Translations: Girls Life
Girl’s Life
GL wanted to learn more about Daniel, who plays Harry Potter for the third time in The Prisoner of Azkaban. And while we were at it, we got Emma and Rupert on the line. Those two have the roles of Hermione and Rupert. But you already knew that.
Who is Emma Watson?
Emma is a bit more chatty than Daniel, which we like.She’s open and unbeat – a totaly normal 13-year-old, who wishes she had an invisibility cloack to sneak into a Red Hot Chilli Peppers Concert at the London Arena.
Besides rocking out, Emma likes to read – and she’s excited about recommending her favourites. “The last good book I read, and I’ve been raving about it everywhere, was Malorie Blackman, Noughts and Crosses. Best book in the world. But so sad in the ending. Anyway, the other two Knife Edge and An Eye for and Eye, they’re so good, the Malorie Blachman series.”
And, yes, she reads the Harry Potter bookss The Prisoner of Azkaban, of course, being the one on which the most recent movie is based. “I was already halfway through it when I began filming, so I was a massive fan even before we started. I was really excited about the third one – it’s my favourite book, it’s my favourite script, it’s my favourite part for Hermione. I think it’s going to be the best one.”
The first two Harry Potter films – The Sorcerer’s Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets – raked in nearly $2billion at box offices around the world, and instant acclaim and fame for its young stars. Emma is getting used to the recognition and fast adjusting to her celebrity status. “I suppose the best thing that’s ever happened to me was, um, this completely stunned me, a guy asked me to sign a 50-pound note. I was absolutely flabbergasted, I couldn’t believe it. I was like, ‘You know I can put this on paper if you’d like,’ and he was like ‘Nope, no,’ I was like ‘Whoaaah!’
The most glamorous think that’s happened to me ever, I was doing the Jay Leno show, and we were late for the [Harry Potter] premiere in Los Angeles. So a helicopter picked me up and took me to the premiere. You should have seen my face – I was over the moon!” Perhaps not as over the moon as she was when she met Brad Pitt, who was at London’s Chapman Studios, where HP is shot. “I was, aw God, you shoulda seen me. I was just a wreck. It was amazing.”
Besides bumping into leading men and getting flown in by helicopter for red-carpet events, being a star also means having a dressing room – and Emma’s is the most elaborately decorated on the HP set. “When I first came into it, it wasn’t the nicest thing I’d ever seen. It was just like big white walls, um, plain carpet. I had to do something about it , so I asked if I could paint it. So I painted one of the walls in a massive painting of everything I like. So I’ve got on it, I’ve got fashion bags, I’ve got my favourite car, which is Mini, I’ve got ice cream, I’ve got chocolate, it’s just covered. It’s really big and really colorful and really happy, so that’s cool. And I bought lots of posters and yeah, it’s a really bright room. And on my door, I’ve got a massive star, which is really cool.”
Emma is far from being a demanding celleb, but there are certain items she doesn’t like to be without during filming. “I’m really picky about my shampoo and conditioner, and I must have a hair dryer with me ‘cause it really annoys me when I have my hair wet. Oh, I have to have my mobile phone – I feel lost without it – lip gloss, definitely, hmm, what else? Oh, my teddy bear, definitely. It’s actually a rabit, called Bunnykins. Oh, I have a riddiculus eccentric pair of slippers I got for Christmas, by Roxy – and they’re bright pink and fluffy, just brilliant, and I love them.”
The role of Hermione in The Sorcerer’s Stone was Emma’s first professional acting job, and she hasn’t forgotten her humble beginnings before that big break. She’s a perfect example of what the payoff can be if you hone your acting chaps by landing parts in school plays. “My first play, was Arthur: The Young Years, which is a really English play about the Knights of the Round Table. I played Morgan la Faye, who is, surprisingly enough, a witch. My first ever sort of dramatic thing I did was when I was at primary school. We had to recite poems, and we did poetry a lot. I won something called the Daisy Pratt Poetry Competition, which at the time, I was really pleased about.” Not bad, moving up from the Daisy Pratt to winner of the AOL Award for Best Supporting Actress for Chamber of Secrets.
Emma’s somewhat of a star atlethe, too. She plays field hockey, tennis and rounders, which is kinda the English version of baseball. “Field hockey is one of my favourites. I love netball [basketball]. I love atlethics.” Emma rattles off her sporty aspirations and all the other things she wants out of life: “I have so many ambitions. I would like to play hockey for England – that would be good. I’d love to win an Oscar, but I dunno when that will happen. I want to have seen all the world, pretty much every country, just because I love seeing different places. So many things I want, lots of things. Health, be happy, good jobs, nice marriage, kids.”
She’s got it going on, right? But, as it turns out, even international fame doesn’t help when it comes to interfancing with the opposite sex. “I try, but it’s so hard. Guys are just, ugh, expecially teen-age boys – it’s just one-word answer to every question you give them. They’re annoying. It’s awful. You’d think that because I’m an actress, I could get away with it, but no. If anyone thinks I’m like that, no, expecially around boys. I get so stressed out. I’m like any other teenager, I really am. I’m far from perfect. I have massive spots in the middle of my nose.”
Emma fares much better, at least conversationally, with her female pals – a close-knit group of four or five she kicks it with when filming wraps. “If we’re outside school, we go to the center of Oxford and watch a film. We hang out in Starbucks. We go and choose CDs, talk, go to each other’s houses, normal girly stuff.”
Her favourite pig-out food is McCoy’s Salt & Malt Vinegar chips. “One of my bad things is a craving for crumpets. Crumpets and muffins, with chocolate spread. That’s my favourite.”
Oh, and one more thing. “I make great pancakes.”
Behind the magic
We got the HP cast to spill about some of the stuff that happened on the set during filming.
Even Emma forgets her lines. “The Prisoner of Azkaban had really hard lines to say, compicated words.” Emma has a favourite line, one after Hermione and Ron get into an argument and she says, “Do you think you can come up with another clever way to get us killed?” before slamming the door.
The kids do some of their own stunts. “I get thrown around by the Womping Willow tree. Chased by werewolves, Dementors, the lot,” Emma tells us. “There’s a lot of Quidditch in the rain,” Daniel says. “They sprayed me down before each shot, then sprayed rain onme during the shot. Quidditch can be quite exhausting.” He’s probably hooked to a harness, but Daniel’s not telling: “I can’t say. It’ll ruin the magic.”
The boys outnumber the girl. “Yeah, Rupert and Daniel are just horrible to me all the time,” Emma jokes. “Sometimes, you crave female company. My chaperone looks after me when I’m on set – I can talk to her.”
Emma has an on-set embarrassing moment. The kids have those Hollywood chairs with their names on them. “They’re kind of flimsy, and mine had one of its legs on an electrical wire. I sat down, and it fell backward. My legs were up in the air like a chicken, and everyone was laughing at me. It took me ages to get out of the chair. Really, really embarrassing.”
Who’s Rupert Grint?
You know how Emma complains about teenage boys having one-word answer to every question? That’s Rupert! He’s so shy, in fact, that he requested Emma to be on the phone when we spoke with him. Hey, why not?
Girl’s Life: How has your life changed since you’ve done the films?
Rupert Grint: It’s a little bit different, but we try to keep it as normal as we could. We still do normal things. It hasn’t really changed that much, just a few things. You get recognized, but it’s basically the same.
Are you treated differently in school?
RG: Not really.
Emma Watson: I started a brand new school in February. After the first couple days, people take second looks and are a bit funny, but then they realize you’re a normal person and kinda forget about it.
Are you guys already cast for the remaining sequels?
EW: I think we’re both playing in the fourth one.
Is it difficult to film for so many months out of the year?
EW: Just being away from friends and family.
RG: Yeah.
Ron Weasley has four brothers and sisters. Rupert, dop you come from a large family?
RG: Yeah, yeah, I have quite a large family. I’m one of five children. And yeah, so it’s quite big. I’m the oldest.
Is your household similar to the Weasleys?
RG: No, not really.
Do you feel that you have much in common with Ron?
RG: When I was reading the books, I felt I could relate to Ronald. We’ve both got a big family, we’ve both got ginger hair, little things like that.
Are you a conscientious student?
RG: I’m all right. I’ve never really enjoyed school so much, either.
EW: I’m not as work-orientated and teacher-praising.
Do you guys socialize off-screen?
EW: We see each other so much, every day for like a day, that the time we do get off we just want some space. But we do get along realy well.
RG: Yeah.
Do you feel the fame has put any strain on your life?
EW: Not really. It’s longer hours than what we put in at school.
RG: Don’t get any homework.
If you guys could cast some sort of a spell, what would it be?
RG: Hmm.
EW: I’m going with the good-old diplomatic one – world peace.
What would you do if you could get your hands on an invisibility cloack – would you have one?
RG: Oh, yeah, definitely. They’re really useful. Yeah, um, you could use it for anything, really, like the detention. That’s be really good.
EW: Or going down to the fridge in the middle of the night to get food, nobody would see you.
Good one!