Daniel Radcliffe amazed by stunning effects in new Harry Potter movie

Daniel Radcliffe is used to people saying that each film in the Harry Potter franchise is darker than the last, but with Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince he feels a lot more has been added to the mix.

“It’s very very funny along with all the romance,” he laughed: “Rupert Grint does a great Buster Keaton/Harold Lloyd impression half way through. The relationship between Harry and Ginny is very sweet and kind of tender whereas the relationship between Ron and Lavender is…more sort of energetic”.

Radcliffe had yet to see a finished cut of the movie but was impressed with what he had seen and was astonished at the work of the technicians who added the spectacular special effects. He said “You just think ‘That’s incredible, that’s what you were planning when you were standing around (the set) drinking coffee’.”

“The fact that at the very beginning they make it look like the Millennium Bridge is under attack. All that stuff is just fantastic.”

Even while enthusing about the latest instalment, Radcliffe was keen to stress how much the film sets up the thrilling conclusion to the story in the seventh and eight movies. “I think people will take away a great enthusiasm to come back and see the seventh,” he said: “We’re doing the seventh at the moment and it is relentless, non-stop between pitched battles and paranoia. It’s a pretty brutal film in some ways.”

The young actor has come a long way since being cast as the boy wizard at the age of 11. He feels he has grown into the role and is getting better with every film.

“I think the performances are getting better and better and I would like to think that whatever I have done in this one I can improve upon in the seventh.”

Radcliffe credited his work in the theatre as a factor in improving his skills, saying: “The fact that I did Equus on stage in London was a huge help to me. It just meant my focus, my stamina and my ability to get to more emotional places within myself was much greater than before.”