Daniel Radcliffe stars in “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” which is being released by Warner Bros. on July 15, 2009.
This is the sixth installment of the popular film series, which began in 2001, with the same cast.
Loss of Innocence
“For me, the films have always been about a loss of innocence,” says Daniel Radcliffe, the actor behind the title character, who can perhaps no longer be called the boy wizard. “When Harry came into this world, it was all just amazing and brilliant and kind of pure. But as the films have gone on, that's totally disintegrated, and he's realizing that the wizarding world has just as many, if not more, challenges than the world he grew up in before.”
Radcliffe offers, “Harry is starting to feel incredibly strongly about Ginny, but her brother is his best mate and he doesn't want to jeopardize that. At the same time, he really does want to kiss Ginny so it's a bit of a dilemma. I think it's good fun and quite sweet.”
As the kissing scene approached, Radcliffe was planning on taking a little revenge on his castmate. “I was very much looking forward to Rupert kissing Jessie. I took a fair bit of ribbing when I kissed Katie in the last film, so it was my turn this time around,” he laughs.
New Relationship
In “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,” Harry famously had his first kiss with Cho Chang. In this film, we see him begin a new relationship with an old friend, as he discovers that Ron's “baby” sister, Ginny, is now a lovely young woman.
Standing in the way of Harry and Ginny's budding romance, there is the matter of her current boyfriend, Dean Thomas (Alfred Enoch). Ron has been glaring at Dean while keeping a protective eye on his sister, and Harry would prefer not to see that glare turned towards him. Radcliffe offers, “Harry is starting to feel incredibly strongly about Ginny, but her brother is his best mate and he doesn't want to jeopardize that. At the same time, he really does want to kiss Ginny so it's a bit of a dilemma. I think it's good fun and quite sweet.”
Working with Director David Yates
The entire cast has equal praise for their director, David Yates, who also directed the former Potter picture. “David is a joy to work with,” says Radcliffe. “I always looked forward to seeing him on the set because he has so much energy and enthusiasm, which is fantastic.”
Dynamic Relations at Hogwarts
There is certainly no love lost between them and Draco Malfoy, but they can't believe he's gone that far. Radcliffe asserts, “Harry's thinking is that Malfoy's dad was one, so why not him? He starts stalking Malfoy, trying to figure out what he's up to.”
Within the recesses of the cave, Harry and Dumbledore face terrible dangers as, for the first time, Harry is forced by Dumbledore to take control. Radcliffe states, “When Dumbledore takes Harry on this mission, it is sort of a rite of passage. He is initiating Harry into what he is ultimately going to have to do. This is the beginning of the story of defeating Voldemort, and Harry would never shirk that responsibility.”
