| British actor Daniel Radcliffe is just 12 years old. He plays the young wizard Harry Potter in the film everybody is waiting for. Daniel cried when he got the role. "I was very excited about getting the part," says Daniel. "A lot of boys in my class were jealous be- cause they had read all of the books, and I had only read two." Daniel immediately finished read- ing the Harry Potter books. And he started wearing hi glasses! Found by accident Thousand of boys auditioned for the role of Harry, the hero in the books. But the film's director Chris Columbus and producer David Hayman found Daniel by accident. One day Hayman went to see a play, and saw Daniel in the audi- ence. "I couldn't stop looking at him," says Hayman. "for me , Daniel was Harry Potter." The perfect Harry "I think Chris Columbus has found the perfect Harry," says JK Rowling, the British author of the Harry Potter books. Rowling wanted to use only British actors. Harry's friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger are playrd by English actors Rupert Grnt, aged 12, and Emme Watson, aged 10. Columbus says he does not want the three stars to be ruined by celebrity. "We made sure that they have wonderful parents," he says. Harry Potter is Daniel's third act- ing role. Last year he had a small |
role in the tailor of panama with Pierce Brosnan. In 1999 he was in David Copperfield, a British TV film of the charles Dickens book. "I want ed to act when I was just five years old. But my parents did not think it was a good idea," says Daniel. His mother, a casting agent, knows thant it is difficult for young actors to live a normal life. Daniel insist- ed, and his mother finally let him do the auditions. Just like other boys Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was filmed in England, on a set and in different universities and cathedrals. The producers have said little about the film to make people curious about it. In the USA, the film will be called Harry Potter and the Sorcere's Stone, like the book. Daniel is just like other boys of his age. When daniel was asked why he likes being an actor, he said "The best thing about filming is staying in lovely hotels. They have Cable TV, and I haven't got that at home!" |