irst, boy wizard extraordinaire Harry Potter took the literary world by storm. Last year, he conquered the worldwide box office: The first film adaptation of J.K. Rowling's instant-classic novels was also an instant hit with audiences. Now, Chris Columbus directs his ensemble cast of young actors—including Daniel Radcliffe (Harry), Emma Watson (Hermione) and Rupert Grint (Ron)—and a host of English legends (such as Maggie Smith and the late Richard Harris, in his final performance) and mainstay actors (Kenneth Branagh and Jason Isaacs) in the second Potter adventure.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the follow-up to last year's Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, opened Nov. 15.
Chris Columbus, director of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, directed last year's blockbuster Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone as well.
What did you want to do differently this time around?
Columbus: I wanted to create a higher sense of speed, and a faster, tougher, more violent Quidditch match. We were able to accomplish that because the rigs themselves, the broomstick rigs that the actors were using, were much more sophisticated. We didn't have to resort to CG characters as much of the time, because we could actually use our own actors. And the blending between the CG characters and the real actors is seamless in this film.
Do you have any favorite sequences in the film?
Columbus: A few of my favorite moments in the movie actually weren't in the book. The escape from Spider's Hollow and the final confrontation with the monster in the Chamber of Secrets were expanded upon. Though they were wonderful scenes in the book, we turned them into more—I guess you could say—visceral cinematic action sequences. We didn't overly stylize the spiders, so they don't look like something out of Jonny Quest. They move pretty quickly and they're very threatening.
The same can be said for the monster at the end of the film in the Chamber of Secrets. It's a very terrifying creature.
How is it working with a cast that's primarily composed of children?
Columbus: I really like kids! When I'm with kids I get re-energized. I just have a good time with them. I like the way they see the world. They're very excited about things; they're very passionate about things. It's nice to have that much positive energy on a film set. Sometimes you work with stars and they're negative. They've seen it all and become jaded. It's really not about the work anymore; it's about the paycheck, the size of their trailer—all of this nonsense. For me, it's great not to have to deal with any of that Hollywood nonsense and really focus on the performances, and that's what the kids are about. They're just real, genuine people. So yeah, I do like working with kids. The kids are professional, and they have a bit of a buzz. They love being in a Harry Potter film and the sets are very awe-inspiring [to them].
Stuart Craig has done a phenomenal job. When you walk into the Great Hall, you actually feel as if you're there. So I think these kids, who were so excited to be dressed in Hogwarts uniforms and be part of these large scenes, felt respect. Really, there was a sense of respect and excitement about being there, so they were not going to misbehave. They were not going to risk the chance of not getting to come back the next day because they were disruptive. So we had a really well-behaved group of 300 kids. It was very impressive.
Jason Isaacs plays the anti-Muggle wizard Lucius Malfoy and is currently tackling the role of Captain Hook in a live-action version of Peter Pan.
How did it feel to step into the Harry Potter's world, given the the complexity of the sets and the environment you were filming in?
Isaacs: The Great Hall really feels like you've been in an enormous institution for thousands of years. And you go up and you touch the stone, and it feels like stone, yet you know it can't possibly be stone. You go into the bookshop on Diagon Alley, and all of the books there have wizarding titles. You'll never see it on the screen, but every single book in the book shop has some very creative or very funny magic title. Even the invoices in the shop are perfect. To go through that much trouble is just kind of shocking; to realize they've created an entire world there, and hopefully it will be around for picture after picture.
Tell us about your elaborate costume.
Isaacs: My idea, that Chris [Columbus] liked, was that, like the British House of Lords, because Lucius comes from this old wizarding family and that's what's important to him, he kind of lives in the past a bit, and would like the future to be like the past, that he should wear old earthy furs and things that have been in the family for many, many generations.
What was it like playing opposite Dobby, who's an all-computer-generated character?
Isaacs: There's always somebody to work against. I have different techniques, and Dobby came in different forms. Dobby exists on a spirit plane, he exists on a computer, he exists in foam rubber, and of course he exists as a real house-elf as well. And there was always a Dobby to work with, in different ways. All of the magical wizardry of it, and the one thing I've never quite picked up is how they do these clever things. But Dobby felt very real to me; he's one of the most talented actors I've ever worked with.
How did you come to regard Malfoy and what his role is as one of the film's antagonists?
Isaacs: Lucius isn't a terribly complicated man. I always look for some redeeming feature, any kind of human qualities. But you know, this is slightly broader strokes, being a children's book, and it's quite nice to be so unfetteredly unpleasant and to just try and do fingernails on the blackboard—I want people's skin to crawl when I'm on the screen. It was fun in every scene. There were a couple of people I based it on, who I found to be very unpleasant in my life; one person was a terrible bully, and another person I just can't bear to hear.
You're currently working on Peter Pan; you were recently seen in 24 Hour Party People, a film about the Manchester music. Do you actively pursue such widely diverse roles?
Isaacs: One of the lovely things about being an actor is that, when you do work, it's always completely different. I've played priests and murderers and rapists and doctors, and pilots—and wizards now. But it is the first time that I could suggest, "What happens if I wave my arm and that thing comes flying across the room," and they go, "OK, good idea." Normally you were working within the parameters of normal human physics, and certainly when someone sticks a wand in your hand and a cape on your shoulder, I had to be reigned back in on many occasions.
Producer David Heyman had the foresight to nab the film rights to all seven books planned in author J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series.
The first movie did a nice job of straddling the world of adults and children.
Heyman: That was one of the things I particularly enjoyed about the books themselves: that they're really for children of all ages: for me, for you, for all of us. They don't write down to an audience. They are mature books that kids read and enjoy and adults read and enjoy.
That was my desire, too: I didn't want to make a film that was just a children's film; it was for the child in all of us, children of all ages.
How have the kids matured in this film?
Heyman: Well, I think what's happened is they've grown, they have more experience from which to draw upon. They've grown. They're 12 years old. They're a little more wise, and their performances are more nuanced.
Dan has gone from someone who's viewing, observing, to a real active participant, a real action hero, that's a little step of the way. He's got a lot more humanity and character than that. He's really grown as an individual. I think the boy is as excited on day whatever and when we finished filming he was as excited as he was on the first day—and as enthusiastic. But he is a very generous, wonderful boy. He's really loyal, really embodies the character of Harry in many ways. He's loyal, decent, honorable. There was a time, for example, in the car, when Rupert [Grint] could not stop laughing—which often happens, actually, the kids laugh a lot between takes, and did it again—and Rupert was laughing, and Dan took the responsibility and said, "It's my fault. I made him laugh." He's so sweet, it's really lovely.
Why do you not think of Chamber of Secrets as a sequel, per se?
Heyman: You've got the same cast, you've got a lot of the same crew, but each book is so distinct in itself. Each book, I don't view it as a sequel, but a story in its own right, with many of the same characters, but new characters. And each book and each film will chart Harry as he gets older—and Ron and Hermione, too—and in so doing, yes, they are more mature, and they deal with different things in each book.
Are you satisfied with the vision you've put to the screen for Harry Potter?
Heyman: Inevitably, things will shift and change, but I'm really happy. For the most part, it is: absolutely. It's very exciting. And each day one comes to work with a smile, for the challenge that lies before you and the opportunity to be immersed in this wonderful world that Jo [Rowling] has created.
Also in this issue:
Lois McMaster Bujold.
