Jason Attending Opening of HP Exhibition in Belgium

[Lizzie]

Didn't want to start a new thread for this but apparently, Belgian cinemas aren't allowed to accept free tickets during the first three weeks of the release of HP 7.2! A bit of a shame for me really because I had nicely collected a free cinema ticket through honest blood donation. LOL!

Just thought I'd share this.

Lizzie

[Chari910]

It's the same here in the US. Lizzie. Any kind of promo/discount tickets are not good for 'hot' newly released titles for a few weeks.

[crawfoc99]

Bummer about not being able to use free tickets as yet to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. I think it's the same here in Oz as well.

They want to make sure they make the most money possible before offering free tickets to such a popular movie.

I've already got mine for opening day Wednesday 13 July. Only one more sleep to go.

I also have been given approval to post the pics of Inge, a new member at JIF who was also at the event. I'll try to add them as soon as possible.

Hooroo,
Carole

[Hilary the Touched]

I think that's very poor form, Lizzie--you'd think blood donors would warrant more special treatment than that!
Thanks, Carole--we look forward to 'em!

[crawfoc99]

As promised, Inge, a new member of JIF Yahoo group has given me permission to post her pics of the Harry Potter event in Antwerp on 29 June. All are copyrighted with her logo.

Here they are:








Being interviewed.


Jason and Inge.


With many thanks to Inge for allowing me to post her pics.

Enjoy.

Hooroo,
Carole

[fruitbat]

Much thanks, Carole. And to Inge as well, of course.

[Lizzie]

Nice pictures as well. She certainly got close to him too.

Lizzie

[Lizzie]

There are two more articles I've come across in magazines here because of the premier. One should be interesting as it's a more alternative magazine and they interviewed Jason Isaacs. I've only discovered its existence last night when I was at a friend's house and saw the magazine lying around on the loo. Tomorrow I'll go and buy it but it'll be Tuesday before I can post a translation.

Lizzie

[marilaine]

Jason, you're so GORGEOUS!

~ML

[Lizzie]

Sorry to disappoint you but it'll take a bit longer before I can put up the translation. I'm off to a competition in Belfast for the rest of the week but I'll post it as soon as I can, promise!

Lizzie

[Hilary the Touched]

Thanks, and good luck in Belfast, Lizzie!!!

[crawfoc99]

Sorry to disappoint you but it'll take a bit longer before I can put up the translation. I'm off to a competition in Belfast for the rest of the week but I'll post it as soon as I can, promise!
Lizzie

We're very patient, Lizzie. We'll be more than happy to receive the translation, when you have the time. Enjoy your time in Belfast.

Hooroo,
Carole

[Lizzie]

I've finally been able to finish the article in a magazin that appeared here in Belgium last week and has an interview with Jason Isaacs in it. Before reading it, please keep in mind that it's a free translation and I'm not an official interpreter so don't take 'his' words as being literally. They've already been translated by the original author so probably only half of what appears here are mister Isaacs' true words. I hope it does give you an idea of what the interview really says.

Please do bear in mind that English is not my native language and that I've only just finished the last part of it and because we won a third place with the band and a first place with the piping corps, I've had a rather large amount of alcohol last night and only slept a few hours. LOL! There'll be a ton of spelling errors, gramatical mistakes and typo's but please forgive me for those. Oh and in case you'd wonder, "Humo" is the name of the magazin.

This is it: as of this week, you can watch the final Harry Potter movie, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part two” in theatres. The ultimate duel between Harry and Voldemort can begin, the battle for Hogwarts break loose in all of its fierceness. And thus, with an exploding war movie already described as “Saving Private Potter”, the curtain will fall over the most lucrative fantasy series in the history of cinema – the seven movies collected a massive 7 billion euros around the globe thus far. Without the help of a wand!

Almost eleven years have slipped past since on October 2nd, 2000 – yes, it’s been that long –filming started on ‘Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone’. The image of the world has changed considerably since then: airplanes crashed through Towers, Frank De Winne went into space twice, Obama became a president. And children grew up: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint entered the Leavesden Studios as pale brats en came out as seasoned actors. Together with them, a whole generation of fans grew up – in thirty year’s time hundreds of thousands of people in their fifties will remember perfectly well which their very first movie was: it was ‘Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone’, sir.

Humo says goodbye to Harry in the company of three actors: Jason Isaacs, Evanna Lynch and Rupert Grint. Isaacs, a marvelous British character actor whom some of you might know from ‘The Patriot’, ‘Black Hawk Down’, ‘Event Horizon’, ‘Armageddon, ‘Green Zone’ and a collection of television series, plays the part of the evil Lucius Malfoy, henchman of Voldemort and father of Draco since ‘Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets’. The twenty year old, Irish Evanny Lynch plays Evaan Lovegood, the eccentric pupil who introduced Harry into the secret of the Thestrals in ‘The Order of the Phoenix’. Both actors came to Belgium ten days ago to formally open the Harry Potter-exhibition in Antwerp-Central station – a visit that saw a few rather hysterical moments.

Jason Isaacs: One girl totally lost it. In an attempt to calm her down, I started to talk to her but the longer I stood there, the more hysterical she became. I simply walked away: that seemed to be the best solution.
The problem is that some fans –really- see us as superhuman creatures while I’m just an ordinary fellow who gets paid to put on silly costumes and talk with a funny voice.

Humo: You’ve taken part in a meet-and-greet when you were in Antwerp. What did the fans ask you?

Isaacs: “For ten years I’ve been getting the same question: ‘Do you like playing the villain?’ And for ten years I’ve been giving the same answer: I love well sketched out characters. And Lucius Malfoy is a wonderfully drawn out character: an vial, racist, ultra right extremist, sexist, egocentric, haughty guinea fowl who’d sacrifice his own son and wife to get into Voldemort’s good graces. The great part is that he gets what he deserves: in the previous movie you could already see how Voldemort humiliated and rejected him."

Humo: do you get satisfaction out of such a part?

Isaacs: “Certainly. I admit that in the beginning I thought: oh dear, Lucius is a walking caricature. But when I started to study him in detail, I came across all sorts of interesting characteristics. I discovered someone who’s afraid of progress, who feels he’s losing his place in the world en wants to turn back the time out of fear. You don’t need to look far in Europe to find politicians with the same messages of fear and hatred as Lucius – you can find them in every country. That need for intolerance give Lucius a very true dimension.
In preparation, I’ve also watched closely at Draco, Lucius’ son, who’s part in the series is far more important. Draco is the bully who constantly picks on his peers but he only does it because he’s constantly pushed around by his own father. In the Malfoy household there is absolutely no room for warmth or love.

Humo: Draco’s part is played by Tom Felton. Did you talk about your characters with each other?

Isaacs: A little. Tom is really a very, very sweet boy. The first time we were in a scene together was in the second movie, in a shop in Knockturn Alley. Draco wants to pick something up, to which I sneer “Don’t touch” and with my cane – a leaden thing with a sharp point on the bottom – rap him on his in fingers. Unfortunately, I hit him too hard: Tom started to howl in pain in front of the camera. Of course I apologized to him but looking back to it, it was an essential Draco-Lucius-moment: the father who shows his cruel side and the son who shrinks away in pain. It’s a pity they cut out that scene.

Humo: Were you attached to the script or did you have a bit of liberty to add something to your character?

Isaacs: For many people, the Harry Potter books are holier than the bible: they know every point and every comma by heart. But on the set we were allowed to chance the texts, to improvise… in my very first scène, you see how Dumbledore sends me out of his office. I told Chris Columbus, the director: “this scene misses something. Perhaps , before I leave the office, I should turn around to say something to Harry and Dumbledore, to save my honour.” Chris immediately said: “Go ahead.” The camera’s started to roll, Dumbledore orders me to sod off and I say: “Well, let’s hope that mister Potter is always there to save the day.” To which the little Daniel, without hesitation, steps forward and replied without any preparation: “Don’t, worry, I will be.” Goosebumps, man! I thought to myself: “Wow, that kid is good”.

Humo: How did you get the part, actually?

Isaacs: I actually did an audition for the part of Professor Gilderoy Lockhart. Afterwards, Chris and David Heyman, the producer, called me into their office:” would you mind playing this scene? It’s for a different part.” I thought: “dear, I blew up on Lockhart and out of politeness they just want to throw me a bone.” But a few days later I got a phone call: they wanted me for the part of Lucius Malfoy. “Oh dear,” I thought ”another bad guy. I’ve played those so much already.” I seriously considered refusing. I do have to say that I didn’t know the books at that time: I didn’t know what a wonderful character Lucius really was. My nephews and nieces and all of my grown up friends who –had- read the books persuaded me to take the part. Now, ten years later, I think: thank god.

Humo: Yes, how does it feel to be part of the most popular fantasy series of this decennium?

Isaacs: The best part is not the success but the fact that I’ve been able to work with a whole bunch of my heroes. On one of the last filming days it was raining and we were sitting around on our chairs, waiting for the weather to clear up. Around me I saw Maggie Smith, Michael Gambon, Alan Rickman, Jim Broadbent, Imelda Staunton, Julie Walters… And I was just sitting there drinking tea with these people and chatting about our cats and about our families and about what was in the papers that day! It was… wow. And none of us ever became cynical or condescending about the Harry Potter movies. We love Harry as much as the millions of people who buy a movie ticket.

Humo: Did you ever succeed to fully comprehend the Harry Potter phenomenon?

Isaacs: Look, you can’t call Joanne Rowling’s books very original. There have been novels about friendship, wizardry and boarding schools before. But Rowling got it right. She didn’t invent the ingredients but, as a top chef, put them together in the perfect way. Of course we were very lucky with the leading actors: who could’ve thought in 2000 that those kids would become –that- good?

Humo: Daniel, Rupert and Emma want to keep on acting. Won’t it be difficult to cast off the Harry Potter label?

Isaacs: Don’t worry, they’ll succeed. They’re already incredibly busy with other projects: Daniel is in a play on Broadway, and Rupert has done a few movies in the meanwhile – as did Tom, by the way. It won’t be long before you’ll forget they were once in Harry Potter. When you see Bruce Willis in ‘Pulp Fiction’, you don’t think about ‘Die Hard’ all the time either, do you?

Humo: Finally: what was the best moment in the past ten years for you?

Isaacs: My co-operation with Richard Harris (who played Dumbledore in the first two films but sadly died in 2002). I really looked up at him. When I was still at the acting academy, he regularly dropped in on rehearsals: those were wonderful days. To be on the same set as he was, to shake his hand and to play a scene with him: that was one of the most touching experiences of my life. He was very friendly but as son they shouted ‘action!’, he instantly turned into the strict Dumbeldore and nailed me to the floor with that intense gaze of his. Something I’ll never forget.


Lizzie

[grannybear]

Great translation. And no, I couldn't find any mistakes. It was very interesting. Jason does give a marvelous inerview.

[crawfoc99]

Thank you so much Lizzie for posting the translation of the article you found. You are a LEGEND, going the extra distance for us Jason fans. It was a SUPERB article! Jason is always erudite and verbose (thankfully for us).

Conga-rats to you BTW, on the first and third wins in your piping competion.

Hooroo,
Carole