Lovesick sorcerers: Harry Potter & his posse confront forces of the heart

DATING, LOVE and relationships are new themes for the Harry Potter films, and they're all explored in the sixth installment of the series, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince."

They were also hot-button topics at a press conference in New York City last week where actors Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Tom Felton and Bonnie Wright dished about the film and its new, flirty feel.

Watson said adding a romantic-comedy element was quite a relief for her character. "It's a nice break. I think if Hermione kept going at the rate she was going in terms of the amount of worrying she was doing, she might have developed a hemorrhage," the 19-year-old actress joked.

Watson noted that, for a kids' book series, the subject matter has been heavy, which made the comedy refreshing. And lovesickness is something young adults face quite often - and it can feel just as serious as an evil wizard takeover, she said.

Director David Yates recalled Radcliffe's first reaction to the script. "He walked into my office and said with an accusatory tone, 'This is funny. Are we allowed to be funny?' "

There was no shortage of jokes at the press conference.

The actors clearly have an off-screen chemistry and tend to tease each other. It's also remarkable how similar to their characters Watson, Grint and Radcliffe seemed to be.

Watson was as articulate and eager as the brainchild she plays. Radcliffe's leadership and animation as he answered questions exuded a Harry Potter-like confidence. He focused his bulging baby-blue eyes on whomever he was talking to, yet never stopped moving in his seat as he answered questions.

Grint, like Ron, had a more laid-back attitude, with short but insightful answers and quick jokes. (Asked about his recent bout with swine flu, he assured the reporter he was not contagious.)

Yates said he was impressed how the screenplay catered toward both the actors' and the characters' needs. "Steve [Kloves] doesn't just write for the characters, he writes for the actors playing the characters. He knows their strengths, he knows their weaknesses, and that's a rare quality. He's hugely empathetic."

In the film, as the three friends control their worlds with magic, they simultaneously encounter an inability to control their own hormones.

"I think it's a wonderful quality of Harry in this film," Radcliffe said. "He's this very, very acclaimed wizard, and yet he's crap with women."

Watson also found herself transforming from a strong Hermione to a more fragile, vulnerable, lovesick young woman.

"Hermione is such a control freak . . . and then suddenly she just falls apart in this one. She's just a wreck, because she can't control the way she feels. And I think in her head, if she could have chosen who she had fallen in love with, it certainly wouldn't have been Ron."

Watson paused and shrugged. "But you can't help who you fall in love with."

As Hermione pines over Ron in the film, Ron is smothered in affection by Lavender Brown, an overbearing, borderline-stalker girlfriend played by Jessie Cave. One reporter referred to the relationship between Lavender and Ron and asked if any of the actors had experienced similar situations in real life.

"I don't think that's the case," Radcliffe said, "I don't think any of us are -"

"Oh, I'm dating my stalker," Watson said, cutting off Radcliffe in a matter-of-fact voice - then pausing for laughter. "He's so into me. He's always there when I need him. It's great, I recommend it."

But surely being Harry Potter helps Radcliffe get girls, doesn't it?

"I don't know," Radcliffe responded. "I was 9 when I did [the first] Harry Potter [film]. I don't remember what it was like to get girls without having the aid of being Harry Potter."

The question of kissing also came up, particularly the much-anticipated embrace between Hermione and Ron, which will be featured in part one of the film adaptation of the seventh book, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows."

Watson and Grint described the kiss, filmed just two weeks ago, as if preparing to tell a complicated, unpleasant story.

"It wasn't something we were really looking forward to," Grint said. "It was quite strange to have to think about doing. But I think it was right in the end."

He turned toward Watson for approval.

"Yeah, we were nervous that it might look ingenuous, as we were so desperate to get it over with," she said. "This is like 10 years of tension and hormones and chemistry in one moment, and we had to ace it, so it was like, 'Oh, God,' but hopefully we did."

Producer David Heyman said young love is ever-present in the new film. He also said he's been quite pleased with how the actors have matured and with their ability to play more nuanced comedy.

While the sixth is more fun and flirtatious than past films, don't be deceived. It has the saddest ending to date with the death of a longtime character.

With just two movies left (due out in November 2010 and summer 2011), a decade-long project will come to an end for the young actors who grew up on the set. But Radcliffe said he's not thinking about that while he still has two films to complete.

Felton, a charming and genuine young man bearing zero resemblance to Draco Malfoy, the monster he plays on screen, echoed Radcliffe's sentiment, saying he expected to cry his eyes out when it's all over.

But in typical Hermione fashion, Watson is boldly looking forward. (She's off to college in the fall, reportedly to an Ivy League school on the East Coast.) But she said she's sure the Potter phenomenon won't end when the film series is complete.

"I don't think Harry Potter is ever going to die," she said. "I think it's so big and so loved. Kids will keep reading the books, so I don't feel like it's ever really going to go away. It's got longevity." *