“Ron is utterly devastated when he sees Hermione on the arm of another man – especially his hero, Viktor Krum,” Heyman points out.
Harry experiences a terror unlike any he’s accustomed to when he falls for the gentle charms of fellow Hogwarts student Cho Chang. “One of the things I’ve always liked about Harry is that he is absolutely pathetic when it comes to the whole romance thing,” Radcliffe says. “He has no clue how to behave around girls. He’s a character for anyone who has ever felt awkward around girls – which is probably every male in the world.”
Harry’s struggles to muster the courage to ask Cho to the Ball meet with bittersweet results. “Cho is very fond of Harry and she doesn’t want to hurt his feelings, but she’s already said yes to Cedric Diggory,” says 18 year old first-time actor Katie Leung, a Scot who won the part of the Ravenclaw Quidditch Seeker when her parents persuaded her to attend an open casting call with 5,000 other hopefuls.
Romance also blossoms among the adults. Hagrid’s heart is set aflutter when he sets his gaze on Madame Maxime, the gloriously tall Beauxbatons headmistress played by revered stage actress Frances de la Tour (The Cherry Orchard, Strike it Rich).
According to de la Tour, “Even though she’s 8 feet 4 inches tall, Madame Maxime is in serious denial about being a giant. She just describes herself as big boned! But despite their cultural differences, with Maxime being so chic and gentile compared to Hagrid’s rustic charm, her feelings for him are genuine.”
“Romance is a little tricky when you’re a giant,” Robbie Coltrane notes. “Hagrid can’t believe his luck when the Beauxbatons arrive and he sets eyes on someone even taller than him!”
Heyman and the cast credit Newell with infusing the film with his distinctly British sensibility. “Mike’s been to a British public school and can totally empathize with boarding school life, and he has a keen sense of the youthful anarchy you often find in these institutions,” Heyman says. “He’s done a fantastic job of bringing the discomfort and awkwardness of school life to the film. Hogwarts feels more alive – and more British – than it ever has before.”
Daniel Radcliffe concurs. “Mike is English, very very English. He wore a waistcoat every day, which I quite like because you don’t see enough waistcoats anymore, really. He has an incredible presence and commands great respect, but he totally understands the British sense of humor and he can relate to what it’s like being a teenager at a public school.”
Newell was able to join in the fun with his young stars, not least with Oliver and James Phelps, who play Ron’s older twin brothers, Fred and George Weasley. When Fred and George take ageing potion in an attempt to fool the Goblet into believing they’re old enough to enter the Tournament, their plan backfires, temporarily rendering them wizened old men. The script called for the twins to blame each other and hit the floor fighting, but Newell wasn’t satisfied with the Phelps’ intensity in early takes.
Movie Database
In Theaters
