Q: How is Goblet of Fire different from the previous three movies?

Rupert: I am sort of more grown-up now, and the characters are more teenagers. Ron is a bit more moody and has more teenager-like experiences. The whole movie is darker as well.

Q: Did you have a favorite scene in this movie?

Rupert: There was a campfire scene where we did a big night shoot and they had thousands of these tents. At one point, there are attacks at the campsites, and there were explosions going off and fire everywhere and everyone was running about. It was really exciting and it was a fun scene to do.

Q: Almost everyone else has said they loved the ball scene, so I am glad to hear there was something different that you liked too. Was the ball scene fun though? Did you have to work with a choreographer?

Rupert: Luckily, I didn't. Ron doesn't actually dance in the ball, so I somehow got out of that. He only has to dance with Professor McGonagall, so in some ways I was a bit lucky and saved.

Q: How do you think the success of the films has changed your life, both personally and professionally?

Rupert: It hasn't really changed that much. The only thing that's probably changed is getting recognized. I get recognized a lot because my hair stands out quite a lot. Of course, now I have long ginger hair, so it's easy to spot me. But other than that, I pretty much try to stay as normal as I can.

Q: Is that hard? There must be all these people coming up to you. Do you just try to avoid that?

Rupert: I get that when I am working on the films, and it takes up a lot of my time. They're quite long films, so that has changed me a little bit as well.

Q: When did you know that you wanted to be an actor?

Rupert: I've always been into acting. I was always in the school plays and stuff like that. It was really when I was doing the first Harry Potter film that I really got into it. I had never really done anything like it. I didn't have any expectations as to what it would be like, but I just had the best time ever. It was so much fun going on location and meeting all the cast and all the people you get to work with and traveling together to America and Japan. It's been a really good experience, and I just want to carry on.

Q: You've been in at least one other movie, Thunder Pants.

Rupert: Yeah, I did that after the first Harry Potter movie.

Q: What was your character like in that?

Rupert: He was really different from Ron and it was a nice role to play, actually. I played a geek, a real sort of nerd, and had to perm my hair. So I had curly ginger hair for that and they gave me big teeth and glasses. It was very different from Ron, so I quite enjoyed doing that.

Q: If you hadn't started acting, what career would you have chosen?

Rupert: I haven't really thought much about it, to be honest. When I was younger, I always wanted to be an ice-cream man, driving the van and being jolly, but that's obviously changed.

Q: Could you describe your dream role in a film?

Rupert: I am quite into comedies, so I wouldn't mind doing an animated movie. It would be quite cool to do the voices. That would be different.

Q: Do you have a favorite comedic actor?

Rupert: I've always liked Jim Carrey and Mike Myers.

Q: What's your all-time favorite movie?

Rupert: I quite like one movie I recently saw, Napoleon Dynamite. That was good.

Q: If you could pick another actor or actress to work with, who would you choose?

Rupert: I don't know really. Probably the guy who played Napoleon, he was quite funny.

Q: Tell me about a typical day of filming Goblet of Fire.

Rupert: I usually get picked up about 8:30 a.m. and dropped off at the shoot. I live about half an hour away from the shoot in Leeds and Munford. I get there and have a bit of breakfast and get changed into the costume. I've got a dressing room and we go have my hair and makeup done and go down to rehearse the scene we're doing for that day and that's basically it. We probably film a couple of shots, have lunch, and then do more shots of the same thing and we finish about 7 p.m. It's quite good.

Q: Shooting a movie involves tons of work, but there's always a lot of waiting, too. What do you do to entertain yourself during those times?

Rupert: I never really noticed it in the earlier films, because I was in school as well, so I had that to go back to; but this time I am done with [high] school, so the twins and I built a Lego airplane. We made an animation using Legos, which was quite good, and we found a lot of things to do like that.

Q: What kind of advice would you give to a teen who is interested in acting?

Rupert: It's just really good fun. It's a good job and I'm having a great time, so I really recommend it.

[Marie Morreale || Scholastic News, 16 Nov, 2005 || Original article can be found here]