Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint and you can read the article online now.
“It’s getting quite confusing,” laughs Rupert Grint as he takes a break from shooting to talk to Sky News. “We’re kind of mixing them together, and because I’ve got longer hair in the second part I do lose track.””This is gonna have a very different feel to it,” admits Dan. “We barely spend any time at Hogwarts. I’ve been here for eight months and I’ve not filmed a single scene in the great hall, which is unheard of. I’m quite excited.”
And how do the cast feel about that big, ticking, clock, which in two years time will call time on the roles that have defined their childhood? “At the moment we’ve still got a long way to go,” laughs Rupert, “but it’s gonna be very weird when we hear cut for the last time. But I think I’m ready to move on and see what else there is out there, and get into the real world, really!”
Het Nieuwsblad, a Belgian magazine, visited the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows set recently and spoke to Tom Felton and Bonnie Wright about the sixth and seventh films. Thanks to SS for the partial translation below:
Tom Felton: We still have several months filming. The last scene we will probably be filming the scene 19 years later is playing. I’m very curious how we all will be.
Bonnie Wright: I’m looking forward to returning to King’s Cross station. I had my first scene for the first Harry Potter movie ten years ago. I hardly knew then what acting was. I especially remember that I was freezing.
Tom: We’ve spent more than ten years together on this film set. We have grown up here. It will be strange to say goodbye.
Bonnie: Who knows, we can have a reunion in about ten years. What became of the actors? Maybe we’ll play together in the Harry Potter musical. (Laughs)
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