Richard Harris On Potter

Richard Harris, not a man familiar with the finer arts of diplomacy, spoke to Empire Online last night (15 February) after he won a Lifetime Achievement Award from the London Film Critics' Circle. His view of the award was that "I suppose they'd nobody else to give it to this year, so they gave it to me." He added "I don't collect awards, I only came for the free champagne".

But when we quizzed him about his role as Dumbledore in the much-anticipated Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, he wasn't much more effusive. When asked if he was enjoying doing the film, he replied "I'm actually not. I'm in it, so is Maggie Smith, Alan Rickman and Robbie Coltrane, but we're there sort of as special appearances. We come along and we do it and we get off and we go home." He did, however, manage to summon up some enthusiasm for Daniel Radcliffe, who plays the young wizard. "The kid is just fantastic. For never having acted before, you know, he could give me acting lessons".

When Empire Online asked why Harris wanted to take on the role of Harry's mentor, he replied "Who knows? It's a job." And as for his possible standing as the new Obi-Wan Kenobi, he didn't really entertain the idea - "I never thought of it that way. I just want to be known as me".