Potter star envies invisibility cloak

2002-10-25 16:18

Paul Majendie

London - Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe would love to own the young wizard's invisibility cloak - it would be great for slipping free into rock concerts.

And at the tender age of 13, he confessed on Friday to a passion for punk rock, even though he does not yet have a girlfriend to share it with.

Bombarded with questions at a London news conference by show business reporters from around the world, he seemed comfortable with the burden of fame and determined that his second starring role - in Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets - would not turn his young life upside down.

Reporters from Israel to Japan peppered Radcliffe with trivia questions and one of the world's most instantly recognisable child actors reacted with grace and aplomb.

Asked for his favourite type of wizardry, he said: "Turning invisible because then I could get out of trouble very quickly and get into rock concerts."

Quizzed about his favourite music, he said he adored punk. "I like the attitude and stuff, the way the music sounds." And then he rattled off the names of his favourite bands - from The Sex Pistols to The Stranglers. Mp>"I am flattered by all the fan letters. It is really amazing but I don't have, like, a girlfriend or anything," Radcliffe admitted.

He insisted the second Potter movie was not too scary and its director Christopher Columbus agreed, telling reporters: "My five-year-old daughter saw it and she didn't have nightmares."

Fellow child star Emma Watson said she would love "to have an owl [to deliver her letters] because it is much cheaper than texting" and the third of the leading Potter children, Rupert Grint, decided: "I would like to have a flying car. That is really cool."

Robbie Coltrane, who plays the friendly giant Hagrid, felt the same: "I have always wanted to fly since I was a child," he said.

Insisting that his life had not changed that much since he created the film role in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Radcliffe said: "People come up to me in the street but it is fun and they talk about the films and are all enthusiastic."

He tried to do as many of his own stunts as possible in the latest film, which has its world premiere in London on November 3 and is released in Britain and the United States on November 15.

"I do quite a lot of the stuff so it was a lot of fun," he said. "I am quite like Harry - my friends are very important to me and both of us get in trouble quite a lot," he said amid the splendour of London's Guildhall.

One of the new Potter movie faces this time is British actor Jason Isaacs who won Hollywood fame opposite Mel Gibson in The Patriot and now plays arch villain Lucius Malfoy.

But wasn't it daunting to join a cast that already knew each other well?

"No, it was easy," he said. "It was like turning up to a very good party where all the people are slightly bored with each other and are thrilled when the doorbell rings," he added, amid much laughter from cast and crew.

Other stars who will be honoured at the British Independent Film Awards include Scottish actor Ewan McGregor. He will receive the Variety UK Personality Award.

The British Independent Film Awards were set up five years ago to celebrate merit and achievement in independently funded British film-making, to honour new talent and to promote British films in Britain and worldwide.

- Reuters