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American Morning
Interview of Daniel Radcliffe
Aired November 16, 2001 - 09:54 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: And welcome back. The long wait is over, unless you are already standing in line, waiting to get a ticket to "Harry Potter". "Harry Potter" is playing on a record 8200 movie screens across America. And we should note that the movie was produced by Warner Brothers, which is owned by the same parent company which owns CNN. But by all accounts, the film is casting a spell over audiences. Earlier this week, I sat down the the movie's star, Daniel Radcliffe.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dear Mr. Potter, we are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."
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ZAHN: When you took on the role of Harry Potter, you knew that 100 million copies of the book had already sold. They'd been translated in 46 different languages, and you knew that there would be people out there, really waiting for the movie to fail. What was your biggest worry?
DANIEL RADCLIFFE, ACTOR: Well, that J.K. -- J.K. Rowling would be pleased with the way I portrayed Harry, because he -- he is, in fact, he is a song. So, I didn't want to go and -- go in -- go in there and just kind of muck it up completely.
ZAHN: How did you become Harry?
RADCLIFFE: Just through reading the script, and reading the books. It's kind of -- because the character -- not just Harry, but all the characters are explained so clearly in all the books. And the script, it's quite easy to get inside their heads and kind of think like them.
ZAHN: And what was the hardest part of that transformation?
RADCLIFFE: Probably playing somebody with no parents, who has never even known his parents, because I have a really close relationship with my parents and we're really good friends.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Welcome to your first flying lesson.
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ZAHN: For people who have made films, it's really difficult to understand sort of what you're up against when you're doing some of your individual scenes, because sometimes you're playing with someone who exists, sometimes you're playing in a scene where you're against a background. And those objects are invisible. How weird is that?
RADCLIFFE: Well, the crew were so good at their jobs, and not just good at their jobs, they were amazing at their jobs, and so -- they made it so easy for everybody, all the cast and everything, it was just -- it wasn't -- it wasn't so strange.
ZAHN: How many times have you seen the film?
RADCLIFFE: Four.
ZAHN: And what is your -- is your feeling on the fourth time around any different than it was the first time around?
RADCLIFFE: I hate watching myself. I really, really hate it. But, the most nervous time I actually watched one, was actually the third time, at the English premier in London. So, that was kind of -- quite frightening because there were so many people there.
ZAHN: Have you sort of come to terms with what it means to be a part of this -- bonanza?
RADCLIFFE: I feel very privileged to be a part of it, because, you know, how many boys my age get to be a part of all these films and have their faces on buses and billboards and everything, so --
ZAHN: Final word to any of those Harry Potter fans out there, particularly those who want to make sure the movie is just as good as the book?
RADCLIFFE: The film is very loyal to the books. And, I think, if you like the books you'll like the film.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZAHN: The film is two and a half hours long, but some viewers say it feels more like 10 minutes.
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