Parents, school help Harry Potter kids handle fame

LONDON (Reuters) – The teenaged stars of the Harry Potter
films have their parents and school work to thank for helping
them deal with fame.

More than most child stars, Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson
and Rupert Grint are growing up in front of millions of
viewers, having just completed the fourth Potter movie.

The three films so far amassed around $2.5 billion in
ticket sales, and have become one of the most successful movie
franchises in history. And there are four more to come.

“One of the things that has been amazing has been my
parents, who have kept me completely grounded the whole time
and I’ve never got big-headed or anything,” said Radcliffe, the
16-year-old actor who plays Harry in the films.

“I never think of myself as famous. As far as I’m
concerned, I’m famous for two days a year which is the
premieres,” he told Reuters in a weekend interview to promote
“Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,” due out on November 18.

For Emma Watson, 15, who plays Hermione Granger, a healthy
dose of skepticism about what the critics say combined with a
solid education are the preferred ways of dealing with the
increasing media attention that comes with each film.

“I try not to read too much of what is said, try to
distance myself a bit from it,” she said.

“If you listen to every critic, if you listen to every
person’s opinion about Harry Potter, then you’re in trouble.”

She said that despite the fame and financial security the
Potter series has brought, she would continue with her studies.

“I’m going to go to university. I don’t know what I’m going
to study yet, but I think this business is such a temperamental
one; one minute you’re up there and the next — nothing.”