Authors: David Nolan
The mischievous Gambon and the teenager-at-heart Cuarón were a deadly combination on set, proving that it wasn’t just Emma and her co-stars who could use the set as their own personal playground.
‘On my first Potter film, the director and I shoved a fart machine in Harry Potter’s sleeping bag,’ Gambon later explained to
Future Movies
about a scene where the pupils bed down in the Great Hall for protection against the ‘murderous raving lunatic’ Sirius Black. ‘Daniel had his eye on one of the extra girls and asked, “Can she be in the next sleeping bag to me in this scene?” She was a beautiful girl playing a non-speaking part, so we agreed. I had the controller, and, as soon as he wakes up in the Great Hall, I pressed the button. It
destroyed
his credibility with her.’
Also joining the cast was Gary Oldman as Sirius Black, the shape-changing wizard who turns out to be Harry Potter’s godfather. Radcliffe was thrilled by the casting of Oldman. The British actor had made a name playing tortured, morally suspect characters on screen, from Sid Vicious in Alex Cox’s
Sid and Nancy
to Lee Harvey Oswald in
JFK
. He had a reputation for immersing himself totally in a role – even immersing himself further than was strictly healthy. Producer David Heyman said, ‘Gary’s an actor’s actor, but also a producer’s and a director’s actor. He comes prepared, he’s collaborative, he’s passionate. I’ve heard the stories – “Oh, Gary …” – but nothing could be further from the truth. Gary is a hero. You just want to see him do it more. To have him flexing those not inconsiderable acting muscles in Harry Potter is a treat.’
As Sirius Black, Oldman was made to look like a
wild-haired
, tattooed heroin addict. ‘I’m no stranger to the dark side,’ he told Johnny Vaughn in an on-set interview. ‘But really I’m playing a good guy. We
think
he’s a bad guy. So I liked that dynamic, that twist at the end.’
Oldman was also full of praise for his young co-stars: ‘Honestly, they really are fantastic kids. They’re very professional. Very focused.’
Radcliffe for one idolised Oldman. Watson was less than impressed. To Radcliffe’s horror, she had no idea who the multi-award-winning actor was, as she later explained during a press conference to promote the finished film. ‘Dan almost bit my head off when he said, “Gary Oldman’s been cast as Sirius Black.” I said, “Who?” Now
I know that’s the most terrible thing that I could possibly say ever! Even though I didn’t know him, he’s great.’
Emma was slightly more impressed by some of the other casting decisions. ‘Someone I was dying to work with was Emma Thompson, who got cast as the part of Professor Trelawney because I love her,’ she said. ‘She did a really great job. She is hilarious. I had really good fun with her because she was very creative and very involving with me. It was really flattering for her to involve me like that.’
For director Cuarón, it was Emma Watson and her young co-stars who ruled the roost. ‘From my perspective,’ he told the BBC, ‘I found the grown-ups more intimidated by the kids. They’d done two movies, they are doing this movie, they are working every single day.’
For Emma, though, the reverse was true: the roll call of British acting talent that was scattered through the movie was a lot to deal with for an actress barely into her teens. ‘The scene which had Alan Rickman [Severus Snape], Timothy Spall [Peter Pettigrew], Gary Oldman [Sirius Black] and David Thewlis [Remus Lupin] all in the same room was a bit overwhelming, but it was great because it really challenged me. Just watching them work was a huge help in terms of helping us mature as actors.’
With a brisk running time of 136 minutes – brisk by Potter standards, that is –
Prisoner of Azkaban
rattles along with fine set pieces such as the Dementors’ invasion of the Hogwarts Express, a storm-lashed game of Quidditch and a werewolf finale where once again Hermione proves herself to be the bravest of the bunch.
The first surprise is seeing Emma’s Hermione in her
‘civilian’ clothes as she bickers with Ron about their pets. It’s hardly the stylish outfits that we were used to seeing Emma wearing at premieres and award ceremonies, but it was a start. ‘It took me three films to get Hermione in jeans,’ Emma told
USA Today
. ‘To get out of the robes with the tights and the itchy jumpers. Whoo-hoo! [Being 13 is] different from 12 or 11. It’s an archetypal age. Kids change so much. You want to change the way you dress, the way you look, the way you argue.’
When they get to Hogwarts the three stars look like typical teenagers at school: ties are askew, hair is messy and even Hermione has her shirt untucked. Director Cuarón wanted the film to have a more contemporary feel. Ron and Hermione argue constantly, but there’s that pointer too about the way their relationship could head, as she awkwardly holds Ron’s hand, while Harry tries to pet Buckbeak, the fearsome hippogriff. The moment is over in a second, but it was the kind of character detail that made the viewer warm to her. ‘I feel quite close to Hermione,’ Emma told the BBC. ‘I feel very protective of her when I read the books, so I hope she ends up doing something that she loves. I hope she ends up being happy.’ Could that mean Hermione being happy with Ron? ‘Maybe! Maybe … if that makes her happy …’
There are noticeably longer takes, tracking shots and dialogue scenes involving the teenage stars than in previous films. Remember when Chris Columbus had to extend a shot in the edit (see chapter three) to make it look like Hermione and Harry had a lingering embrace? Sleight of hand like that was no longer required, because the three
young actors stretched their acting abilities as their director stretched the length of takes he could capture. ‘Basically, I think everything we learned with Chris, we were now able to put into practice with a different director,’ Radcliffe told
Cinema Confidential
. ‘I think the reason Alfonso was able to do longer takes and more complicated shots was because, with Chris, we didn’t have the experience or the focus to do that kind of stuff. It is harder, it is more challenging, because we’re getting older and if we’re getting older and we’re not being challenged there’s no point in doing it really.’
There’s a good running joke about Hermione seemingly appearing from nowhere during various points in the film. Cat lover Emma also gets to work with Crookshanks the cat: ‘I loved working with that cat. He’s so cute. He looks like he’s been smashed in the face with a pan. He’s so ugly, bless! But I love him. He’s lovely and fluffy.’
Emma was even able to take her love of cats one step further this time around. ‘I was given more unusual things to do,’ she said, revelling in the expanded role the third film gave her. ‘I become a cat in one scene! I loved that, because I have two cats at home.’
The burgeoning relationship between Hermione and Ron is key to the film: when they aren’t arguing they’re embracing. ‘Any excuse to make out that they hate each other,’ Emma said in an on-set interview for a ‘making of’ documentary. ‘They’re always niggling each other and having a go at each other. There’s always this threat that they might actually like each other. And they don’t like that at all.’
Then of course there’s the famous Draco punch. ‘That felt good,’ Hermione says, summing up the audience feeling perfectly. In fact, we get to see the punch twice as Ms Granger takes the lead by going back in time and solving the mystery and saving the life of Buckbeak.
Prisoner of Azkaban
is Hermione’s movie. ‘Definitely! I love playing Hermione, she is so charismatic,’ Emma told CBBC. ‘She’s a fantastic role to play, especially in this third one.’
‘New boy’ Michael Gambon – louder and showier than Richard Harris as Dumbledore – was full of praise for Emma and her young co-stars, in his own mischievous way: ‘Awful, they are such bad actors! No, they are brilliant actors. The three of them are just the best. It was a joy to work with them, not one single iota of a problem. I remember, working in various scenes that I have with them, that they are so economical.’
Robbie Coltrane as Hagrid agreed. ‘They’re definitely getting older, they’re not children any more,’ he told the
Daily Mail
. ‘They’re not quite as moody as adolescents. They are fantastic, I don’t know how they manage. They’re on set longer than anyone else is.’
Director Alfonso Cuarón seemed to save his most lavish praise for Emma. ‘If she decided, she could have a big career,’ he told
The Times
. ‘She’s growing up so beautifully. I’d love to work with her again, away from Harry Potter. She listens intensely, and there’s an intelligence and warmth about her.’
The world premiere of
Prisoner of Azkaban
took place on 23 May 2004 at the Radio City Music Hall in New
York. Emma wore a strapless silvery beige dress with her hair in ringlets as she posed for photos and spoke to reporters about Hermione’s role in the film. ‘In the first two films, people were mean to her, teasing her, being rude to her, and she’s always taking it, pretending she didn’t hear, saying, “Oh, no, let’s just forget about it.” But in this one she’s, like, “No, that’s it, I’m not taking any more, I’m going to fight back,” and she punches Draco, storms out on her teachers. She’s rock and roll!’
At a press conference the day after the New York premiere, Emma would make her first really eye-catching public fashion statement. She’d celebrated her 13th birthday on set, but now she was a confident 14-year-old. As she and Daniel talked at a top table with US journalists, the two teenagers were a study in contrasts: Radcliffe wore a plain white T-shirt; Watson, on the other hand, wore a red and gold
Sgt. Pepper
-style military jacket. Not only were the film journalists taking note of Emma Watson, the fashion writers had started to as well.
For the London premiere six days later at the Odeon Leicester Square, Emma styled her hair up and wore a flowing purple dress – purple was a recurring sartorial theme for the young actress – along with matching purple shoes and a white corsage. J. K. Rowling later made a point of saying in a posting on her website how striking Emma looked. ‘The premiere was fun, as always,’ she wrote. ‘It was the first time I had met Gary Oldman, David Thewlis and Michael Gambon, all of whom do a really magnificent job in the film. And it was, as ever, great to see Dan, Rupert and Emma, who get taller and better looking
(and in Emma’s case, more beautiful) every time I see them.’ In Rowling’s view, Emma, Rupert and Daniel were also ‘miraculously, the most grounded, least egotistical teenage actors you are ever likely to meet’.
Photographers and fans went into overdrive when they spotted Emma and Daniel briefly holding hands as they waited to have their picture taken by the massed ranks of the press covering the premiere. Camera flashes crackled into life to capture the moment that would keep the Internet rumour-merchants busy for some weeks to come. ‘I’m having a pretty good time as a teenager at the moment,’ she told journalists. ‘It’s an interesting age. It’s a time of discovery, of making mistakes and learning from them. I intend to enjoy it.’
But would the critics enjoy the film to the same extent? There would always be doubters, but
Prisoner of Azkaban
seemed to hit the spot for most reviewers and the reason for the franchise’s new lease on life was clear. ‘Bringing in Mexican-born Cuarón to replace Chris Columbus for this third instalment of the Potter franchise has, on the whole, proved a success,’ said
Time Out
. ‘Though flawed, it’s the most interesting movie of the three. Compared to its predecessors, this is a more wintry, thoughtful and rewarding movie.’
Entertainment Weekly
was also keen to flag up the influence that Cuarón has brought to the film: ‘Shot in spooky gradations of silver and shadow,
Prisoner of Azkaban
is the first movie in the series with fear and wonder in its bones, and genuine fun, too.’
As was becoming increasingly common, it was Emma
who was singled out for particular praise – and sometimes the praise bordered on the gushing: ‘Every now and again you see an actress so young and gifted that she makes one take pause,’ said the influential
Ain’t It Cool News
movie website. ‘As she continues to mature in this series, I think there will be not a single boy or adult male that doesn’t have a schoolboy crush on her. She is a lady of the highest order.’
The lady in question was doing her best to remain grounded, not easy in the face of such overwhelming attention. ‘You know, I still fall out with my brother, I still have to make my bed, I still see my friends,’ she said. ‘I try to lead a really normal life. Basically, the only way that it’s changed is what I’m doing in everyday life.’
Along with the rave reviews, there was also the grinding round of press interviews that Emma undertook with her usual good grace. Among the usual questions – ‘Do you have a boyfriend?’; ‘Do you have a crush on Dan or Rupert?’; ‘What magical power would you like to have?’ – a new theme started to appear. Not only was she giving no guarantees that she was going to appear in all the remaining Potter films, but she wasn’t even prepared to commit herself to being an actress. ‘I feel incredibly lucky to have been given the opportunity to have been in such a fantastic film. I mean, my ambitions could not have even
dreamed
of the scale and greatness that Harry Potter is,’ she told journalists at the New York premiere of the film. ‘But I love performing and being creative. There are so many different aspects of the film world, that, even if I don’t pursue the acting, there’s something else I’m bound
to end up doing. I’m just going to go with the flow and see what happens.’
Emma Watson was now asserting her independence.
She
would decide what her future held – and, when she had made that decision, she’d let us know. From now on, it was ‘one film at a time’.
The team behind the Potter films admitted that there were no guarantees as to how many – if any – of the young stars would see out the whole series. ‘There may come a day when the kids make a decision that they want to move on, but we haven’t reached that point yet,’ producer David Heyman told the
Mirror
. ‘In the books the children continue to grow. So by the seventh book they will be 17 or 18 and so will Daniel, Rupert and Emma.’