Emma Watson and Jason Isaacs Talk Potter

Exclusive: Emma Watson and Jason Isaacs talk Potter

Tuesday, March 15, 2005

It's hard to believe that just a few short years ago Harry Potter's Emma Watson was just a fresh-faced eleven year-old taken aback by the overwhelming reception for The Philosopher's Stone and her role as young witch Hermione Granger. FilmFocus spoke to her this week, at the Empire Awards on Sunday night, and now the only description springing to mind to attach to the, now, fourteen year-old is "seasoned pro."

In an effort to explain this incredibly quick transformation, we're quick to suggest that Harry Potter must be the World's best acting school, she's been directed by the likes of Chris Columbus, Alfonso Cuarón and, now, Mike Newell in her short career. "I am so lucky," she told us, "I've worked with the crème-de-la-crème of British actors and actresses, all in one film; I've worked with some fantastic directors. I'm very lucky."

But what of working with Mike Newell for the fourth film, Goblet of Fire? "He's a fantastic director," she told us, "and he's just a really, really lovely man. He's taught me a lot, he really has. What's lovely is that he's a real actor's director. He really cares about the acting which, from my point of view, is fantastic."

Watson rejoins fellow cast members Daniel Radcliffe (Harry) and Rupert Grint (Ron) on the film, currently in post-production.

We're the first to champion a full seven Harry Potter adventures on the big screen with these three consummate professionals, but there's been talk of replacing them for future films. "I think I'm growing up with the character," she told us, playing down rumours that Goblet of Fire might be her last, "People have been talking about outgrowing the character, but that's not really possible."

So then, can we expect her, as well as Radcliffe and Grint, to start in Order of the Phoenix? "To be honest," she told us, "One film at a time! Goblet of Fire has taken eleven months to shoot and I think everyone's just focussing on getting this one to the end and then we'll start thinking about the future."

We also caught up with Jason Isaacs, the New British Bad Guy ™, who played the aristocratic and enigmatic Lucius Malfoy in the second film, Chamber of Secrets. He's had a Potter hiatus, having not appeared in Prisoner of Azkaban, but he's back in Goblet of Fire. "It's all the same crew," he told us, "and they didn't do number three. I assumed they'd been there the whole time, but they came back with me. It was lovely to do scenes with Robert Hardy [Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge] again, but mostly all of my stuff is with Ralph Fiennes who plays Lord Voldemort. It's a tour de force; a real performance and joy to sit back and watch."

With the hiatus, Isaacs told us he's noted marked improvements in the young cast members, "and they've not just improved," he went on, "they're almost unrecognisable. Rupert is this great big hulking man and Tom [Felton], who plays my son, is now driving! They've both left school. Apart for the fact that they're lovely actors, they're all so incredibly technically proficient. They know how to negotiate the diplomacy of the set so well. They've gone from being children to being seasoned old pros. It's rather scary for someone like me to see them catch up and zoom ahead."

So if Emma is remaining tight-lipped, will Jason let us in on a little Order of Phoenix gossip? There had been news that he was already signed into the fifth film. "Would that that were true," he explained, "it's utter bollocks unfortunately. No-one's confirmed, they haven't even got a script yet. I said I hoped I was going to be in it and I had to go to the producers and say, 'look I'm sorry you've seen it in the press everywhere, when you haven't even decided what the script is,' but, yeah, I hope they ask me. It's a riot."