Total Sci-Fi has a new feature with Harry Potter actor Warwick Davis where he talks about his new book and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
You’re working on the new Harry Potter movies at the moment, is that right?
Yes, I’m working on the seventh Harry Potter until June. It’s really exciting, I play two different characters in those films. Harry Potter has been ongoing for the past few years. It’ll be sad to see the end of that. It’s something you almost take for granted each year – to have no more will be a bit strange and sad.
Warwick Davis has let us know, through his Twitter, that he was interviewed by SciFiNow and in the interview he discusses Harry Potter and the fact that he finishes filming in June!
So, Harry Potter. How did you become involved with the films, was it through the audition process?
It was an audition process, yes. I’d had my ear out for a while, because I’d read the book and thought that it could be really good. And when I heard that they were doing it I knew that I had to get on to this. So the agent said that I had an audition, I prepared well for it, went in and did it. It was a great experience, I had lots of fun with it, and I came away with a good feeling. But sometimes, in an audition that’s not really a good sign. I’ve often done that and thought ‘Yes, yes I‘ve nailed it,’ and then you don’t. And other times I’ve come out a bit anxious and I’ve got it. So three weeks went by, and then I heard that ‘Yeah, you’ve got that, and you’ve got that as well’, I had two parts. But then, at that time, little did I know that it was going to become a part of my life for 10 years. It was 2000 then, it’s now 2010, and I’m still doing it. I still will be doing it until June.
How did you feel about the decision to split the final two films?
I think it was good, because I think sometimes in the past we could have done that with the other stories, because they are so rich. I’m never actually disappointed… well, I am disappointed because sometimes it leaves my parts out… but I think the readership is sometimes disappointed. They’ll read in their minds, and in the later books certainly, you were starting to think ‘Ooh, I wonder what this is going to look like in the movie, I bet this will look fantastic’ and then when certain sequences weren’t in there, there was possible disappointment. So I think it’s a really good decision, because we can do justice to what is the last book and what is the finale of, if you take it as a whole saga, the end has to build, do you know what I mean? I don’t remember a point in the films though, where we knew ‘Right, now we’re going all the way’. I just remember each time we were finishing, we were wondering if we were going to be back again. If I’d have known 10 years ago it would have been lovely. Because as an actor, you really live day-to-day, you live by each job you do. And my theory of really keeping my feet on the ground is to say that there is no rule to say a producer will use me again in a film. So I look at this job that I’m doing and relish it, because it may well be my last. Because who’s to know? It keeps you grounded, it keeps you humble, and it keeps you doing your best work, because you know that you’re only as good as your last movie. Val Kilmer said that once, actually, when he was disappointed because one of his films had flopped.
Thanks to SnitchSeeker we have thefirstvideos of Matt at the MCM Expo that took place earlier in the week. View them all in the Lewis Lovers video archive! The following is a bit of information we gained from the videos:
Matt stated that most of Deathly Hallows: Part I is near completion, and that they are finishing up on the final battle sequences with “Voldemort and the Death Eaters” at the present time.
Matt mentioned how Neville gained insight from Harry about becoming a leader in Deathly Hallows, and running a resistance.
Matt said his favorite movie to film was Order of the Phoenix, because Neville had more responsibility and there was more emotion, as well as the action, where he “felt like Tom Cruise.” Both Matt and Warwick said that Deathly Hallows might eclipse the previous films. Warwick said that the fourth, Goblet of Fire, was his favourite because his part in the Yule Ball with the Weird Sisters, where it felt like they were in the midst of a rock concert.
In terms of pranks, Matt remembered a staff work party that the cast and crew attended, where Alfie Enoch’s phone fell out of his pocket, which he didn’t give back in two months. Alfie went on holiday for quite a while, and when he got back home, Matt showed him the phone and asked if he was missing something. Alfie thanked him for the phone, though to this day doesn’t know that Matt nicked it. Warwick recalled the fart machine put in the Great Hall set in Prisoner of Azkaban, placed under Daniel Radcliffe’s pillow during the final take, which led to some rather amusing results.
Matt said that as long as he’s doing Harry Potter, he doesn’t have to grow up yet. He can be a big kid and still do proper work.
Matt said that Neville would be a badger Animagi; Warwick noted that Flitwick would be a gerbil.
According to this news article, Matthew Lewis (Neville) and Warwick Davis (Flitwick) attended the Midlands Movie Comic Media Expo today at the Telford International Centre.
I will post photos online as soon as they become available!
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