A closer look
Alfonso Cuaron demanded that the three main child actors in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban write essays about their characters to help them understand their changing teenage motivations. Emma Watson turned in a flawlessly structured, sixteen-page academic thesis, Daniel Radcliffe managed to scrawl down a single, barely coherent page, and Rupert Grint completely ignored the assignment and turned in absolutely nothing. when the director confronted Grint about his missing homework, the actor calmly explained that his character wouldn't have done the essay either, seamlessly transforming laziness into a brilliant display of method acting. it perfectly illustrates how casting directors occasionally strike absolute gold by accidentally hiring children who are literally exactly the same as the fictional wizards they are supposed to be pretending to play
