The Making of the Potterverse (7 page)

On the casting of Rupert Grint and Emma Watson, Columbus pointed out, “We’d been simultaneously looking to fill the other roles, but the casting of Harry was the peak of the triangle, and without him, none of the rest would make sense. We brought in several children for screen tests, but it soon became apparent who were the three. We immediately fell in love with Rupert Grint. He’s extremely funny and has such an incredibly warm presence. Emma Watson embodies the soul and the essence of Hermione Granger. When we saw Dan, Rupert and Emma together on
screen, they had amazing chemistry. It was electric. We knew we had found the perfect team.”

Rupert Grint, Daniel Radcliffe, and Emma Watson pose with director Chris Columbus, Richard Harris (Dumbledore), Robbie Coltrane (Hagrid), and producer David Heyman. (Adam Butler/AP Photo)

Rupert Grint offered, “Ron is one of my favorite characters and I can really relate to him. I’ve got loads of brothers and sisters, and I know what it’s like growing up in a big family. And I still get hand-me-downs. . . . I was watching
Newsround
and they told us how you could audition for a part in the Harry Potter film. I sent in a form and a photograph and a month went by and I heard nothing. Then I was on the
Newsround
Web site and found out that one boy sent in a video of himself reading a little piece from the script. So I put together a video, sent it over and I got an audition.”

“When I read the book,” Emma Watson noted to the press, “I thought that Hermione would be a great character to play. But I had to go through a lot of auditions. It wasn’t easy. Then one day, they sat Rupert and I down in David Heyman’s office and simply told us we’d got the part. It didn’t sink in at first. I just stood there looking
blankly at them for about two minutes. . . . Unlike Hermione, I’ve never been top of my class. In fact, quite the opposite. Although I am very bossy and my little brother tends to suffer a bit.”

The following day, the
Guardian Unlimited
noted that also cast in the film were Maggie Smith, Robbie Coltrane and Alan Rickman. Additionally, the BBC ran a story in which Radcliffe was quoted as saying, “A lot of the other boys in my class know I’ve read the first one or two books, and they’ve read all of them and they’re a bit angry because I have read the least Harry Potter books.” He also added, “I went on the broomstick yesterday and flew around a big room, and that was really fun. I think I’m a tiny bit like Harry, because I’d like to have an owl.” Added Emma Watson, “Normally, every night my daddy reads two chapters. At the moment, we’re on the fourth book but we haven’t yet completed it.” For Rupert’s part, he noted, “I think I’m scarily like my character. I live in a family of seven and have a redheaded sister.” Chris Columbus explained that his experience with Macaulay Culkin on the
Home Alone
films taught him a great lesson on how to work with young actors. “When I got involved with the first
Home Alone
, I didn’t know what I was letting myself in for with child actors,” he admitted. “I learned a big lesson and I was concerned that when we dealt with the children, we should make certain the parents were wonderful, because I felt the need to protect these kids against the onslaught of publicity.”

The
Register
reported that German fans who had grown impatient with the time lag between the publication of
Goblet of Fire
in English and in their native tongue had decided to translate chapters and post them on the Internet. German publisher Carlsen Verlag immediately got a court injunction filed against them. The translated chapter quickly came offline.

China was ready to receive more than half a million copies of
The Goblet of Fire
— the largest first-edition run of a work of fiction in that country in over 50 years — but had to push the date forward because of bootleg translated editions.

In an interview with the
BBC
, J.K. Rowling said that some of the material in her books might not be suitable for younger children. “I do think that, on occasion, the material is not suitable for six-year-olds,” she said. “But you can’t stop them reading it. I read things when I was very young that disturbed me, but I don’t think that was a terribly bad thing. My parents never censored what I read, so I wouldn’t say don’t read them to a six-year-old, just be aware some of it does get uncomfortable. I am dealing with evil — I am trying to examine what happens to this community when a maniac tries to take over. If you are going to write about those kinds of things, you have a moral obligation to show what that involves, not to prettify it or to minimize it.”

Given her background, it should hardly be surprising that Rowling accepted the post of ambassador for the National Council for One
Parent Families (
NCOPF
). To commemorate the occasion, she delivered a speech in which she said, “It is definitely time we exploded the popular myth that most of us are feckless teenagers trying to get council flats. Six out of 10 families headed by a single parent are living in poverty. But none of the lone parents I know want to live on handouts; just like parents living in couples, we want the chance to provide properly for our own children. Single parenthood is not all stress and hardship. My flesh-and-blood daughter is the best thing that ever happened to me, including my fictional son. I had a degree, a profession and friends who were willing and able to lend me money when I badly needed it. So if I met obstacles in pulling myself out of the benefit system and back into employment, how much more difficult must it be for people who don’t have the same advantages? If I experienced the feeling of utter, utter worthlessness with the
CSA
(Child Support Agency) and the benefit office, how many other parents are going through the same right now?” Besides the speech, Rowling reportedly donated £500,000 to the
NCOPF
.

On October 20, 10 Harry Potter essay winners were escorted by J.K. Rowling to
NBC
’s
Today
show and then to Harry’s American publisher, Scholastic, before they were given a number of Harry gifts. The subject of their essays was “How the Harry Potter Books Have Changed My Life.” Said Rowling, “They write well. It’s not just what they said, but how they said it.”

The
BBC
reported that due to a character mix-up in a scene, Bloomsbury was forced to reprint millions of copies of
Goblet of Fire
with the mistake corrected. In the first edition, Fudge, the minister of magic, is confused with Crouch, a villain who was featured earlier in the book but was not mentioned after that.

On the 21st, J.K. Rowling revealed a few interesting Harry tidbits to the
Sunday Oregonian
, not the least of which was the fact that
the two small books she had written —
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
and
Quidditch through the Ages
— were written to benefit the Comic Relief charity.

John Cleese was announced in the role of Nearly Headless Nick, the ghost of Gryffindor Tower, and actress Julie Walters was cast as Ron’s mother, Mrs. Weasley.

J.K. Rowling appeared at Toronto’s Skydome Stadium to address 10,000 gathered Harry Potter fans. She read them chapter four of
Goblet of Fire
and took questions. At one point she admitted, “I am delighted and terrified to be here.”

Controversy broke out in America and abroad over the notion that the Harry Potter novels were promoting Satanism, a claim that Rowling herself debunked by replying to one accuser, “No, but you are a lunatic.” It should be pointed out that from almost the beginning Harry has found himself banned from certain libraries and has been the subject of book burnings.

While in New York, Rowling made two appearances on NBC’s
Today
show. Interestingly, in 2006 people have been conjecturing whether or not Harry will die in book seven. But when Katie Couric asked her about the possibility of novels that follow an adult Harry, Rowling replied, “I’m intrigued because everyone seems very confident I’m not going to kill him. I’m not saying either way. Everyone assumes that there will be an adult life, and maybe they’re right.”

Also on
Today
, Rowling revealed that the name of the next novel, book five, would be
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
. “I kept saying I wouldn’t tell anyone,” she laughed, “but this cute boy, about eight, asked me and I knew it would make him so happy.”

When
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
was published in 1997, there were only 500 copies printed, 200 in paperback and 300 in hardcover. In auction, one of those books sold for nearly $10,000.

Although nine-year-old Natalie McDonald’s attempts to reach J.K. Rowling before her death from leukemia weren’t successful, the author, not knowing the little girl had died, wrote back, touching Natalie’s parents with the obvious care put into the response. A friendship was struck up between Rowling and Natalie’s family, and as
Maclean’s
detailed it, “On page 159 of
Goblet of Fire
, the famous sorting hat of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry sends first-year student Natalie McDonald — the only real person named in any of Rowling’s novels — to Harry’s own Gryffindor house.”

The
BBC
reported that J.K. Rowling was named Scotland’s top earner for the year, having pulled in nearly $50 million from Harry Potter.

BBC
Radio 4 announced that they would be broadcasting comic actor Stephen Fry reading the entire text of
Philosopher’s Stone
to listeners. A
BBC
spokesperson noted, “When I became controller I was determined, if I could, to get Harry Potter on Radio 4. I would like there to be a generation of children in their 20s who will look back and remember listening to the radio on Boxing Day, because Harry Potter is part of their imaginative landscape. I’d be amazed if people listened intently for eight hours. I think there will be people who
keep it on all day and dip in, mentally, in and out.” Added Fry, “Reading Harry Potter books out loud is more fun than I feel a single human being could ever deserve. It’s like swimming in chocolate.”