Harry Potter & the HBP Exclusive: From the NYC Red Carpet Premiere

The release of anything Harry Potter-related is always greeted by fans with costume parties, movie marathons, and catching up with friends you may not have seen in a year. The excitement radiating off everyone is contagious, and I found myself taking part in all this hoopla during the second week of July. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was about to be released in a week’s time after being delayed for nearly a year, and I had traveled to New York City to cover the North American premiere of the film for a fansite.

Even though I had traveled to Los Angeles once before to cover the fifth film’s premiere, I still felt like a complete rookie as a red carpet correspondent. Conveniently (or perhaps not!), my hotel room was located just above the Ziegfeld Theatre – the location of choice for the evening’s festivities. With my bird’s eye view from the twenty-seventh floor, I was able to watch as crews began setting up barriers and rolling out the red carpet. Every five minutes, I could be found pressing my face against the window, and while it was thrilling to watch as the action unfolded and the crowd of fans grew thicker, it did nothing to help calm my nerves!

After signing in with a Warner Bros agent and receiving a nifty little “Press” sticker with an image of Harry and Dumbledore on it, my friend and I took our place on the red carpet and waited for the stars to arrive. In the meantime, though, it was nice to get to know the people around us! Space in the press pit was rather tight, and we were placed in between a cameraman for Hot Topic and a radio show personality. The nerves started to wear off a little now that I was finally in place and things were about to begin.

Being located towards the far end of the press line, closer to the theatre’s entrance, is always tricky as most of the actors are running late by the time they get to you and are being rushed inside by their handlers. This didn’t stop me, however, from chatting a bit with Freddie Stroma, one of the new faces in the Harry Potter series. He plays Cormac McClaggen, the typical jock who goes against Ron for a spot on the Quidditch team and has his eyes on Hermione. As arrogant as Cormac’s character may be, Freddie was anything but that! We chatted briefly about being a part of the Potter phenomenon and the nasty weather that hit the London premiere just a few days earlier. It was small talk, mostly, but he was absolutely charming!

I also threw out a quick question to producer David Heyman regarding the film’s delay. He told me that even though they were given more time to tinker with the film, “the edits were so minor…it was literally a frame here, a frame there.” Daniel Radcliffe stopped by briefly to speak with other press before being pushed into the theatre, and I managed to grab a quick shout out from Rupert Grint to his fans until he, too, was hurried inside. Emma Watson, unfortunately, passed by the end of the press line completely. Other celebrities present included Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy), Bonnie Wright (Ginny Weasley), Alan Rickman (Snape), Michael Gambon (Dumbledore), David Yates (director), Kelsey Grammar (Frasier), Diane Sawyer, and Mark Indelicato (Ugly Betty).

Walking into the Ziegfeld was impressive, to say the least! As I entered the lobby, there were flashes going off where the cast was having group photos taken. There is only one screening room which is enormous and can seat over 1,000 people. It is extremely ornate and the seats were covered in red velvet. Warner Bros CEO Alan Horn introduced the film and said a few words, as did David Yates, David Heyman, and Daniel Radcliffe. Then without previews (something that caught me off guard), the film began! It was definitely a great film and I thought it managed to balance out the comedy and serious material really well. I also thought the cinematography was extremely beautiful! This was something that really left an impression on me, along with the young cast’s vastly improved acting talents.

This trip to New York City was an amazing learning experience: not only did I get to attend a premiere, but I made a lot of new friends and realized what skills I’m going to have to improve on if I want to continue on my path of becoming a journalist. I would do it again in a heartbeat!

Times Square

The Red Carpet

David Heyman

David Yates

NYC: July 9, 2009

Photos taken by Stephanie Jaar

Special thanks to RupertGrint.net!