LONDON – Wearing a lovely glittering Valentino dress and Rupert Sanderson shoes, the pixie-faced Emma Watson was a vision of poise, confidence and glamour. Now 21, the Paris-born actress who has portrayed Hermione Granger in all the “Harry Potter” film series and once again in its last installment in “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2,” talked to us here in London at the Claridges Hotel. Looking back, we asked Emma if she could share with us her feelings when she looks back at all the “Harry Potter” scenes that she has acted and share with us the one that is closest to her heart and the worst she had. “The very first film will always be very close to my heart because, forgive me for using the word, but it was just magic to walk onto a film set for the very first time and just to see how a film is made and get to act was just a whirlwind,” she said. “It was just so exciting for me and I really enjoyed that first one. For me, Parts 1 and 2 are my favorites because we just got stretched so much and challenged. It’s the first time I felt like an actress and that was really nice. Probably on the second one when I was petrified, the last third of it was probably the least dear to my heart because I was absent for so much of it.” Emma, who is already considered a fashion icon, is now also the face of Lancome and a Burberry model. We asked her to share her style statement. “It’s really hard to articulate what your own style is because it’s something that’s personal and you’re just drawn to things but I guess, my style is quite classic, quite clean,” she replied. “I also try and have a modern edge to whatever I do. But I am inspired by the past. I love Jean Seberg, Edie Sedgwick, Jane Birkin, Grace Kelly, Audrey Hepburn so I kind of look backwards but then try to make it modern. I am also big on Valentino at the moment actually.” For the last “Harry Potter” premiere that happened last week, 40,000 people showed up, some of them even camping overnight to get a good spot. There were also 90 television crews and they closed down the whole Trafalgar Square. “It’s intimidating to say the least but it’s hard to know how to be enough when people are that crazy about something and that passionate and love something that much,” Emma pointed out. “It’s like how can I get around enough people and answer enough questions right. It’s intimidating but this is the last time I ever get to do this so I’m trying really hard to just enjoy it, just take it all in. It’s really all about the fans, not the media. The fact that they have come from all over the world and they have shared in this journey with me too. It’s so funny that they have grown up with me doing this so I am nervous and excited and yeah, everything really. My family, who came to the London premiere, is coming to New York with me as well and it’s really nice to have that support this time around,” she added. Rupert Grint, who has brought Ron Weasley to life with equal parts humor and heart, talked to us about the most anticipated kiss in history with Emma. “It’s this moment that’s kind of been building up for probably about seven films now and yeah, there was a bit of pressure thing on both of us to make it believable because we both need to convince people we actually do want to kiss each other which in reality obviously we don’t really,” he revealed. “We didn’t really want to do it. I’ve known Emma since she was nine and we’ve watched each other grow up and just to kiss this person felt very strange and quite unnatural really. It took a lot of concentration to really sink into these parts to block out all those 10 years I’ve known her.” We asked the 22-year-old redhead about the last scene in the movie where it shows Rupert and Emma as parents 19 years later and if he could imagine himself with kids and telling them about his “Harry Potter” experience. “It’s quite hard to sum up in a minute because it has been my childhood really,” he said. “It really sculpted the person I am today. When you come into quite an adult working environment at quite a young age, it does affect you quite a lot. It’s been half of my life but it’s been the best half of my life. I’ve loved every day of it and I’m really going to miss it genuinely.” He added, “Having such a public kind of childhood has been quite an up and down kind of experience which you do kind of become quite suspicious of people around you. You’re not trusting everyone and that’s something I struggled with previously. Thanks to these films I have realized what I wanted to do in life. When I was 11, I wanted to be an ice cream man and suddenly I’m in this new world and it’s made me realize I want to act and keep doing this.” Tom Felton, the 23-year-old London-born actor who has portrayed Draco Malfoy, revealed to us that he was aware of Emma’s crush on him at the beginning of the franchise. “We are the best of friends right now and I can’t really see the changes in us since we grew up together,” he admitted. He revealed that working with award-winning actor Ralph Fiennes who portrayed the evil Voldemort was “pretty terrifying.” He disclosed, “He had this particular aura which was pretty terrifying to me. When he spoke, people listen. He had this presence that demanded attention. He really terrified me on the set.” Tom, who won the MTV Movie Award for Best Villain last year, also added that he enjoyed working with Helena Bonham Carter as Bellatrix Lestrange. “She was really great as the psycho witch and I really had fun working with her,” he pointed out. At the premiere, Tom brought his parents and his girlfriend, stunt coordinator Jade Olivia whom he has dated while filming “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” in 2008. The handsome and debonair Ralph Fiennes, dressed in a gray suit, admitted that when the role of Voldemort was offered to him, he was initially a bit unsure. “I was a bit unsure because I wasn’t familiar with the films or with the books and I knew it was a big cult but I wasn’t sure about it,” he said. “It took Mike Newell, who directed the first film that I did, and a wonderful casting director called Mary, to sit me down and talk to me persuasively to say that I should do this. I also have nieces and nephews who are big fans of the books so I think the combined influence of them and Mary and Mike Newell. I have to say I love the look. They showed me artwork of the design for his face and I thought it was extremely strong and quite frightening. I liked it.” The British actor who gave us memorable performances in such movies as “Schindler’s List,” “The English Patient” and “The Constant Gardener” among others, disclosed that children do get scared of him. “Sometimes, there would be children visiting the set and sometimes they would be quite scared when they saw me,” he said and smiled. “In one case, one little boy I was just walking past the chair he was sitting in and he just burst into tears. I wasn’t even doing anything. I just walked past.” We pointed out to him that it must be a tall order for any young actor like Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) to be in scenes with the great Ralph Fiennes. “Daniel is a great screen partner,” Ralph pointed out. “He has immense dedication and commitment, is always there. When you know another actor is there with you, it makes it much easier. You look for a collaborative spirit and that’s what he has and I really have enjoyed working with him.” Formerly a Manila journalist, Los Angeles-based Janet Susan R. Nepales is a member of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.
