Rupert Grint attended the Tribeca Film Festival for the showing of his latest film Driving Lessons. RupertGrint.net has some video of the event, and you can see some photos of him at Wire Image.

Update: There is a short clip of Rupert during the event here. Thanks to HPFZ.

We also have some of the questions that were asked of Rupert (thanks to MuggleNet):

Question: Do you relate to Ben (Rupert's character)?
Rupert: In some ways I do (laughs) - the bad dancing!

Question: How was your first on-screen kiss?
Rupert (totally blushing): Fifteen takes, that took! (Audience laughter) The girl was really helpful - I'll stop there. (More audience laughs).

Jeremy Brock (writer, director) said that Rupert is also like Ben, because he is intensely modest. Brock also said that he chose Rupert to play Ben (a character based on himself) because having seen Rupert in the Harry Potter movies, he thought that Rupert was extremely talented and under-used. Brock said that it took real talent for Rupert to play a character who bears witness to the events of his own life throughout the first half of the film and becomes someone who learns to express himself. He said that Rupert far exceeded his expectations.

Laura Linney said that she and Rupert were constantly cracking up during the filming and that there most be tons of unusable footage!

Rupert was also asked if he would like to do any other independent films, and he said that he would and enjoys doing different things. He also said that he couldn't say whether he enjoyed filming Driving Lessons or the HP films more because they are so different, especially because Driving Lessons was shot in about six weeks, whereas each HP movie takes nearly a year.

J. K. Rowling's website has been updated with a new Wizard of the Month for May 2006.

Fabius Watkins

1940 - 1975
Legendary Captain and Chaser of Montrose Magpies. Died in freak collision with helicopter.

As we previously informed you, J. K. Rowling would be interviewed by Girlguiding, an organization in Scotland that helps to inspire and empower girls aged 5 to 26. The interview is now online. Here is an excerpt:

Because of the huge fame of the Harry Potter novels - and therefore great expectations surrounding them, how do you stop that from impacting how you develop the story or characters?
I am very protective of my characters and the storyline; I stick fiercely to what I believe is right for them even if I know that it will make some fans unhappy (for instance, some of the romance in book six disappointed readers who were hoping for other pairings).

However, resisting this kind of pressure is not as difficult as you might think, because I did a lot of planning in the seven years between having the idea for the Potter books and the publication of 'Philosopher's Stone', so I have a kind of map to keep me on track.

Thanks to MuggleNet.

Warwick Davis (a.k.a. Professor Flitwick) will be appearing at the Star Wars weekend 2006 at Disney's MGM Studios in Florida. His appearance is part of Disney's Star Wars weekends, that will also include many other actors from the Star Wars films during May and June.

You can read more information about the weekend here.

Chris Rankin, who portrays Percy Weasley in the Harry Potter films, recently spoke with icSurreyOnline regarding his role in the Harry Potter films and his current stage show Wuthering Heights.

He spoke of how he found out how to try for the Weasley role, and his reaction when he got the part. "I just couldn't believe it," says the 22-year-old. "In fact, I still can't believe it now...It's almost six years to the day since I found out I'd got the part, and I'm still trying to get my head around it!

And what's going on with filming for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix?

"We start filming the next one in two weeks' time, and it's always the same; I look around at all those great British actors, like Michael Gambon (Dumbledore) and Julie Walters (Mrs Weasley), and think to myself, 'what on earth am I doing here - why did they pick me?'.

"Over the course of the films, he's gone from being a stuck-up, poncey prefect to quite a nasty piece of work," says Rankin.

"My character didn't appear in the last film but, when he makes his return in the next one, he starts to become really obnoxious.

"By that stage, of course, he's working for the Ministry of Magic and he's become so power-hungry that he'll step on anyone to get where he wants.

"And let's just say that the Minister for Magic, Mr Crouch, has his shoes well and truly kissed!"

He also goes on to talk about how all of the crew get along with each other, how he has tried to coax information out of J.K. Rowling, and what his hopes are for Percy's future. He also speaks of how he has been keeping himself very busy with a variety of stage and TV shows. Read the rest of the article here!

Jason Isaacs, who portrays Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter films, recently spoke with Empire during the 2006 Sony Ericsson Empire Awards. He was asked a few questions about filming in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Here are a few excerpts:

And how’s Harry Potter going?
I don’t know, they started without me. Like most things in my life. I haven’t even read the script yet. To be honest, I don’t know what happens in it. I know that I’m meant to end up in prison – that’s no great secret.

Will Malfoy be coming back for film 5?
Oh I don’t know, you’ll have to ask David (Heyman, Potter producer), I hope so, I can’t bear the idea that somebody else would get to wear my Paris Hilton wig, but you never know.

You have a strange relationship with your wig then?
I do, well the wig is on time-share with Paris Hilton and she comes round. It takes a lot longer to prise it off me at the end of the day because I fancy myself as the lead singer of Sweet. Nah, it’s not very long, they’re all terribly slick with it. I miss it. I like the wig. I’m not a man who gets to disguise, I look pretty much the same in everything I do except for Harry Potter and I get to wear a fabulous wig.

Thanks to Veritaserum.

Matt over at Micromagic Systems wrote us about some of his work he had done on previous Harry Potter films for Nick Dundam's Creature FX Department. The work includes many photos from the FX department on the creatures from the Potter films, all of which are animatronic. He has some great photos of some of their work, including the Hungarian Horntail and Lupin's werewolf. Make sure to check out his photos in his character gallery here! He's planning on making a new section soon that will include even more photos, so make sure to keep his site on your favorites and keep checking back!

TLC have confirmed that actor Tony Maudsley has the role of Grawp (Hagrid's brother) in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. You can see a photo of him here.

Also, they have discovered that the role of Professor Dumbledore's brother, Aberforth (portrayed by Jim McManus) will be a 'minor part'.

You can see the rest of the crew from the fifth Harry Potter film here.

The MTV Award Nominations have been released, and some of the actors from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire have received some nominations.

• Dan Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson have been nominated for Best On-Screen Team


• Ralph Fiennes was nominated for Best Villian


• Dan Radcliffe was nominated for Best Hero

The paperback cover for the US version of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince has been released by Scholastic. You can see it here. The paperback will be released on June 23rd in England, and July 25th in the US.