Guest List host Alex Zane visits the set of Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince. He tells Sky Movies magazine about catching up with the cast and hanging out at Hogwarts…
There’s something very magical – no pun intended – about being on a film set. Being in Diagon Alley was amazing. There’s so much detail. I walked into Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes, which for all intents and purposes is an actual joke shop. Just don’t put any of the gobstoppers in your mouth as they’re covered in acrylic paint.
The Harry Potter set’s an immersive environment for the cast. You can lose yourself in it. I snuck into the Gryffindor common room in Hogwarts and found that to get to the dormitory, you really do have to climb a spiral staircase. While I was waiting for a shot to be set up, I actually dozed off for 15 minutes in Harry Potter’s bed. How many people can say they’ve slept in Harry Potter’s bed? I won’t lie – I drooled a little bit on his pillow.
Everyone was in high spirits. They were shooting the last scenes for the movie, which were taking place on Diagon Alley. We could hear the director, David Yates, give his final speech thanking everyone for a job well done and say the immortal line, ‘That’s a wrap’.
Considering the magnitude of the task he’d undertaken he seemed surprisingly calm, collected and content. When I talked to Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint they were very upbeat as they could start to see the light at the end of the massive Harry Potter tunnel that they’ve committed to.
They’ve grown up so much since I first met them, both physically but also in confidence. In 2002, we had all three of them squeezed onto a two-seater sofa with plenty of room - it was a tiny child actor sandwich. They were like rabbits in the headlights. Now they’re like old pros.
This article first appeared in the Sky Movies Magazine, July 2009
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