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DAVID YATES:
“Initially it’s pretty scary [coming on a Harry Potter movie]. When you go to Leavesden, which is where these movies are shot, the scale of the enterprise is just enormous. I went to see Mike Newell shoot Goblet of Fire for half a day, and it feels like you’re walking into this Roman arena. It’s massive. You’ve got butterflies in your tummy to begin with, but I really quickly found my feet. I think what you have to do is just learn to prioritize what’s the most important thing for you to focus on as a director, and for me it was working with Michael [Goldenberg] on the screenplay, pushing performances and putting a creative team together which is kind of a combination of people I’ve worked with before and people who had already done ‘Potter.’”
DANIEL RADCLIFFE (Harry) on the final book, which comes out later this month:
“This one’s quite exciting because there’s so much hype about it and everyone’s got their own little theory of who’s going to die. That’s the big question. It deserves the hype because they do get better and better and more exciting. My favorite book is the fifth and my favorite film is the fifth as well. To be able to say that five movies into a franchise is quite rare.”
EMMA WATSON (Hermione):
“I’ve always been convinced that Hermione’s going to make it, but apparently this hacker has been claiming that she’s going to die. An interviewer asked me about it, and I was like, ‘No, she’s meant to be with Ron.’ I guess from an acting point of view it would be good to have a death scene.”
RUPERT GRINT (Ron):
“In the last film Ron was a bit of a wimp and stayed away from the action side, so this time it was quite cool that he got to be a bit tougher and got to fight, that was kind of neat.”
IMELDA STAUNTON:
“I didn’t hesitate [to play Professor Umbridge]. It’s wonderful for an actor to be given a challenge and it was an enormous challenge, more than I anticipated actually. She’s not the nicest person in the world, but I’m not an actress who needs to really like their character in order to play them. You’ve got to admire her tenacity, her ability to believe in herself and to do her job so well and to let nothing stand in the way, never doubting what she’s doing.”
WATSON:
“Everyone asks me if it was hard growing up on screen – I’ve never grown up any other way so I don’t know.”
GRINT:
“It’s only when you look back on the first films you sort of realize how much we’ve grown up. But it’s been really fun, I’ve enjoyed every moment of it.”
RADCLIFFE:
“I don’t think you realize when you’re growing up, it’s just one of those things that happens to you, and somebody shows you a photograph of yourself when you were 10 and you recoil in horror. We don’t think of ourselves as having grown up on screen.. It’s been really good fun.”
PLUS:
 The Hand, Foot and Wand-print ceremony at Grauman’s Chinese Theater…
DAVID HEYMAN (Producer):
“When I first read the first book, I most certainly had no idea that we’d be standing here having made five films and Dan, Rupert and Emma would be honored in this amazing way by putting their hands, feet and yes, their wands in this place. This tradition goes back to 1929 I believe and now Daniel, Rupert and Emma will join people like John Wayne, Sophia Loren, George Clooney and Brad Pitt.”
RADCLIFFE:
“It’s absolutely fantastic. I think we’re all just a little bit shocked that we’ve been asked. It’s extremely amazing to join people like John Wayne.”
WATSON:
“I was amazed they asked us. I was like, ‘Wow!’ I couldn’t believe it. That’s such a big deal. I was really, really flattered. I think it’s the biggest thing I’ve ever done in my entire life.”
GRINT:
“It’s just incredible, we’re so nervous about it, it’s surreal, but we’re honored.”
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THE CONCEPT:
