Helena Bonham Carter will be honored at The Moët British Independent Film Awards on December 5th in Central London.  She will receive the Richard Harris Award which is given to actors or actresses for outstanding contributions to British film.

David Thewlis (Lupin) won this award in 2008, Jim Broadbent (Slughorn) in 2006, and John Hurt (Ollivander) in 2003, with Richard being the first recipient posthumously in 2002. Fans will also remember that Richard Harris was the original Albus Dumbledore in the Potter films but tragically died before the third film went into production.

Helena has also been nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her role in The King’s Speech.  Jim Broadbent has been nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a British Independent Film for Another Year.

I found a new article today that tells us three Potter stars will be in a new movie together! Director Mike Leigh has started his next untitled film with no plot details.  We do know that Imelda Staunton (Professor Umbridge), Jim Broadbent (Professor Slughorn) and David Bradley (Filch)  will be starring in this new movie!

I will post more details when they are available!

In a new interview Jim Broadbent confirms that he will be back to play Slughorn for Deathly Hallows!  For those of you that haven’t seen Half-Blood Prince left let me tell you, he is PERFECT!  So I am very glad he will be back!  You guys will love him!

“I knew [producer] David Yates before, had worked with him and loved him, so that’s where the invitation came from. I loved the films anyway, they’re great and the character was irresistible, so it was a no brainer really, no apprehensions.”

According to the article he is back filming the final movie!

CBBC Newsround has announced that they will be interviewing cast members from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince on Monday and it will air on Tuesday, July 7th. They are asking fans to send in questions!

Newsround’s Ricky will be chatting to loads of the stars on Monday. NR is getting the lowdown from Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Michael Gambon, Jim Broadbent, Tom Felton and many more.

We want YOU to come up with the questions he’ll be asking.  But you don’t have long to get your questions in – only until Monday morning. So get them in now!  Make sure you watch the show on Tuesday to see the interviews!

By clicking here you can submit a question.

There is a new Jim Broadbent interview with the Daily Telegraph.

“When this story begins my character, Professor Slughorn, is retired from his teaching post but he is being pursued by The Death Eaters, so he is on the run,” said Broadbent.  “They are after him quite seriously, which means that he has to change location and change identity on a weekly basis, even if this means disguising himself as a chair, which, given his magic powers, is not a difficult thing to do. In fact, we first meet him as a chair.”

“I did say to Imelda Staunton, who had just done one, that I had been offered this and she said it was lovely and go on and do it,” said Broadbent.  “She said they treat you very well and it is a very easy, comfortable atmosphere. I also knew David Yates, who is a delight to work with. So it was not a decision that took much making.”

The full interview with Jim Broadbent will appear in the Daily Telegraph on July 3.

Guardian.co.uk has a new article about Harry Potter that includes a new photo from the Half-Blood Prince filming.  The article shows us a behind the scenes view of Harry Potter filming.  The article has interviews with Dan Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Tom Felton, Bonnie Wright, Jim Broadbent, David Yates, David Heyman, and David Barron.  See the photo here in the gallery.

It is indeed fascinating to watch the young cast grow up on screen – have a look at early interviews on YouTube and you’ll notice their feet dangling above the ground – and Yates has also got around the potential problem of being lumbered with an existing cast by giving cameos to older actors with whom he’s previously worked. One of the best things about the Potter films has always been the appearance of national acting treasures such as Timothy Spall, Imelda Staunton, David Thewlis and, in The Half-Blood Prince, Jim Broadbent.

I ask Broadbent about his experience of playing Horace Slughorn, Potions Master and head of Slytherin House at Hogwarts, and it seems that he, too, has been bitten by the Harry bug. “It was an extraordinary thing to be part of. The main sets feel so permanent, having been there since the start, which means it’s very easy to get drawn into the world of Hogwarts. It was rather daunting turning up on set with all these young actors; it could so easily have been a nightmare, given that the five films have had such huge success. But the kids turned out to be terrific. There was no brattish behaviour or starry, Fame Academy behaviour; they just get on with it.”

And perhaps this is the key to the success of the films: producers David Heyman and David Barron have created what the latter describes as “our reality”. The young cast have never been allowed to develop attitude. Each new director has had to stay within the perimeters of the world so carefully set up at Leavesden; accordingly, there’s no room for an individual director to take off on a flight of fancy. And the continuity of cast and crew is impressive, too; although Radcliffe initially signed on for the first two films and seriously debated doing three and four, he did finally sign up till the end.