[HPFGU-Movie] Re: Dan's Future

[Shannon]

At 07:45 PM 2/16/2002 -0000, Gulplum wrote:

>
>Absolutely. From all accounts, he is very much a normal 12 year-old 
>and has been allowed to follow his interests and be with his non-
>movie friends. As someone else said, though, he seems to lead an 
>extremely sheltered life (right now, that can only be for the 
>better!) 
>
>Something I read somewhere (sorry about being vague!) indicated that 
>his parents had withdrawn him from the private school he attended 
>(mainly to stop him being pestered on his way to, from and at school) 
>and he's now home-schooled when not on set - this is actually 
>extremely easy by UK rules. It makes sense to me, at any rate, and 
>sounds very plausible - it's what I'd have done if I was in their 
>shoes!

I'm so glad that Daniel Radcliffe is keeping to a normal way of life.  I am
so bothered by these 12 year old actors who sound like they are 40 year
olds in a 12 year old body.  It's rather disturbing, I think.  


>I underline though, that my concerns aren't for now or next year, but 
>when he has to start preparing for his exams. If the industry rumours 
>are correct and GoF is done as two movies but with a single, long, 
>production schedule, this is going to be hell on both the actors and 
>the budget, 

I'd be willing to guess that, given the success of Lord of the Rings, the
likeliehood of GoF being shot just that way has increased by a significant
margin.  



>law. This is why I fear that Warners may be VERY sorely tempted to 
>recast Harry (at the very least), especially if the Radcliffes put on 
>the pressure to give Dan time off. The child employment laws run up 
>to age 16 (the end of obligatory schooling) and as a 16 or 17 year-
>old playing a 14 year-old is not impossible, Warners might want to 
>save on the budget and the production schedule by finding a new 
>Harry. The Radcliffes probably won't mind, but the issue will be 
>whether the fans will accept it... The alternative solution will be 
>to give in to the Radcliffes' demands and delay production, and thus 
>not have a new HP movie for at least 2 years. But will Warners' 
>marketing people allow it?

Personally, I think they'd be *insane* to recast any of the major roles if
they could possibly avoid it.  They had a hard enough time finding Harry
the first time...it'd be even worse now with the pressure of finding
someone that the fans will accept in place of Daniel, who has all the
qualities that are essential to Harry. Especially given the pivotal events
of GoF.  Warner's had better bend over backwards to keep hold of Daniel.

> 
>Emma's. From what I recall, the main problem Columbus had with Culkin 
>wasn't with the kid himself, but his father, who was trying to make 
>as money as possible with scant regard for his son's present or 
>future welfare. 

There was an interview recently with Elijah Wood where he talks about
working with McCauley Culkin on The Good Son.  Much of the current talk
about Elijah is of course how nicely he's making the transition from child
actor to adult actor. Anyway, if I recall correctly, he said that McCauley
Culkin seemed nice enough, but that Culkin's father was "scary," and said
he was really freaked out by him.  


Shannon