Biography

Something Wicked This Way Comes

The majority of 2003 was taken up with the filming of "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban". In preparation, new director Alfonso Cuaron (who has a "much more laid back, emotional, intense way of directing") had Dan, Rupert and Emma write essays on their characters, which Dan found useful. An excellent interview by TLC editor Melissa Anelli quotes Dan as listening to music to prepare for particular scenes, and having lengthy conversations with his father regarding his life experiences in order to portray the passionate emotions that Harry displays in the book.

"There's a lot of teenage angst in this one, probably more than the book. It's much more of an internal journey for the children, especially for Harry. And he's much more comfortable with confrontation, especially with Snape. He's a lot angrier. If you had all this stuff happening to you in real life, you'd be pretty angry too."

The third film was a special experience for Dan since one of his idols, Gary Oldman, was tapped to play the role of Sirius Black, the Prisoner of Azkaban. As always, Dan and his costars received praise from the director and producers for their work. Director Alfonso Cuaron observed that he was most fortunate to come into the series with the three young stars established in their roles: “It was so clear how suited these kids are to play their characters.” Chris Columbus added that “it’s a sense of real pride to see that these kids have become such accomplished professional actors. It’s like seeing your own children up on screen.”

"Prisoner of Azkaban" was released on 4th June 2004 winning praise from critics as the best Potter film yet. Even though it was a darker gloomier film under Cuaron’s direction, the third movie continued the winning Potter tradition by grossing nearly $800 million worldwide, placing it currently at sixteenth in worldwide box-office receipts.