| Japan today- news article |
| TOKYO — Daniel Radcliffe may be the most famous 13-year-old boy in the world since taking up the wand of boy wizard Harry Potter, but he could have used an invisibility cloak during his first visit to Japan this week. First, more than 700 teenage girls showed up at Narita airport to greet him on Sunday. Then at his news conference Monday at a Tokyo hotel, dozens of young girls, brandishing cameras and Harry Potter paraphernalia, burst into tears because they weren't allowed into the room. Radcliffe said he found it all exciting. "It was unbelievable to be welcomed to Japan like that," he said. "I think the main reason for people liking the Harry Potter books and films so much is not because of me. Harry is an outsider who goes for what he believes in, but more than that, the stories convey a message of friendship, bravery and loyalty." Harry Potter does more than that. The four (and a half) books by British author J.K. Rowling and the two hugely successful movies have spawned an industry. In its first two weeks of release in Japan, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" grossed 8 billion yen at the box office and is on course to challenge the all-time box office champion foreign film ("Titanic"). At the same time, department stores have been jumping on the bandwagon with Harry Potter exhibitions and merchandise tie-ins. Producer David Heyman said he fell in love with the first book in the series ("Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone") when he read it in 1997. There was no fanfare then. "I thought it was a funny and moving story. I met Rowling and she and I turned out to be kindred spirits. I assured her we would be true to the books." Then followed one of Britain's biggest casting calls in 1999. Radcliffe beat 3,000 other aspirants for the part of Harry, a major coup for him since his only acting experience had been in a BBC adaptation of "David Copperfield" and in a bit part alongside Pierce Brosnan and Geoffrey Rush in "The Tailor of Panama." "I had done those two small-scale projects before but they never prepared me for this. The two Harry Potter films taught me so much about acting and special effects," he said Radcliffe is enjoying every minute in the spotlight, getting to meet such "cool characters" as Ben Stiller and Tim Robbins, but he says he wouldn't mind borrowing Harry's invisibility cloak now and again (mainly to sneak into rock concerts). He is maturing rapidly and his voice has already broken. He hardly resembles the bespeckled character in the films. Yet he speaks confidently and without the big head that so many youthful stars have. Heyman says the young cast's parents and teachers strive to maintain a sense of normalcy for the kids. "When you make a movie with kids, you're only allowed to work 9 1/2 hours a day with them. Of that, three hours have to be put aside for their education," he said of the 300 days spent shooting both films back to back. The teachers don't take any nonsense, either, he added. "After Rupert Grint (who plays Harry's classmate Ron Weasley) said his teachers were sucking up to him now that he was a star, he was put on detention the Monday after the film's premiere." Heyman is confident the Harry Potter franchise will remain a success. In fact, he commissioned the "Chamber of Secrets" before the first film was even released last year. The big question is whether or not Radcliffe can continue in the part. Although the Harry Potter character ages one year in each book as he attends the Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the next two movies will take more than two years to complete and even longer before they find their way to cinemas. And nobody knows when Rowling will finish the fifth book. "I am definitely doing the third one ('Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban'). After that, I don't know because it's a long way off," Radcliffe said. In the meantime, he does have one burning ambition. "I want to do a voice part on 'The Simpsons.' Even one word would be great." December 17, 2002 |