Let`s talk about your scene in the Room of Requirement; a very intense scene, very impressive scene. You look like you need to be quite fit for that.
It really wore me down. We were filming that for over three days, just climbing bits with the fire and although a lot of the fire looks like CGI, it was real as well. They had quite a lot of flame-thrower-type things that helped with the light, which naturally were a rather warm temperature. It got very hot. It turns out a black suit isn`t the best thing to go climbing in. Draco is very posh even when under attack. So yeah, it was fun doing it.
Was a lot of that stunt work or was a lot of it you doing it?
It was actually me. It was kind of cool. We got asked to be a little bit stunty, which is nice; climbing up those chairs and platforms and all sorts of weird jumbled stuff. It was great fun. We really got through a lot of that, tables slipping at the end and grabbing a hold of Daniel [Radcliffe], it was quite a lot. Quite a lot more intense than anything I`d ever done previously, physically wise. So I enjoyed it.
When you`re doing a scene that`s that physically intense, do you find it harder to stay in character, or easier?
Harder, when there`s a thing on the top of that table where we`re standing and we knew that the legs were going to be pulled out and we were going to fall over and we had to grab hold of it. It`s really hard when they say, “Look at Harry, look distantly, and you`re just thinking, “Uh-oh here we go, here we go, here we go. Then it`s like it was taken under your feet. So it takes a while to get used to that, or rather not get used to it and try and ignore it and try and get it out of your head. We were blessed with a lot of great stunt boys there.
From an audience perspective, how impressive do you think it looks on the screen?
I confess, I haven`t seen the full delights of the 3D version yet. I think this is the first year in which the 3D has kind of got up to the standards of the visual effects in which these guys are capable of now. So, it`s obviously the most action-packed episode of the saga and I think that reflects certainly visually; it`s stunning. Especially in the final battle, the `War of Hogwarts`, as we`ve been naming it. We`ve seen Hogwarts in many different lights, but never in this one where we`re kind of being blown to pieces. I can`t see a fan of the books not enjoying that for sure.
In many respects it`s a symbol of good versus evil, but it`s not as simple as that. There`s a lot of ambiguity in a lot of the characters, none more so than your own.
Yeah, Draco`s kind of about in the middle of it all really. He doesn`t quite know which side his loyalties lie on. It`s really a nice story of a boy who`s terrified and at the same time feels almost a moral obligation to help. He just doesn`t quite know which side he should be helping. Obviously, it gets ever more confusing with his parents not really knowing either. They`re kind of in the middle. The father definitely isn`t, but now Narcissa, his mum, is equally puzzled by this whole thing. It`s not all black and white. There is definitely some gray there for sure.
And how strange was it being made up as an older version of yourself and seeing that on the screen?
It was very weird. It was just a strange experience from the start because they actually got photos of my dad and my granddad to see what to model it on. It was very strange. I thought we looked drastically older than 35 or whatever I was supposed to be. But I thought that was them sending a message to the kids that crime doesn`t pay or villainy doesn`t pay. But yeah, it was great. It was even weirder when you got used to it. Then at the end of the day I took it off, and it`s like, “Yes, I`m young again. You know, it`s almost like youth revisited. It was good fun. I really enjoyed it. It was definitely a taste of the things to come. Hopefully not too soon.
What will you miss most about Draco, or playing him?
He`s quite therapeutic, really. It`s nice to be stepping into the shoes of someone who`s vile and horrible and he definitely is that; although he`s a bit of a wussy at the same time. He`s a very unique individual and I already miss playing him, to be honest with you. I feel like he`s the Hyde to my Dr. Jekyll and without him it`s one and not the other. I already miss him.