Here's what Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter), Emma Watson (Hermione Granger) and Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley) had to say.
What is it like to initiate David Yates as a new director in Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix?
DANIEL RADCLIFFE: Whenever a new director comes on board, there's always a real intense excitement because you're aware that something new is going to be brought to the table and I think that can only be an exciting prospect.
EMMA WATSON: It's really nice. I mean, I love the cast and crew that have been on the film since the very beginning, kind of been there for all four, five years. So, there's quite a nice friendly family that hopefully is not so too intimidating for newcomers.
RUPERT GRINT: And all the directors have been always quite different as well so it's always quite exciting to meet the new ones. We've had some pretty good ones. We've been lucky.
For the three of you growing up with these characters, have you found that they've influenced you in real life?
DANIEL: While they've been amazing, I don't know if they've actually influenced us. Well, I can only speak for myself. Harry, as a character, hasn't influenced my character too much personally.
EMMA: We get asked a lot about growing up in the limelight and that sort of thing. It's a really funny question for us because we can't see ourselves from the outside. But sometimes I feel like I barely have to act because I feel so close to my character and I just feel like I know her so well. I think we're quite similar in a lot of ways. All of us are a teeny bit older than our characters. In a way it's nice because we kind of experienced what our characters are going through before them. So, we kind of know what it's like to have been through that experience, then we can apply it. That's what we're doing in the film. It works quite well, really.
RUPERT: Looking back at all the films it just seems like one long film. Feels weird looking back at the early ones, how young we were and how much we've changed now. It's been really good part of my life and, yeah, I'm really enjoying it.
DANIEL: I had a hideous reaction at one point when I was in a screening of Harry Potter 5 and there was a picture of me on the screen, but then there was a clip of me in the first film at one point is used in the fifth. And I just heard lots of girls go, “aww'', and that was just so destroying.
Has J. K. Rowling given you a little bit of a preview what's going to happen?
DANIEL: No, none of us gets a preview. I think only J. K. Rowling's husband has recently found out what happens. I don't think anybody else knows.
EMMA: Literally, the security on the books and making sure it's kept secret is pretty tight. I think we get one the night that it is released. But not before.
What are the biggest things that you've treated yourself to over the years or recently?
RUPERT: Recently, I've got an ice cream van.
EMMA: It's got like the ice cream sweets, the toppings.
DANIEL: You can't top that! I'm quite interested in artwork but I've never been into cars or anything like that, so I don't think I'm going to splash out on a classic car collection, which I think people seem to expect me to.
EMMA: I bought myself an Apple Mac, my little laptop, which I love; it's my pride and joy. I've used it so much I don't have memory space on it anymore.
What message do you want people to take home with them, both from the movie and your performances?
EMMA: Well, I guess in a big way, what this film is about is that Harry is in a really, really difficult place. He feels really isolated. He wants to isolate himself because he thinks if he does that then he won't have as much to lose. And I think a lot of the film was about Harry's journey to realising that he doesn't have to do this on his own and the importance of his friends. He actually gives them something to fight for and that makes him a much more powerful wizard/man than Voldemort.
DANIEL: In terms of Harry's character, this is about sticking to your guns and if you know something is the truth and you know that it's right, then you can't let yourself be compromised by other people and outside forces. And, I think that's what Harry and Dumbledore go through in this film.
Over the years, what kind of audiences have you heard from?
DANIEL: It doesn't just appeal to one demographic of people, it appeals to a huge range of them and then we get a response from a lot of people of different ages all around the world. The amazing thing about it is that the people who were 10 when the first film came out and 7 when the first book came out, they've grown up and they are now our age. But the nature of Potter and the fantastic storytelling means that younger kids are still coming to us. So, it's got this audience that regenerates itself through generations.
Which was each of your favourite scenes in the film and why?
DANIEL: Hmm. I like the scene after the kiss with Cho Chang.
EMMA: I was about to say that.
DANIEL: Because all of us were in hysterics and I think a lot of that was genuine. That day we were just in quite a giggly mood. All of us were actually trying to keep it together and in the end it really works, this very sweet scene. But I also love doing anything with Sirius, Gary Oldman.
RUPERT: I think the fondest one to do and then watch back was in the prophecies room because there's just nothing there. It was like no set at all. It's all green screen and then watching it is really weird. But, that was pretty cool.
How is it, dealing with fame?
EMMA: It almost feels like I've never known anything different. I was so young when I first started doing this and it builds up quite gradually as well. I learned as I went along the way just from experience and it just sort of built up my confidence in myself in being able to deal with it. And I've also just been pretty well looked after, I have to say. Like the fact that we've had that kind of family idea and that they (Warner Bros.) really genuinely care about us as people and that we're not just vehicles. That really helps. And I guess me, Dan and Rupert all have really strong families around us as well who have really taken care of us – that's what keeps all three of us sane, just having a really strong base and a really strong identity outside of the films.
RUPERT: Loads of opportunities through this have been extended to us and that's amazing. We are all very fortunate. I mean, it is obviously a very strange experience. But I think what Emma said about not being thought of or treated as sort of entities that will either sell a film or not sell a film is true, since we've actually been treated really just fantastically. We're very, very lucky in that respect.
