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The secrets of Harry Potter: 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 Ron. But you already knew that

Girls' Life, June-July, 2004

Who is Daniel Radcliffe?

When you want to get to know someone better, you go straight to the source. So we had the British cutie call us from London. Daniel's accent makes him, actually, a bit hard to understand over the phone. But it also makes him sound sooo polite. Here's what we know about Harry ... and what we found out about Daniel.

Harry is in Gryffindor at Hogwarts Academy.

Daniel attends private school, not for wizards. And while students are assigned to sorting houses, Daniel does find that cliques form. "Yeah, that's something I really don't like at all. I hate it the way you get a lot of people just kind of fraternizing and not associating with other people." When we ask him if he is part of any clique, he flatly answers, "No. I hope not."

Harry is great at Quidditch.

Daniel likes rugby. "I take rugby a lot, but at my school we're not allowed to play full-contact rugby, unfortunately." Daniel likes to run too. "I run about 100 meters, but the reason I'm not on a track team is because I'm not really at school much."

Harry rides a Nimbus 2000.

Daniel doesn't drive anything. He's 15, and the driving age in the UK is 17. But his dream ride is a fire-red Cadillac. "Like the one in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. I actually prefer motorbikes by quite a long way. For now, my parents drive me."

Harry has magical powers.

Daniel wishes he had speed powder. "So I could get places really fast." And where is he in such a hurry to get to? "New York or Kyoto. If it was Kyoto, I would visit all the temples and stuff. They're all really interesting. I've been there once, and it was amazing. If it was New York, I'd walk around all the streets and go to Central Park."

Harry can sometimes predict the future.

Daniel is a tad uncertain about his future. "I'm not sure. I don't know what I'm going to do ... I can't really say yet. We finished filming so I'm kind of not doing anything. I've actually got some free time, you see. Reading and watching films and just chilling out really. I'm about to start reading 1984 by George Orwell."

Harry doesn't have a girlfriend.

Daniel has a crush. If he were to have a girlfriend, what would she be like? "She would be Scarlett Johansson, um, who I've recently fallen in love with. Um ... I would love to meet her." You know, the 20-year-old New York-born actress who's been cleaning up with her Lost in Translation success.

Harry has mentors.

Daniel has movie idols. "One of my favorite actors in the entire world, which I've just worked with, is Gary Oldham, which was an honor and a privilege. Ralph Fiennes is also someone I think is fantastic. And Phillip Seymour Hoffman is someone I'd love to work with." Work with in what? "Urn, anything that has a good, interesting script, a good character, and an interesting director--anything really that has those things"

Harry has two best buds in Hermione and Ron.

Harry has two true friends in Emma and Rupert. In fact, he gets on well with almost everyone on set. "We really get along as a kind of whole, urn, kind of like a family." The three do keep in touch when not filming, but don't see each other often. "We see so much of each other--we're on set for like 10 or 11 months of the year--the month we have off, we tend to go separate."

Who is Emma Watson?

Emma is a bit more chatty than Daniel, which we like. She's open and upbeat--a totally normal 13-year-old, who wishes she had an invisibility cloak to sneak into a Red Hot Chili Peppers Concert at the London Arena.

Besides rocking out Emma likes to read--and she's excited about recommending her favorites. "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 at the ending. Anyway, the other two, Knife Edge and An Eye for An Eye, they're so good, the Malorie Blackman series."

And, yes, she reads the Harry Potter books, 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 favorite book, it's my favorite script, it's my favorite 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 $2 billion 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, urn, 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 thing that's happened to me ever, I was doing the Jay Lend 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."

 

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