As many of you know, the BAFTA Awards were held today and the Harry Potter series received the award for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema, it was presented by Stephen Fry and there was a montage accompanying them accepting the award. Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, JK Rowling, David Yates, David Heyman, Helena Bonham Carter, Bonnie Wright, Jamie Campbell Bower, Miranda Richardson and director Mike Newell were at the awards ceremony. Hopefully there will be a video of the cast and crew accepting the award online soon. Emma Watson also presented the Rising Star Award. A lot of videos are beginning to appear online so here is the first roundup. You can also watch a video of Rupert here that has embedding disabled.
I wasn’t going to post this, but it’s all over the internet so I figured i may as well. Apparently there will be an unauthorized made-for-TV biography on JK Rowling’s life.
A movie about the life of Harry Potter’s creator, J.K. Rowling, is to be shot in Victoria. Filming will begin early next month, with the city used to re-create locations in Edinburgh, Portugal and London, including Leicester Square.
Strange Magic, an unauthorized made-for-TV biography, will chart Rowling’s life from childhood to fame as the author of the books about the young wizard. The movie is being directed by Paul A. Kaufman. Poppy Montgomery, best known as FBI agent Samantha Spade on the TV series Without a Trace, will play Rowling, with Antonio Cupo as the British writer’s Portuguese boyfriend.
Victoria film commissioner Kathleen Gilbert said her staff researched buildings in Edinburgh and drove through Victoria to find similar-looking buildings in their attempt to land the shoot. “We’re really happy to have them because it’s the first show of a slow year,” Gilbert said. “We hope it kicks off our year.”
In a new interview with Empire Harry Potter producer David Heyman talks about an early cut of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, the BAFTA award and more. Some snippets may be read below.
What about Part Two? Is that rough-cut at this point?
Yeah. I’ve seen a very, very early cut. It’s very exciting. No visual effects, no music, no sound effects, and it’s really exciting. But it’s early days and the film continues to take shape and will continue to take shape over the next many months. I think it will be a great ending to the series. It was a really long shoot; we shot over 260 days on this one.
But you obviously found solutions in the end for the scenes that everyone was worried about, the King’s Cross scene and the flashbacks.
Well, in a way this is an easier structure than Part One because it’s quite defined. In terms of the King’s Cross scene, I think it does work and it’s very moving. We actually did it once, and then re-did it a little bit because we needed to refine something, and I’m pretty glad we did. It’s a very quiet, moving scene, but I think it leaves the series on the right note. The only flashback really that one thinks about is the Snape flashback, when Harry goes into the Pensieve to see Snape’s story, and that’ll be defined, but it’ll be very moving.One of the things I love about David Yates’ work is that he’s very concerned with the life of the characters. Yes, there’s a lot of action as the series comes to an end, yes there’s boom-boom-boom as it comes to an end, but he also takes time for the humanity. That’s what I like about Part One is the luxury of having that time to spend with the characters. Even in this, which is more action-packed, there’s time to cover that, which is great.
In a new video interview with the Telegraph David Heyman discusses his 10 years working on the Harry Potter series. Watch the interview below and read some snippets from it below.
He is proud to receive the outstanding achievement award, named in honour of legendary film-maker Michael Balcon. “It’s really wonderful that it’s the whole franchise being recognised and it’s a collective award. Each film has anywhere between 2,000 and 6,000 people working on it and so really the award is for each and every one of us. We are like a family.”
On the wall of Heyman’s Soho office is a poster for Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, signed by its three young stars. If proof were needed that the actors and their characters are not dissimilar, it is here. It is also testament to the fact that, without Heyman, there would be no Potter phenomenon. “You’re a WICKED producer!” writes Grint. “To David, thank you is not a strong enough word for my gratitude,” is Watson’s neatly written message. And from Daniel Radcliffe? “Thank goodness I went to the theatre. Love, Dan.”
Emma Watson is among the nominees for Best Actress in the Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards. Daniel Radcliffe has been nominated for Best Actror and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 has also been nominated. The nominations are below:
FAVORITE MOVIE
Alice in Wonderland
Diary of a Wimpy Kid
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
The Karate Kid
FAVORITE MOVIE ACTRESS
Emma Watson
Ashley Judd
Miley Cyrus
Kirsten Stewart
In a new interview with Wales Online Matthew talks about the filming and saying good bye to Harry Potter as well as his new play Verdict.
“Yes, it’s the first time I’ve ever acted on stage,” he chuckles “Theatre is something that has passed me by. Now I want to go with it and see where it takes me. When you’ve played the same character for 10 years you don’t want to become typecast, you want to be seen in a different way. That’s why it’s a pleasure and privilege to work with experienced stage actors. It’s a great foundation for me to appear in such a great production. We opened in Windsor and I have to confess it was a bit terrifying,” he jokes. “We didn’t have much rehearsal time, only about three weeks in all. The first night it was nerve-wracking, but once I got that first performance and then the first week out of the way it it’s been easier.
He also confides that there were no tears and no sadness on the last day of filming, although it was an incredibly emotional moment. “I didn’t feel sad, I felt incredibly proud,” says Matthew, who has become firm friends with Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson. “I felt a special bond with all the cast and all the crew that have worked on the films for 10 years. It’s been an incredible achievement to complete the series and have the privilege to see at first hand what the films have meant to so many people.
