Hogwarts Herald

from iTunes

Daniel Radcliffe’s Playlist

Hope There’s Someone - Antony and The Johnsons
Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels) - Arcade Fire Funeral
Man Ray - The Futureheads
Carrion British - Sea Power
Buddy Holly - Weezer
Music When the Lights Go Out - The Libertines
Gouge Away - Pixies
Me Ves y Sufres Hope of the States
What I’m Looking For Brendan Benson
Boredom Buzzcocks

Rupert Grint’s Playlist

Take Me Out - Franz Ferdinand
Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana
U Got It Bad - Usher
I Am Not Your Broom - They Might Be Giants
Minority - Green Day
Stand Up Tall - Dizzee Rascal
Sucker Train Blues - Velvet Revolver
Forgot About Dre - Dr. Dre, Eminem & Snoop Dogg
Common People - Pulp
White Wedding - Billy Idol
Fit But You Know It - The Streets

Or does she???

There’s conflicting reports out about Emma Watson’s future in the Harry Potter franchise.

On the one hand you have outlets like TV Guide reporting she’s gone.

Then on the other hand you have stories like this one on Associated Content saying that she’s staying put. And there’s another in the Chicago Tribune.

What’s a fan to believe?

Personally, I don’t put much stock in the “she’s staying” reports. Why? It seems rather speculative…and they’re reporting it as fact. It’s not Emma or her people saying she’ll be back…it’s Warner Bros. saying “they’re confident” she’ll be back. That doesn’t sound like a sure thing to me.

She may very well be back, and I sure hope she does come back (it would be really, really weird if she didn’t). Maybe it’s just a healthy mis-trust of big business and big media, but I don’t put much faith into what they’re saying.

…

Daniel Radcliffe has officially signed on to make the final two Harry Potter films, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Speculation was rife that Radcliffe would not complete the series that made him a star after appearing in the play “Equus” in London’s West End.

I don’t know about this speculation…I think Daniel has been perfectly clear all along that he was going to see this series through to the end. There was never really any doubt. He was certainly in good position for negotiation (giving him a lot more money is certainly better for the financial gains of the series as a whole than paying less for a replacement Harry), but I’m sure both sides worked out a deal that was fair and respectful to all involved.

…

Not only are critics up in arms over Daniel Radcliffe appearing nude on stage in Equus, they’re now up in arms over his onstage smoking.

Keep in mind Daniel doesn’t smoke in real life…it’s just what his role in Equus calls for.

I’m a personal critic of smoking…I think it’s disgusting, unhealthy and anyone who smokes is basically a…well, it rhymes with witch…to Big Tobacco. It may seem cool and rebelious, but basically you’re just letting Big Business control your life, health and well-being. That doesn’t make you cool…it makes you a big, smelly, unhealthy loser. It’s rather sad, really.

If a prescription drug is shown to cause heart attacks in a handful of the people, it’s immediately taken off the market. Cigarette smoking is the direct cause of 1600 American deaths per day…yet the Tobacco Industry isn’t going anywhere soon.

So I can understand why anti-smoking organizations are up in arms. But I also feel in this case…the play calls for it. It’s in the script and any change to appease critics is akin to censorshiop. Censorship is not the answer.

Plus…this is an adult play: nudity; sexual themes; smoking. There shouldn’t be any impressionable children seeing this play, anyway.

…

Today’s Chicago Tribune looks at “All things Harry Potter” in their “Potter Watch” column.

What can you find in the column?

** News of Daniel Radcliffe’s new London play, Equus.
** A countdown to the 5th movie, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
** A countdown to the 7th and final book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

…

Squashing some rumors that Warner Bros. was displeased with Daniel Radcliffe’s role in the upcoming play Equus (in which Daniel appears nude), they released the following statement:

“Daniel Radcliffe is an extremely talented actor, as well as a great collaborator and friend to Warner Bros. Pictures. We’ve had great experiences working with him on our films and fully support him in the artistic choices he makes as an actor.”

This July 23rd, when Daniel Radcliffe turns 18, he gains access to his fortune…a reported £20,000,000 (or $39,000,000 US).

A trust fund had been set up for the young star when he landed the role in the movie adaptation of JK Rowling best-seller series. Over the years, Radcliffe’s movie earnings, as well as the money from the merchandising have all gone into the fund.

However, things are set to change when the British actor reaches his eighteenth birthday in July, for that’s when the reins of his fortune are handed over to him.

Daniel Radcliffe defends his decision to bare all in a new production of Equus, according to an article in The Post Chronicle.

In Daniel’s words:

“I’m fine about it. Equus is an iconic play. The nude scene is part of it. I can’t do it with my pants on. That would be rubbish. We’ve done the scene a couple of times in rehearsal. I had no particular qualms. There’s nothing that would stop me getting my kit off if that’s what the work demands.

“The key to serious acting is to lose your inhibitions, to become free and fearless. I feel Ok about my body. Not totally, of course, but no one my age does…but I’ve gone to the gym to make sure. And many of the actors I admire, like Gary Oldman, have gone naked.”

In the course of a day or so Daniel Radcliffe has gone from the boy your parents would love to see you bring home, to the bad boy who has your dad polishing his rifle. Some parents are mad.

One of the publicity photos shows a topless and buffed Radcliffe being hugged by a naked woman. Another shows him leaning against bales of hay as he stares up at the topless woman. A third has him posing in front of a white horse…

“We as parents feel Daniel should not appear nude. Our nine-year-old son looks up to him as a role model…” one parent wrote.

Another said: “I am curious as to how and why his parents said this was okay.”

Daniel’s role in Equus is a difficult role for anyone to play, let alone a 17 year-old. Especially a 17 year-old who is such a prominent figure in the world of children and teenagers. (Begin my editorializing) But he is an actor.

(more…)

“Where’s his Invisibility Cloak now?” an article in the Telegraph today shows a Daniel Radcliffe in a publicity shot for his new play, Equus. As you can see, there’s no doubt about why this image is creating such a stir…as is the anticipation for Equus to open. Daniel will be acting in the outfit God made him.

This certainly isn’t Daniel as Harry Potter—Daniel’s desire to begin transitioning away from his Harry Potter persona is right on track. No one is mistaking him as Harry Potter here.

Apart from the obvious reason for all of the buzz surrounding Equus, it’s supposed to be a very fine play.

…

USA Today takes a look at “seven of 2007’s most-anticipated family-friendly sequels and films spun from stage and TV” including Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Here’s what they have to say about OOTP…not to mention showing us this new picture of Daniel Radcliffe.

“The cast is growing older, film by film, and the audience is growing with them,” says David Yates, director of No. 5. “That’s what is beautiful with Harry Potter. Our story is the most emotionally complex one so far.” That includes Harry’s first kiss, shared with fellow wizard-in-training Cho Chang (Katie Leung). Yates assures that the film “has all of the whiz-bang whistles and bells as well. We have centaurs, half-men and half-horse. A backwoods giant baby and Hagrid’s half-brother, Grawp. And some beautiful, hypnotic thestrals that are only seen when someone has died.”

A magazine near and dear to my heart…Geek Monthly…has a nice, short article about Daniel Radcliffe and his positioning to find other, non-Potterish acting roles. One certainly can’t blame his desire to do this…he’s too talented an actor to be just Harry Potter for his whole career. Otherwise he runs the risk of becoming another Luke Skywalker.

I need to get as much work between now and the end of the series and the immediate aftermath of the series as I can to prove to people that I can do it. That’s why I’m constantly on the look out for scripts and things to do. That’s why I’m doing two things between Harry Potter 5 and 6, if and when that happens. I do feel a need to say to people that I am capable of more than Harry Potter. That being said, I don’t pick roles specifically because they are very different from Harry Potter. You have to judge each role on what it is and who you’ll be working with. It just so happens that the films that have come my way are very different from Harry, and that’s a nice bonus, really. Having said that, Harry Potter is a very demanding part and really challenging. I don’t mean to make it sound like Harry is an easy ride, because it’s not. But with doing things like Equus and My Boy Jack, which is a World War I story about Rudyard Kipling and his son, and I did December Boys last year - hopefully all of these projects should begin to let people see me in a different light.

Warner Independent Pictures has posted an August 2007 release date for Daniel Radcliffe’s other summer movie, December Boys.

(Click the above link…then click “Upcoming Releases”…scroll down just a bit for the information/synopsis for December Boys)

There’s really not a lot of information available about December Boys. Below the fold you’ll find a couple of short YouTube clips…

(more…)

Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson are among the 50 actors and actresses (25 of each) found on Fandango’s top 50 list of “the stars they (filmgoers) are most looking forward to seeing on the big screen in 2007.”

Daniel comes in at #20 on the list of actors, right between Jim Carrey (#19) and John Travolta (#21).

Emma is found at #24 on the list of actresses, between Sarah Jessica Parker (#23) and Anne Hathaway (#25).

…

Daniel Radcliffe comes in at #22 and Emma Watson’s #16 on IMDb’s STARmeter Top 25 for 2006, a ranking of “actual search behavior of over 42 million users of IMDb.com.”

This is a pretty good showing for the two Potter stars as neither appeared in a movie in 2006. No doubt they’ll get a little boost in 2007 from the release of Order of the Phoenix.

…