As Harry Potter improves his magic skills, the spells are getting more and more intense. For actor Daniel Radcliffe, portraying them on screen is getting harder too. The make the wand battles in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix more cinematic, director David Yates hired dance instructors to teach the kids how to spin around gracefully.
Radcliffe on Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
"I found the dance lessons quite tricky actually," said Radcliffe. "I found I was getting really frustrated with myself when I couldn't get the moves right. But it was good. I think that was a brilliant idea that David had, whereas before it's just been point at something, say the word. Now he was starting to build the sort of art just to show a distinction."
Ultimately, the lessons applied more to the adult wizards than the kids. "When it came to the film, we didn't really do a lot of the stuff that we learned in the [class] but all the adults were. And it just made it so that there was actually a distinction between the adults and the young kids in terms of the skill."
Order of the Phoenix also includes Harry's first kiss, which is Radcliffe's first on screen kiss too. Between that and Equus, he's definitely becoming a man. "Well, I did the kiss first and I think the reason that it wasn't a problem or a sort of worry in the slightest was that in the back of my mind, I was thinking I'll be naked on stage in six months, I've got to get over this. But really, the kiss, everyone sort of assumed it was a really big sort of moment but it's sort of just like doing any other scene really, which is very disappointing for people to hear I know but that's unfortunately how it was."
Harry and company form Dumbledore's army to rebel against the authoritarian administration. The revolution tied in with Radcliffe's musical interests. "David [Yates] kept referring to Dumbledore's army as being like the French resistance, which was a metaphor that really appealed to me. And also, Harry as a leader and a teacher was able to show off his wizarding skills. That showing off stuff was really, really fun to do. So I don't think I brought a tremendous amount of punk music into those scenes. It didn't seem to require it. I was mainly listening to Radiohead for Harry in this film. Somebody did ask me yesterday if there was one album that could be Harry's soundtrack during this movie. I think it would be Okay Computer by Radiohead which I think tells you all you need to know about his character."
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix opens to theatres on July 11th.
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