Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Harry Potter Trio, What’s Next – Movies Spotlight – July 2011

As Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 is upon us, here is a look at what else Harry, Hermione and Ron have been in and what is next for them.


Career Outside Potter Films:

Radcliffe, 21, got his start at the age of ten winning the role of young David Copperfield in the BBC One adaptation of Charles Dickens’s novel David Copperfield. He also got a small role in John Boorman’s drama The Tailor of Panama playing Geoffrey Rush and Jamie Lee Curtis’s son. Harry Potter producer David Heyman wanted Radcliffe to audition for the Potter series, but Radcliffe’s parents were not enthusiastic about Radcliffe filming seven movies away from home so they did not tell him. However, after seeing him in David Copperfield, director Chris Columbus knew that Radcliffe was Harry Potter and convinced his parents to let him audition. J.K. Rowlings also endorsed the selection saying that they could not have found a better Harry. In 2007, he also got the lead role in Rod Hardy’s December Boys while Potter filming was on break. The movie received mixed reviews. He also took a starring role in the well receive biography of Rudyard Kipling, entitled My Boy Jack, (playing his brother John) opposite David Haig and Carey Mulligan. In addition to a few film roles, Radcliffe has taken a number of roles on the stage. At age 17, in a bid to appear more grownup to audiences, he took on the lead in Peter Shaffer’s Equus on the London stage receiving positive reviews, taking the show to Broadway as well. He also was praised with positive reviews and a Tony Award nod for his work on the play How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. Radcliffe also voiced a character in late 2010 for the Simpsons (Treehouse of Horror XXI).

Favorite Potter Moment/Film:

It is tough to pick a favorite moment and film for each other these actors, but I really enjoyed seeing Radcliffe and his character Potter grow-up and take charge in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. The scenes in which Potter is instructing his classmates in the defense against the dark arts are great, only to have it paid off by the brilliant sequence at the Ministry of Magic in which Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville, Luna, and Ginny hold their own against Deatheaters. I also really like the moments between Harry and Professor Lupin and his Godfather Sirius Black in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.


Upcoming:

Next up for Radcliffe is the supernatural thriller The Woman in Black. It is about a young lawyer who travels to a remote village to organize a deceased client’s papers. But all is not what it seems, and he soon discovers the ghost of a scorned woman set on vengeance. The film co-stars Ciaran Hinds (who appears in Deathly Hallows: Part 2) and Janet McTeer. It is directed by James Watkins who also did the great thriller Eden Lake. Radcliffe is also rumored to be up for roles in The Amateur Photographer and Jay and Seth vs. the Apocalypse.


Career Outside Potter Films:

Watson, 21, wanted to be an actress from the age of six and trained at the Oxford branch of the Stagecoach Theatre Arts, studying singing, dancing and acting. She appeared in a few amateur plays but had never acted professionally before being cast in the Potter series. She auditioned eight times for Hermione Granger, but Rowling was a supporter of her getting the part after her first screen test (Hermione being Rowling’s favorite character in her books). Much like Radcliffe, when Potter filming took a break in 2007, Watson decided to try her hand in other film projects. She took a supporting role in the TV movie Ballet Shoes playing the successful sister that all the other sisters were jealous of; the film received fairly positive reviews. She next took a voice role in the animated film The Tale of Despereaux playing the princess. It was not nearly as well received by critics, but did well among its targeted younger audience and was a medium success for Universal Pictures. Wanting to concentrate on school (attending Brown University while filming the later Potter films), Watson stuck to only filming the Potter series and studying. She also got involved in fashion both as the face of Burberry and in designing her own line with People Tree.

Favorite Potter Moment/Film:

Hermione Granger and Watson have so many great moments in the series (and is probably my favorite character as well). Hermione punching Draco Malfoy in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is among my favorite moments of the whole series. I also like Hermione’s know-it-all confidence that exudes forth in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. And, in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 I like how strong Hermione has become showcasing just how good an actress Watson has become (really all three have developed into good actors through the series) and the dance scene between her and Harry is wonderful. Watson plays the opening moments of the film with such a tragic sadness that it is quite beautiful as well.


Upcoming:

Among the three, Watson leaves the series as probably the biggest international star entering her post-Potter career. She has two films that are currently in post-production. First, due out November 4th, 2011, she has a supporting role in My Week with Marilyn about a week that Marilyn Monroe spent with Colin Clark, an assistant to Laurence Olivier, in the British countryside, allowing her to escape the Hollywood spotlight, while filming The Prince And The Showgirl with Olivier in 1956. It is directed by Simon Curtis (who funny enough directed Radcliffe in David Copperfield) and stars Michelle Williams, Eddie Redmayne and Kenneth Branagh. Watson plays Lucy, a wardrobe assistant working behind the scenes during the making of The Prince And The Showgirl. In 2012, Watson stars in The Perks of Being a Wallflower about an introverted freshman named Charlie who is mentored by friends Sam and Patrick. They introduce him to a new world of sex, drugs and complicated relationships. Watson plays Sam. The film is directed by Stephen Chbosky (adapting his own novel) and stars Logan Lerman, Ezra Miller, Paul Rudd, Mae Whitman, and Johnny Simmons.


Career Outside Potter Films:

Grint, 22, took an interest in theatre in primary school performing in school productions. He joined the Top Hat Stage and Screen School, a local theatre group and was cast in a few local productions. However, he had never acted professionally before being cast in the Potter series, like Emma Watson. Grint decided to go out for the part of Ron because he shared the character’s ginger hair and liked the book series. Having seen a report about open casting for the film, he sent a video of himself rapping about why he was right for the part. It worked. The casting team agreed to meet with him, and the rest is history. Grint took roles in four films during his time on the Potter series, starting with 2002’s Thunderpants, directed by comedy director Peter Hewitt (I have not seen it, but IMDB thinks it is terrible). In a supporting role, he plays a nerdy child scientist helping a boy with the amazing ability to break wind become an astronaut (you really cannot make this stuff up). Next, in 2006, he starred in Driving Lessons with Laura Linney and Julia Walters (who plays his mother in the Potter series) in a coming-of-age story, about a shy teen trying to break away from his overbearing mother. The film received mixed reviews (but I liked it). Then he starred in the mixed teen thriller Cherrybomb with Robert Sheehan, Niamh Quinn, and James Besbitt. Finally, in 2010 he co-starred with Bill Nighy and Emily Blunt (Martin Freeman is also very funny in it) in Jonathan Lynn’s Wild Target about a hitman who falls for his target. It received mixed reviews as well (but I found it to be quite funny, but only for those that like silly humor).

Favorite Potter Moment/Film:

Grint’s Ron Weasly always provided great comic relief and his secret crush on Hermione that he has for most of the series also gives him an emotional depth that is very relatable, making him such a great character. Grint is great at playing the role a little goofy, which really works. I love his boastful confidence thinly veiling his timid nature as he faces Hermione in a dual in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. But Ron’s really comes into his own in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince finding a love interest in Lavender Brown and having success on the quidditch field. Grint plays Ron perfectly and very likable.


Upcoming:

Grint has four films upcoming (one in post-production and three in pre-production). First up is Comrade, a Norwegian film about two fighter pilots, one English one German, who shoot each other down over Norway. They end up taking shelter in the same cabin. In order to survive the winter they must learn to work together. It is directed by Petter Naess and also stars Florian Lukas and David Kross. Grint also stars in the sports-comedy Eddie the Eagle about England’s first ski jumper to enter the Winter Olympics. After that, he stars in Cross Country, a horror film about a group of friends who decide to spend a weekend biking and camping in the woods (and you know where it goes from there). Lastly, he stars in Wartime Wanderers about the Bolton Wanderers soccer club, who decide to enlist to active duty in 1939. It is directed by David Whitney and also stars Jonathan Pryce, Sean Maguire and Matthew McNulty. Most of his upcoming films are specifically British films and may not see wider international releases.

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