‘I’m not sure I’m going to miss it,’ actor tells MTV News of ‘Potter.’

Rupert Grint has always been the comic relief when it comes to the Big Three actors in “Harry Potter,” but with the final film opening in theaters Friday (July 15), he is ready to spread his wings and try out some new projects.

“Anything really different, really,” Grint replied when MTV News asked him what his plans are next. “Playing the same character for 10 years really does give you this thirst for new things. I’m not sure I’m going to miss it. I am looking forward to this kind of newfound freedom. Just see where it takes me.”

He certainly seems to be trying to get away from “Potter” as much as possible. Grint’s next project is his anti-war film “Comrade,” which began filming March 28 in Norway. Directed by Petter Næss and costarring David Kross, Florian Lukas and Stig Henrik Hoff, the movie tells the story of English and German pilots who are forced to work together to survive the brutal Norwegian winter; it is a very far cry from anything Grint has done in “Potter.”

After that, his next project is looking more and more likely to be “Eddie the Eagle,” a biopic about British skier Eddie Edwards, the first competitor to represent the U.K. in Olympic ski jumping. Though it still doesn’t have a writer or director attached, Grint is optimistic that production will get under way soon.

“It’s a story that I really like and it’s still in the working yet. I still have faith that it will happen,” he told MTV News. “It’s been in kind of development for a while, but yeah, hopefully it will come up.”

Of all the “Potter” stars, Grint has been the one to have the most big-screen experience. In 2002 he starred in the children’s comedy “Thunderpants,” then followed it up with 2006′s dramedy “Driving Lessons.” Somehow he managed to find time over the past few years during his busy “Potter” shooting schedule to squeeze out two 2010 releases as well: “Cherrybomb” and “Wild Target.”

And the fans respect him for it. When MTV’s Next Movie site ran a recent poll asking readers who they thought would be the most successful “Potter” star, Grint won by a whopping 43 percent. If that doesn’t work out, though, he always has a side career as an ice cream man.

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Says Rupert Grint ( Who’s worth £24m )

WITH around £24million in the bank, Rupert Grint is one of Britain’s richest young men.

But the 22-year-old Harry Potter star doesn’t splash his galleons about like Premier League players his age.

The actor, who has enchanted audiences as wizard Ron Weasley for more than a decade, astonishingly confessed to The Sun that he still lives at home with mum and dad – even though he has his own pad in London for occasional stays.

There aren’t even any fancy cars for the homely Hertfordshire lad.

When filming wrapped on the final JK Rowling movie, Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2, he treated himself to a £60 Vauxhall Carlton and headed off around Europe with mates in a “Wacky Rally”.

He said: “We did about nine countries, all the way to Barcelona. I went with James and Oliver Phelps, who play the twins, and we brought a mechanic along as well. It was a really good adventure. I do love cars but nothing too flash.”

In an exclusive interview with The Sun ahead of the final Potter film’s release on Friday, Rupert gave us a window into his unassuming life, where he is still close to sisters Georgina, 18, Samantha, 15 and Charlotte, 12, brother James, 21, and parents Nigel and Joanne.

Although he rarely splurges on himself, he says he can splash the cash on his family – sometimes on bizarre presents.

He said: “I have kind of got a miniature zoo. We have miniature pigs, donkeys, miniature hedgehogs. They are just smaller than the average hedgehog.

“I have quite a big family, I’m one of five and I have sisters who love animals.”

He has met the Queen and the family of President Obama so I ask Rupert which celebrity he has been most thrilled to meet.

The reply floors me.

“Alan Titchmarsh. Shakin’ Stevens came on to the set too. I only get star struck with really random people like Alan Titchmarsh and EastEnders actors,” he says.

“I met Alan at the Queen’s 80th when she had this big party in the Palace.

“I bumped into him. It’s not like I really watch Ground Force or anything like that.”

Never mind that the Queen and Prince Philip had been sitting right behind him or that Michelle Obama had visited the set with her daughters as a birthday surprise for one of them.

But if meeting heads of state doesn’t excite Rupert, surely there must have been magic in the air when he finally got to kiss co-star Emma Watson in the new film?

Ron Weasley and Emma’s character Hermione Granger finally spell out their feelings for each other in the series’ gripping finale by locking lips.

But Rupert says: “Neither of us were looking forward to it. It was a tricky one. That scene has been an anticipated moment, the relationship has built up from the early films.

“There was a pressure to get it right. I knew Emma when she was nine and we have closely watched each other grow up.

“So kissing this girl just seemed a strange thing to be doing, not right.”

Down-to-earth Rupert seems immune to the weaknesses of many young stars.

Daniel Radcliffe, who plays Harry, recently had to give up booze because his drinking had got out of control.

Rupert insists that he felt no such need to release the pressure with alcohol.

He said: “No, no, no, there has always been this anticipation for us to fall into that stereotype and it has never really been an issue for me.

“It’s because we film in Watford, which isn’t the most glamorous of spots. If we had filmed in America or something it could have been disastrous. I never felt any pressure. It was just fun really.” The constant and intense attention of fans makes this level-headed approach even more remarkable.

Rupert isn’t even offended by strangers heckling him.

He smiled and said: “People do call me Ron in the street. I have grown up with it, it has become my second name almost.

“I do answer to it. Or they call me Weasley or Ginger.”

Although he doesn’t enjoy people taking sneaky photographs while he’s in a restaurant.

He said: “There are moments when you don’t really want to do it, if you are having a meal and people are taking their camera phones out and taking pictures of you.

“You can spot them. They pretend to take pictures of their friend and they slightly offset the camera so they can get you.”

But he is grateful for some aspects of fame – all the fan mail and presents. For some reason he gets sent lots of pyjamas.

Odd encounters with obsessed fans also raise a smile.

He said with a laugh: “There was a time when I was in LA, I think, I met this guy who had a tattoo of me, Dan and Emma on his arm.

“He hadn’t quite got the resemblance. I looked like Anne Robinson.”

But how does he feel now this immense experience is over?

Rupert said: “It is weird to think it was the last one. There is a scene right at the end, after the battle, with the three of us on the bridge.

“I found that scene emotional, I still haven’t got used to it.”

But surely the post-Potter future is bright for Rupert, offering the chance to make different kinds of films?

In between the magical movies he has already appeared in low-budget projects including Wild Target, Cherrybomb, Driving Lessons and Thunderpants.

Coming up is Comrade, in which he plays a British airman shot down over Norway in the Second World War.

And Rupert has been lined up to play Eddie “The Eagle” Edwards in a biopic of the Winter Olympics sensation.

He says: “I want to keep on acting, definitely.”

We can only hope his career fares better than the dreams of Brit ski jumper Eddie – who came dead last in two events at the 1988 Winter Olympics.

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Rupert Grint was more than generous with his time when he talked to ComingSoon.net and he chatted about everything from how much his character grows in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince to his favorite band and games he likes to play:

Q: That’s an amazing costume. Tell us about it.
Rupert Grint: Yeah, this is only a little bit of it as well. This is only part of the costume because I’m a keeper I’ve got this massive leather body pad and I’ve got this hat sort of Keeper hat like a padded helmet. I’ve been enjoying Quidditch this year. It’s been alright. It is a bit of an anticlimax because it is actually really painful and really uncomfortable.

Q: How so?
Grint: ‘Cause you’re sitting on a broom and that is quite uncomfortable. And we’ve got harnesses and rigs where the broom moves like that and it does hurt a bit but it is good fun and I am enjoying it.

Q: Daniel said now you understand why he’s not crazy for it.
Grint: I do yeah. This is the first time I’ve got to play Quidditch. I’ve always as I’ve always been quite keen to try it out. Yeah, he’s always said it’s quite painful and he’s definitely right it’s not too comfortable.

Q: So what happens on the field? We are told it is a little more comic than we’re use to.
Grint: It is. This one is a lot more light-hearted than the last one. The last one was really quite dark but this one’s got a few more lighter sort of moments. The Quidditch is quite fun ’cause for Ron there is two sides to it. There’s a side when he thinks he’s really good ’cause he thinks he’s taken the potion and there’s the other side at the try-outs where he’s actually not very good. I have to do a bit of both of this one.

Q: You also get some romance in this movie. Can you talk about that?
Grint: Yeah sure. Ron gets a girlfriend in this one. Jessie Cave who plays Lavender is really cool. She’s really funny. We’ve already filmed the kissing scene a few weeks ago. It was actually quite embarrassing. I wasn’t feeling too uncomfortable about it until the actual day came. The actual scene we did it in the common room full of people cheering and I was standing on this little plinth, this stage and it was actually um, I felt quite self-conscious really ’cause everyone’s there looking at us. We were both quite nervous about it but it was alright.

Q: Was that your first on screen love scene or kissing scene?
Grint: No, I did a little one in “Driving Lessons,” there was a little kiss in that. But that was alright ’cause I was just on my own. But on this one it was a lot different. Once we did the first few it was good.

Q: How many takes did you have to do? I think Daniel said for his he had to do something like 30.
Grint: 30 yeah. No mine was nothing like that. I think it was around eight because he knew we were quite uncomfortable about it and it was quite nerve wracking scene so he kept it to I think about eight so it wasn’t too bad.

Q: Did you pop a lot of gum or mints before?
Grint: Yeah, I did yeah, definitely.

Q: It is really a different relationship between Ron and Lavender than we’re use to seeing in the books. It’s the only one scene that is kind of teenage hormonal, purely physical. Was that hard for you at all?
Grint: No, we’ve only done a few sort of excerpts from it, but it is quite funny really. He’s pretty one sided ’cause right from the beginning Ron is never really sort of comfortable with the whole thing and this is sort of his first proper relationship. She gets a little bit too crazy and possessive and that and sort of scares him a little bit and he becomes kind of one sided. It was quite fun. She’s really funny as well as Lavender.

Q: In the last film Ron had some issues with Harry and it was kind of dark. Tell me about Ron’s character’s journey in this film and how it’s different.
Grint: He’s a bit more cocky in this one ’cause he’s on the Quidditch team and he’s got a girlfriend and sort of thinks he’s quite special. It was quite a new thing to do because before he was a little bit of a nerd and not really fitting in. But now it is quite fun to do all that sort of stuff.

Q: What does Hermione think of him having a girlfriend in this movie?
Grint: I think she’s a bit jealous and you can see probably see that in the film ’cause there are a few scenes that suggest she does sort of like Ron and it sort of leads up to the seventh film.

Q: What’s your feelings about seven coming up no matter what shape it takes, is the feeling changing around here since you’ve been around here so long as things are starting to get to the end now?
Grint: Yeah, I suppose. I loved the seventh book. I thought it was really good and I really liked the ending myself. So yeah I’m really looking forward to doing it. I’m not really consciously thinking about it ’cause I’m doing this but it’s the first time we’ve really known where it’s going to go. Before there has always been a book that hasn’t been out yet so yeah it’s going to be quite cool.

Q: What do you think has been the most challenging thing that you’ve had to do so far?
Grint: Quidditch is quite hard. I was surprised at how physical it is ’cause we had to do quite a bit of training on a trampoline which was actually quite scary ’cause we were going quite high. They rigged us up to this wire rig and we had to do flips and stuff and I didn’t really feel very comfortable doing that.

Q: Once J.K. Rowling made the revelation that Dumbledore was gay that Michael Gambon off camera would kind of swishy things. Is that true?
Grint: I dunno. I haven’t actually done a scene with Michael Gambon yet. But I was quite shocked at it and it was quite funny. When you sort of think about it is does make sense really in some ways. I think it’s cool.

Q: When we see you guys on the red carpets or on the junkets we always ask what you thought about the end and what would actually happen. What did happen when you all finally read the book? Did you all call each other or what was the reaction?
Grint: I was quite surprised really ’cause there was so much hype about it that I was expecting one of us to not make it. So I was really surprised ’cause I thought one of us would go. I was happy ’cause it is a really nice ending and we all live happily ever after so it was nice. It was good.

Q: Are you prepared to let this go?
Grint: I dunno. You can definitely feel it coming to an end now and I think it’s going to be quite sad and I will miss it. It’s been quite a long time now, it’s been like 9 years and I’ve really enjoyed it so I dunno. It’s going to be really weird yeah.

Q: We’ve basically seen you all grow up on screen. How odd is that for you?
Grint: It is especially when I’m coming up on 20 this year so it is really weird. Especially ’cause they’ve been playing the old films on TV recently and I’ve caught a few bits on them and it is really strange looking at them ’cause we were so different then.

Q: Daniel said he teased you about having to do the kissing scene but did he give you any kind of advise or tips before it or did he just laugh at you?
Grint: Yeah basically he did yeah. No he really didn’t give me any advise. It all happened quite quickly really. It was over quite quickly and it was quite embarrassing and I wasn’t really looking forward to it. But it was alright.

Q: Was Jessie a good kisser?
Grint: No, yeah, it was good. It is quite a quick kiss and yeah, it was good yeah.

Q: When you were reading book seven was there anything that you really look forward to filming while reading it?
Grint: Yeah, I’m really interested in the end ’cause in the end it sort of skips to 19 years later and how they are going to do that. Sort of make-up or something.

Q: Did you read the end of the book when you got it in your hands? Did you flip immediately to the end?
Grint: Yeah, I did. I couldn’t handle it I had to find out.

Q: Were you afraid at all that Ron was going to die, would you have cared?
Grint: It would have been quite fun I suppose it would have been quite a cool scene and it was the last book so I wouldn’t have been missing out on anything so it would have been quite fun. But I think the ending as it happened was the right way to go.

Q: So are you ready to do the Harry Potter reunion special in 10 years?
Grint: Oh God. Not yet but maybe in the future but probably not for a while.

Q: Ron’s got to deal with the death of SPOILER in seven so that’s got to be quite intense too?
Grint: Yeah it is. That’s going to be quite tricky. That was quite sad actually when reading that. I’m looking forward to seven it’s going to be really cool.

Q: Tell us about the scene where you take a love potion.
Grint: Yeah that was quite a cool and fun thing to do. Ron takes these chocolates that are poisoned with this love poison and Ron goes into this sort of strange drunk like state. Yeah that was quite a fun thing to do. It was one of the first things we did. It was cool.

Q: When we spoke at the last set visit everyone was saying that you have the best trailer. Is that still the case?
Grint: Yeah definitely. I’ve got a really cool trailer.

Q: You’ve got a ping-pong table…
Grint: Ping-pong table, table football, yeah it’s just really cool. It’s sort of that everyone goes there and tries to beat me at table tennis.

Q: Are you a gamer?
Grint: Yeah I’ve got a Wii, yeah. It’s good.

Q: You an air guitar fan?
Grint: Yeah, I’ve played that. I’ve actually got one here and I do like it.

Q: Are you good at it?
Grint: I’m not bad, yeah. Depends what song it is.

Q: What’s your game of choice?
Grint: My game of choice? At the moment I’m playing Tiger Woods on the Wii. I’m a bit of a golf fan so it’s really good. I’m enjoying that.

Q: Have you taken your ice-cream truck out yet?
Grint: I was going to bring it out quite recently but it’s broken down. It needs a new engine and it needs a load of new parts and I’m going to give it a new paint job. It’s going to look really cool.

Q: Are you going to do it yourself?
Grint: No, I don’t know anything about it.

Q: Do you have a name for it?
Grint: It’s a Mr. Whippy.

Q: Any dream roles after Harry Potter?
Grint: I’m not sure. There’s nothing in particular really. I think I’d like to play someone who’s a little bit mean. I think that would be quite cool or evil that would be different I suppose.

Q: If you found the perfect role how far would you go to get it? Would you shave your head, would you gain weight, would you dye your hair?
Grint: Yeah, I’d definitely go with the hair. I guess I’d probably do anything ’cause in the film “Thunder Pants” I had to have a perm for that one so that was quite an extreme thing.

Q: They actually permed your hair?
Grint: Yeah they actually permed my hair.

Q: So did you have to grow it out longer to have them perm it?
Grint: It was quite long anyway so they just permed it and it was a proper permanent. For a while I wore a cap everywhere. It was quite embarrassing.

Q: Are you able to go about and about in London?
Grint: Yeah, I am getting recognized a bit more now since the last film but it’s still fine. It never happens too much. It’s good.

Q: What kind of things do you usually like to go out and do?
Grint: I see quite a few bands.

Q: Like who?
Grint: I went to the V festival last year that was quite cool. It’s all these different bands. The Killers played there it was cool.

Q: Do you have any crazy stalker fan stories? When you are approached on the street has anyone ever done something or said something inappropriate?
Grint: No stalkers or anything strange like that. Nothing really strange. We get sent some unique things. I get sent pajamas all the time.

Q: Pajamas?
Grint: Pajamas yeah. SpongeBob SquarePants pajamas was a funny thing to get.

Q: If there was one thing you could change about Ron what would it be?
Grint: I’ve always liked Ron. He was always sort of my favorite character in the book. I dunno, nothing probably. I’ve always got on with him.

Q: He’s perfect?
Grint: Yeah.

Q: Is there an element in this film that when Harry and Ginny start to get together does Ron have a reaction to that?
Grint: Yeah definitely, Ron is very protective of Ginny in this one. There are a few scenes, ’cause she also goes out with Dean Thomas as well and she gets a bit flirty with him and Ron doesn’t really like that and disapproves a little bit. So that was quite a fun thing to do.

Q: Now that you’re 20, is it easier for you to relate to your character now that they are getting older and dating?
Grint: Yeah I suppose it is ’cause I’ve always been a few years ahead of Ron and that sort of helps you know what goes on. Especially with the whole sister protective thing ’cause I’ve got little sisters as well and I sort of take it from that a little bit. It is good.

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By Marie Morreale

Q: How is Goblet of Fire different from the previous three movies?

Rupert: I am sort of more grown-up now, and the characters are more teenagers. Ron is a bit more moody and has more teenager-like experiences. The whole movie is darker as well.

Q: Did you have a favorite scene in this movie?

Rupert: There was a campfire scene where we did a big night shoot and they had thousands of these tents. At one point, there are attacks at the campsites, and there were explosions going off and fire everywhere and everyone was running about. It was really exciting and it was a fun scene to do.

Q: Almost everyone else has said they loved the ball scene, so I am glad to hear there was something different that you liked too. Was the ball scene fun though? Did you have to work with a choreographer?

Rupert: Luckily, I didn’t. Ron doesn’t actually dance in the ball, so I somehow got out of that. He only has to dance with Professor McGonagall, so in some ways I was a bit lucky and saved.

Q: How do you think the success of the films has changed your life, both personally and professionally?

Rupert: It hasn’t really changed that much. The only thing that’s probably changed is getting recognized. I get recognized a lot because my hair stands out quite a lot. Of course, now I have long ginger hair, so it’s easy to spot me. But other than that, I pretty much try to stay as normal as I can.

Q: Is that hard? There must be all these people coming up to you. Do you just try to avoid that?

Rupert: I get that when I am working on the films, and it takes up a lot of my time. They’re quite long films, so that has changed me a little bit as well.

Q: When did you know that you wanted to be an actor?

Rupert: I’ve always been into acting. I was always in the school plays and stuff like that. It was really when I was doing the first Harry Potter film that I really got into it. I had never really done anything like it. I didn’t have any expectations as to what it would be like, but I just had the best time ever. It was so much fun going on location and meeting all the cast and all the people you get to work with and traveling together to America and Japan. It’s been a really good experience, and I just want to carry on.

Q: You’ve been in at least one other movie, Thunder Pants.

Rupert: Yeah, I did that after the first Harry Potter movie.

Q: What was your character like in that?

Rupert: He was really different from Ron and it was a nice role to play, actually. I played a geek, a real sort of nerd, and had to perm my hair. So I had curly ginger hair for that and they gave me big teeth and glasses. It was very different from Ron, so I quite enjoyed doing that.

Q: If you hadn’t started acting, what career would you have chosen?

Rupert: I haven’t really thought much about it, to be honest. When I was younger, I always wanted to be an ice-cream man, driving the van and being jolly, but that’s obviously changed.

Q: Could you describe your dream role in a film?

Rupert: I am quite into comedies, so I wouldn’t mind doing an animated movie. It would be quite cool to do the voices. That would be different.

Q: Do you have a favorite comedic actor?

Rupert: I’ve always liked Jim Carrey and Mike Myers.

Q: What’s your all-time favorite movie?

Rupert: I quite like one movie I recently saw, Napoleon Dynamite. That was good.

Q: If you could pick another actor or actress to work with, who would you choose?

Rupert: I don’t know really. Probably the guy who played Napoleon, he was quite funny.

Q: Tell me about a typical day of filming Goblet of Fire.

Rupert: I usually get picked up about 8:30 a.m. and dropped off at the shoot. I live about half an hour away from the shoot in Leeds and Munford. I get there and have a bit of breakfast and get changed into the costume. I’ve got a dressing room and we go have my hair and makeup done and go down to rehearse the scene we’re doing for that day and that’s basically it. We probably film a couple of shots, have lunch, and then do more shots of the same thing and we finish about 7 p.m. It’s quite good.

Q: Shooting a movie involves tons of work, but there’s always a lot of waiting, too. What do you do to entertain yourself during those times?

Rupert: I never really noticed it in the earlier films, because I was in school as well, so I had that to go back to; but this time I am done with [high] school, so the twins and I built a Lego airplane. We made an animation using Legos, which was quite good, and we found a lot of things to do like that.

Q: What kind of advice would you give to a teen who is interested in acting?

Rupert: It’s just really good fun. It’s a good job and I’m having a great time, so I really recommend it.

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Rupert spoke to CBBC Newsround’s Lizo Mzimba about what he gets up to when he’s not busy being a film star and how he really hated filming scenes with spiders in.

Did it help you doing Thunderpants in between?

Yeah – I think I needed to do another role because I was completely ‘Pottered out’ by the first one. So I think it was good I did a completely different role. The perm I wasn’t too happy with!

Do you want to do a fourth film?

I don’t know yet – I want to do most of them because I have a really good time doing them. And I want to do this when I’m older, because I really do enjoy it, it’s really fun.

Any advice for kids getting into acting?

Just do it – it’s so fun. It really is fun.

What are you looking forward to in the next movie?

Getting a new wand and getting a new owl.

Ron and Hermione

Do you think this one’s going to get even creepier with the Dementors?

Yeah – it’s going to be good.

What kind of ordinary things do you do when you’re not being a movie star?

I go-kart, that’s quite cool. And I’ve just started playing golf actually which is a bit… frustrating. Just playing on my PlayStation.

In this movie we’ve got just a hint of something going on with you and Hermione? What do you think of the storyline?

I don’t know – I’m not really looking forward to doing that! But yeah… I hope it doesn’t happen. I hope Ron gets killed off before they actually do something.

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Harry Potter star Rupert Grint has a new role to play: Thunderpants!

The actor who played Harry’s best friend Ron Weasley is to play a boy genius in his latest new film.

In Thunderpants Rupert comes to the aid of a friend who just can’t stop – ahem – breaking wind!

Clever trousers

Grint’s clever character designs a pair of trousers which mean the boy, played by newcomer Bruce Cook, can achieve his dream of becoming an astronaut.

He stars alongside actors Stephen Fry and Simon Callow in the £5m British film.

13-year-old Rupert, once a CBBC Newsround Online messageboard regular, said:

I’m really proud of the film and hope it’s a big hit.”

And he can’t resist: “It’s the windiest film ever!”

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Rupert Grint has admitted he had a tough time settling back into school after months spent on the Harry Potter film set.

The teenage star, who plays Ron Weasley, said it was weird going to school again after such a long break.

“I don’t really like it very much,” he said on Channel 4′s Ri:se.
“I got a detention when I came back from the film premiere because I forgot my kit three times. I had to clear up the sports shed.”

Nervous

“My teachers suck up a bit as well. I shouldn’t have said that!”

Rupert, like all the other young Potter stars, has a private tutor on the set, but he has to go back to school in between filming.

He also said he gets a bit edgy when he first meets really famous actors, like Kenneth Branagh, who plays Gilderoy Lockhart in the Chamber of Secrets.

“I get quite nervous when I meet them because they’re really famous but once you get to know them, they’re really down to earth and nice,” he said.

Rupert was on Ri:se with his Thunderpants co-star, Bruce Cook.

Rupert admitted he actually thumped Bruce in a scene where he has to slap his face.

“One of the crew members paid me £5 to actually whack him in the film,” Rupert laughed. “But it was really fun to film.”

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Written by John Hiscock

As the fifth film is released and the last chapter of JK Rowling’s Harry Potter series is unveiled, will the future spell success for its young stars, asks John Hiscock

They have spent almost half their lives on Harry Potter film sets, growing up in the magical world of Hogwart’s School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. But now, as the final book of JK Rowling’s seven-part series is about to be released and the fifth film, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, arrives in cinemas next week, a world without Harry Potter is looming for the films’ three young stars.

Just 17, Daniel Radcliffe has already briefly shed his Harry Potter wizard robes for a well-received West End stint as the troubled young man who blinds

horses in Equus. He has a film, The December Boys,
awaiting release and is due to begin work on My Boy
Jack soon.

His height – 5ft 6in – means that he’ll probably never be an action hero, but then his ambitions lie elsewhere. He has a keen sense of humour and a quick wit and has his sights on dramatic and light-comedy parts.

“It was fantastic to do Equus but I’m not under the false impression that doing one different role will make people suddenly see me as an actor in my own right rather than the actor who plays Harry Potter,” he said.

“I think if I continue to do other interesting roles, hopefully people will start to see me differently.”

Despite having been in the eye of the Harry Potter storm for most of their childhoods, Radcliffe and his two co-stars Emma Watson and Rupert Grint seem remarkably well-adjusted and down to earth.

“People ask me if I think I’ve had a normal childhood – and if a normal childhood is being healthy and happy, then I have,” says Daniel.

“The other day, somebody said the last Harry Potter film will probably be released in 2010. If that’s the case then that will have been 10 years of my life and that’s a huge chunk, so I’ll be sad because it will be the end of an era in a way. But I equally imagine it will be quite exciting to be out of that world.”

Daniel is as interested as any of the millions of Harry Potter fans in finding out Harry’s fate when the seventh and final book in the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, is out on July 21.

“I have no idea what will happen,” he says. “There’s certainly a possibility that Harry might die. I’ve been told that people in Las Vegas are placing bets over whether he’ll live or die, which is hilarious. Will it make me sad? No. I think if Harry dies in a heroic way, it’s a good way for him to go.”

At 16, Emma Watson is the youngest of the trio. While she sees a lot of her Hermione Granger character in herself – “We’re both very stubborn, determined, loyal, academic feminists” – she believes any acting talent she has is instinctive and is unsure whether it will be enough to carry her on after Harry.

“I’ll feel a bit lost when it all finishes, I guess,” she says. “It’s hard to imagine life without Harry Potter. It’s made up such a big part of my life and dominated so much time.

“Never having done an audition before and never having done any professional acting and going into the biggest film franchise of all time, I’ve kind of come from nowhere and gone straight in at the top.

“I feel like I need to backtrack and work my way through again. I’d be really interested to kind of train properly because I feel I shouldn’t be here. I should have done so much more.

“I got thrown in the deep end on the first one, but the Harry Potter films have been a pretty amazing acting school,” she says.

Watson is being paid a reported £2m (€3m) for each of the final two films in the series, but insists that her drawn-out contractual negotiations were not money-motivated.

“It was more about juggling my A-level exams, going to university and doing the movies,” she says.

Apart from clothes, her biggest expense so far has been a laptop, although she will be buying a car as soon as she has passed her driving test.

“I’m taking lessons, but it’s so hard,” she groans. “I had no idea.”

She, too, is eagerly awaiting the final book. “It feels as if I’ve been waiting for ever.

“I really want to know what happens. There’s a guy who claims he’s been able to hack into J K Rowling’s account, and he’s saying that Hermione’s gong to die, and I found myself getting sad. I had-n’t contemplated her dying.”

Watson plans to take a gap year, to go to university. And then, if things go as planned, with Hermione Granger behind her, she will return to acting.

“I’m still growing up, changing all the time, and I hope I’m talented enough to take on another character. I guess that will be a test of whether I can really act.”

Of the trio, 18-year-old Rupert Grint, who plays Ron Weasley, appears the least concerned about the end of the franchise.

He has appeared in two other films – Thunderpants and Driving Lessons – and, since leaving school at 16, he has spent much of his time on the golf course when not on the Harry Potter set.

“Cool” is his favourite adjective; it applies particularly to the ice cream truck he has bought and drives around Hertfordshire,”I don’t know why I bought it, but it’s really cool,” he says. “It’s got a bell that plays a tune. It’s really cool.

“If I can, I’d like to sort of carry on with acting.”

For the happy-go-lucky Grint, a death scene for Ron Weasley in the final film would also be “cool”, but it is not something that he has thought too much about. It’s going to be really sad when it all ends, and it’s going to be weird because it’s been a big part of my life.

“But I’ve got to do other things after Harry Potter so I’ll just see what happens. I’ve still got my ice cream van if it doesn’t all work out, so I’ll be all right.”

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is released nationwide on July 12

‘It was hard not to laugh all the time because it was such fun’

When actress Imelda Staunton was invited to join the cast of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenixas Dolores Umbridge, Hogwarts’ latest sadistic Defence of the Dark Arts teacher, she did not know whether to be flattered or offended.

“In the book, she is said to be very ugly and toad-like, so when people would tell me, ‘You’d be great in the part,’ I’d say: ‘Well, thanks very much’,” she laughs.

Her Dolores Umbridge is a pink-wearing control freak who, with a sing-song voice and honeyed smile, terrifies the students and staff at Hogwarts, as she carries out her mission as Inquisitor for the Ministry of Magic.

Imelda worked closely with the film’s costume desighers. “We had a lot of fun creating this sort of little round person. It was important for her to appear soft and warm because, of course, she is neither.”

One of the film’s creepiest scenes involves her torturing Harry, whom she forces to write lines which appear etched in blood on the back of his hand.

It may be unusual for an Oscar-nominated, Olivier Award-winning actress to make such a memorable exit from a film as Staunton, who is last seen being carried off by a horde of angry centaurs, but she enjoyed every second of it. “It was very hard not to laugh all the time because it was such fun,” she says.

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Written by Gail Campbell-Thomson

IMAGINE the surreal world of Roald Dahl merged with the potty humour of Viz magazine and you have Thunderpants, the story of one boy’s battle to overcome a rather embarrassing problem and make his dreams come true.

Thunderpants is basically a one joke comedy, but in the hands of Pete Hewitt (The Borrowers) what could have been a feeble pre-teen attempt at toilet humour is instead a quite charming children’s fable which shows us that you don’t have to be Superman to be special.

Patrick Smash (Bruce Cook) is not your typical ten-year-old boy. True he has all the necessary angst of an ankle biter his age, such as making friends at school, avoiding the school bully and his gang of cronies, and growing up to be an astronaut.

But he has a unique problem which causes immediate social death and exile. Having been born with two stomachs, Patrick suffers from uncontrollable and extremely explosive flatulence.

Now this is not your average embarrassing botty-burp. No, Patrick is able to clear whole rooms of people, smash windows, damage property and almost move mountains with his devastating problem.

This “problem” has caused his family to split apart and has all but made him a social pariah All have deserted him except for his best friend Alan A Allen (Rupert Grint) a highly eccentric yet brilliant child prodigy and inventor of fantastic machines who, thankfully has no sense of smell.

It is Alan who makes the eponymous Thunderpants of the title. He designs them as a containment unit in an effort to help Patrick achieve his hearts desire – to become a Spaceman.

This is a seemingly impossible dream, but when the US Space centres latest mission falls into trouble he may just get the chance.

As with The Borrowers, Hewitt delves into the idiosyncratic British world of Roald Dahl.

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Written by Sharron Gibson

Imagine going to watch a film at the cinema and coming out a record-breaker!

Well, that’s what happened me and about 620 other people.

Well, that’s what happened me and about 620 other people.Well, that’s what happened me and about 620 other people.

Each person was given a whoopee cushion before going into the film and a Guinness World Records person was on hand to make sure the record was properly done.

After only a few attempts, my record breaking companions and I were told we had hit the big time.

Me with my record breaking ‘fart’ cushion

We had achieved what no other had dared to achieve before – a world record in a simultaneous fart!

I was feeling very proud!

Mind you, there was of course good reason for such an attempt.

Sunday saw the premiere of Thunderpants, a film about a boy who has problems in the wind department – he can’t stop blowing-off!

And boy does he do that well.

It stars Rupert Grint of Harry Potter fame and newcomer Bruce Cook who plays the title role.

Bruce says the film “is really cool.”

His rather dodgy haircut is due to him filming a new adaptation of Charles Dickens’ Nicholas Nickleby.

Thunderpants is released on 24 May.

Come back soon to read Stephanie’s Press Pack report on the Premiere.

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