In a new interview with Total Film Indonesia, Daniel Radcliffe talked at length about the
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 epilogue, and working with his three on-screen children, played by Arthur Bowen (Albus), Will Dunn (James), and Daphne de Beistegui (Lily). Do note that this interview took place prior to the epilogue reshoots in December 2010, though none of the actors were changed, just the makeup and shoot location. That can be read below; the full interview, in which Dan discussed getting prepared for How to Succeed (note that the interview took place in August 2010), and coming to grips with the finale of the saga, can be found
here.
Quote:
Tell us about the epilogue. Who ages best?
Daniel Radcliffe: Me. Out of the boys, me. Rupert does not age well (laugh) Obviously [Emma and Bonnie Wright] aged better. They aged the best but the boys were all, like, “Yeah, give us the fat suits!”
But you’re Aurors!
Dan: I know, exactly! I’ve got a tiny layer, which doesn’t really add… it just adds a bit of bulk to my shoulders that makes me slightly wider but I haven’t got a belly or anything, like Rupert. Rupert looks like Hermione has just been feeding for the last nineteen years. But I think Rupert was really keen on that. And Tom and Jade, his girlfriend, look fantastic. I’m so pleased that Jade’s done that because I never thought she would. I thought she’d be really, really embarrassed because I know her. The reason I’ve got to now Tom so well is because Jade’s one of my best friends. She looks just brilliant as [Astoria] and their boy, Bertie [Gilbert], is the perfect mini Malfoy. He’s thirteen years old with not an ounce of puppy fat, just this incredible jaw line. He looks incredibly imposing. But I think it’ll be a really good scene.
How about your own children?
Dan: My children are adorable. My children are fantastic. They’re wonderful, sweet, all of them. Arthur [Bowen] is very good, sort of the quietest of the three and he plays Albus. He’s very, very sweet, young polite. And then there’s the other two. There’s Will Dunn who plays my elder son… who is…
James?
Dan: James! Thank you very much. Oh god… I should have read that script better (laugh). He reminded me a lot of me when I met him in the auditions. I think that’s why I was like “he has to be one of my kids!” Even though he’s not as pale as I am but he has this… he’s very chatty, he’s fourteen… kind of like how I think I am – very bright but not academic. he had a lot of trouble at school. Not trouble but, you know, school wasn’t easy for him, like it wasn’t for me. And he’s super bright, a really smart kid, so that was great to have him as my son.
And then there’s Daphnie [de Beistegui] who plays Lily. She was amazing. She’s just like this little, incredible creature. She kind of basically adopted me as her father for the days that we were filming. So she would sort of be hanging onto me as we were walking around the set, which was great. And she’s really, really sweet. They’re all so smart, Arthur, Will and Daphne are all very bright.
Did you feel that this scene should’ve been played out with older actors playing your characters?
Dan: I actually did say that in interviews before, that I’d rather they cast new people, so that it won’t be distracting. But I think it’s been done really well. Apparently, it’s been lit… I’m sure it’ll be touched up a bit in post-production like they did in Benjamin Button. The technology does now exist to make that stuff work well. I think it’s going to be a divisive scene because a lot of people don’t like that part of the book. I think a lot of people might have an objection to it in the film. We like it and we put it in. Somebody was saying to me that they’d seen it and they thought it was quite moving. It’s a scene I’m very, very looking forward to seeing, definitely.