Irish Eyes } Boys Aloud

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Derided by “real” music fans, adored by teenage females and gay men, boy bands are a modern cultural – and commercial – phenomenon.TONY CLAYTON-LEA slathers on the hair gel and jumps on the boy bandwagon


BLAME THE MONKEES  THE TERM “boy band” came into currency in the 1990s with the arrival of American pop sensations New Kids On The Block and New Edition, but the trend started way back in 1966 with The Monkees, who were selected from more than 400 contenders who replied to a newspaper ad looking for unknowns to star in a TV series. At least two of the band could play instruments, but this was initially hidden by the programme makers – the first time musicianship was gazumped by image and marketing. After The Monkees — whose quirky US television show was a massive success — manufactured boy bands became the norm in a male-dominated music industry that was rigidly and haughtily divided between rock and pop. On the one hand, there were The Jackson 5 and The Osmonds, two American family bands that boasted a modicum of talent; on the other, there was Edinburgh’s Bay City Rollers, who were molded into the first bona fide teenybopper act of the 1970s.

The progenitors of the popularity of boy bands in the 1980s and 1990s were New Edition, whose slick r’n’b led the way for a rake of even more successful US boy bands such as New Kids On The Block, Boyz II Men, Backstreet Boys and ’N Sync. In the UK, there was Bros, managed by Tom Watkins, who soon added East 17 to his stable of handsome young men. In 1990, Take That was formed and, soon after, Boyzone. As the 1990s continued, Take That and East 17 (and 911, Five and Blue) were usurped by Britpop and indie rock. In the late 1990s, along came Westlife (created by Louis Walsh to replace Boyzone’s diminishing returns), which would become the most successful boy band of the era. After a farewell tour, Westlife will split up this year (although for how long is debatable). Not to worry, though, the boy- band bandwagon continues to roll with JLS, The Wanted and One Direction.

As the saying goes, where there’s muck there’s brass, and where there’s boy bands there’s brass necks aplenty.

THE BOY BAND FORMAT 

BOY BANDS aren’t formed, they’re assembled. They may be boys, but they’re very rarely a band – the vast majority of don’t (or aren’t seen to) play instruments, are known primarily for their vocals and choreography, are chosen by record producers and “talent” managers, and are marketed to a mostly pre-teen/teenage female audience.

The marketing is the most important element, with males chosen specifically for their good looks (although having an odd-one-out provides a grounding aspect) and saddled with cookie-cutter personalities (the cute one, the sexy one, the daft one, etc) so as to appeal to the broadest section of young females. Of lesser importance, undoubtedly, is the music, which, for the most part, is tailor-made, homogenised pop. A mixture of catchy pop ditties and lachrymose ballads (these were rarely written by the band members until relatively recently when they began to realise how lucrative songwriting actually was), the music is structured to showcase harmonies and dance routines, some of which are well rehearsed and honed.

Unless the name of the boy band is Take That, this format is strictly adhered to. Unusually for a boy band, Take That had in their midst Gary Barlow, a very talented songwriter (his 1995 hit Back for Good remains the best example of a perfect fit of song and boy band), as had East 17, with Tony Mortimer.

THE MANAGERS IN CONTROL 

LOU PEARLMAN: The manager/impresario behind the creation and success of not just Backstreet Boys but also ’N Sync – both of whom sued him in the US Federal Court for misrepresentation and fraud. Pearlman is currently in prison for having engineered one of the largest and longest-running Ponzi schemes in US history, that embezzled more than $300m.

MAURICE STARR: Unsuccessful 1980s American r’n’b singer/songwriter/producer Starr created not only New Edition (which once featured Bobby Brown, who would go on to marry Whitney Houston) but also New Kids on the Block. Both boy bands were specifically formed to record Starr’s songs.

TAM PATON (1938-2009): Scottish-born manager who came up with the idea of the Bay City Rollers dressing in tartan and wearing their trousers at half-mast. Paton was accused by former band members of owing them up to £50m in unpaid royalties. In 1982, he was convicted of gross indecency with teenage boys (he served one year of a three-year jail sentence) and in 2003 was arrested on charges of child sexual abuse, but was later cleared of the allegations.

NIGEL MARTIN-SMITH: Inspired by the success of New Kids on the Block, Manchester casting agent Martin-Smith created Take That, who turned into one of the most successful British bands since The Beatles. In 1995, Martin-Smith was listed by Gay Times as one of the influential gay people in pop music.

LOUIS WALSH: A veteran of the Irish showbiz scene, 59-year-old Walsh is arguably the most successful manager of pop bands. The roll call of acts he has been involved in includes Boyzone, Westlife, Jedward, Ronan Keating, Shayne Ward, Bellefire, Six, Girls Aloud, Samantha Mumba and JLS.

TOM WATKINS: Formerly a designer for Terence Conran, Watkins managed both East 17 and Bros, each of which went on to enjoy huge levels of success in the UK and Europe. He also managed Pet Shop Boys, who are not and have never been a boy band.

THE GOOD, BAD AND GORGEEOOOOUSSS! 
THE MONKEES (1966-1970; have sporadically reformed and still perform to this day): Created especially for a television show, which still airs around the world. Their early songs were written by a crack team of tunesmiths, and are pop classics.
BAY CITY ROLLERS (1966-81): Scottish teenybopper band that engendered the worldwide phenomenon known as Rollermania. The arrival of punk rock in 1977 effectively ended their career.

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK (1984-1994; 2007-present): Created in 1984 by Maurice Starr, the band’s 1986 self-titled debut album bombed but by the early 1990s, sales for NKOTB merchandise were estimated at $400 million. (NKOTB and Backstreet Boys tour this year, visiting Dublin and Belfast in April.)

BROS (1986-1992): Managed by Tom Watkins, Bros was composed of twin brothers Matt and Luke Goss, whose razor-cheeked blondeness attracted both straight teenage girls and gay males.

TAKE THAT (1990-1996; 2005-present): Take That started performing in small clubs and schools across the UK and ended up as world beaters. A new album this year will add to the coffers.

911 (1995-2000; 2005-present): From ’96-’99, this British trio had an impressive run of 10 UK top 10 hits.

’N SYNC (1995-2002): More famous in retrospect, perhaps, because for being the band that introduced Justin Timberlake to the world.

FIVE (1997-2001; 2006-2007): This UK act was another money-making machine. reaching the UK top 10, 11 times in four years, and selling almost seven million records.

BOYZONE (1993-2000; 2007-present): Ireland’s first boy band, as fabricated by Louis Walsh, who placed an ad in various newspapers seeking likely candidates for “an Irish Take That”. Eighteen top 10 hits in the UK singles charts – job done.

WESTLIFE (1998-2012): Another Irish boy band constructed, Lego-style, by Walsh. Whether you like them or not, you can’t dispute their appeal – almost 50 million album sales, and 25 UK top 10 singles (14 of which are number ones). Unusually, America is highly resistant to their charms.

JLS (2008-present): X Factor runners-up with more friends than foes – in 2010 they won a BRIT Award (for some, a definite sign of credibility), while Jay-Z reckons they’ll be bigger than ’N Sync.

ONE DIRECTION (2010-present): The latest teen sensation (and another act from the X Factor runners-up pile) features Mullingar poppet Niall Horan. Big things are predicted: they tour America next month with Los Angeles boy band Big Time Rush, and they recently signed a record deal with Columbia. 

From  irishtimes.com

Nick Jonas } Me Naked is Fine

Posted by Adam

NICK Jonas is “open” to the idea of going naked on stage.

The Jonas Brothers star is taking over from Daniel Radcliffe in the Broadway show How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, and he wouldn’t be against following in the Harry Potteractor’s footsteps after he stripped completely for his role in Equus.
“I love theater and I understand the difference between acting and who you are as a person,” he said.
“I don’t know that it’s something I would’ve done in the end, but I definitely would’ve considered it. You have to be open to everything.”
The 19-year-old hunk is particularly grateful for his gay fans because they always give good gifts and have “good taste”.
“We love our gay fans. It was definitely cool when we realized that, because the more you can grow your audience, the more people you can impact,” he said.
“They’ve been incredible over the years. My brothers and I totally look forward to meeting them, because they really respond to our style, and it’s cool to see how our influence has impacted what they’re wearing.
“They also give really good gifts at our meet-and-greets — hats, scarves, and other things. They always have good taste.”
Showbizspy.coms

Valentines' Day is Coming } Neil Patrick Harris Opens Up About His Relationship

By MARISSA CHARLES

They've been together for more than five years and are the parents of twins. 

But David Burtka says that he and Neil Patrick Harris do not want to be the 'poster boys for gay relationships.'

The loving couple have opened up about their long term relationship for the February issue of Out.

Loved up: Neil Patrick Harris and his partner David Burtka pose for Out magazine and give an in depth relationship in the February issue about their romance  

As Valentine's Day nears the two appear in a series of romantic poses on the front of and inside the gay lifestyle magazine. 

The actors share intimate moments with the camera in Out's annual Love Issue. 

At one point they are photographed lounging in a ruffled bed, while dressed in their pyjamas. 

In another shot Neil, 38, lovingly fixes David's tie.

In one picture inside the magazine David, 36, is seen passionately kissing his fiance's Adam's apple.

Happy Together: Neil and David pose for the camera

Partners: The men attended the People's Choice Awards together in Los Angeles earlier this month

The How I Met Your Mother actor talks about their relationship and how he fell 'head-over-heels' in love with the man he met on the street when he bumped into a mutual friend. 

Neil says: 'I ran into my friend Kate one day and she was with this brooding, James Dean–type guy in a leather jacket who gave me the head nod and then turned away. 

'I assumed he was Kate’s boyfriend and said, “Nicely done". 

'And she said, “David? He’s not playing on my team, but he has a boyfriend".'

A tender moment: The couple share a romantic moment on the February cover of Out

Neil says that he waited for the right moment and, when David split up with his boyfriend, they started dating. 

The couple have 15-month-old twins Gideon and Harper together. 

They say that they discussed having children together early on in their relationship. 

David - who is father to another set of twins that he had with his ex-partner - says: 'Even on that first date, we talked about kids. 

A fan favourite: Neil won the Favourite TV Comedy Actor award for his role in How I Met Your Mother at the People's Choice Awards 

Workmates: Neil poses with his How I Met Your Mother cast mates, Alyson Hannigan, Josh Radnor, Cobie Smulders and Jason Segel 

'If he hadn’t wanted kids, I don’t think we’d be together.'

In June 2011 the couple announced that they secretly got engaged five years earlier. 

Despite the life they have created together David says he doesn't want people to think that his relationship with the former Doogie Howser M.D. star is perfect.

He says: 'We have a really great recipe for a wonderful relationship, but we don’t want to be the poster boys for gay relationships. 

'We’re not trying to pretend that we are perfect.’ 

Dailymail.co.uk

Dems Are Incredibly Stupid for Backing Anti Piracy Bill

 

 

Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas on Wednesday blasted the Democrats who continue to support the House’s Stop Online Piracy and the Senate’s Protect IP Act.

Although a number of Republican lawmakers dropped their support of the anti-piracy billsafter the largest online protest in history on Wednesday, some prominent Democrats like DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Sen. Chuck Schumer still support the bills.

“You had a bipartisan group of people who supported it,” Moulitsas said on Countdown with Keith Olbermann. “Today, Republican after Republican has backed out and abandoned support for SOPA and PIPA — Democrats haven’t. They cling to this fiction that this can be fixed, and not only is this incredibly stupid, its incredible tone deaf.”

Eric W. Dolan  rawstory.com/

GOP & Cons. Dems Politics } You Vote Against Equal Marriage Under Your Own Peril

by Josh Feit     

Two Republican state senators in Olympia—Sens. Steve Litzow (R-41, Mercer Island) and Cheryl Pflug (R-5, Maple Valley)—have said they will vote for gay marriage legislation, meaning Democrats are within one or two votes of the 25 votes needed to pass the gay rights bill proposed by Gov. Chris Gregoire, Sen. Ed Murray (D-43, Capitol Hill) and Rep. Jamie Pedersen (D-43, Capitol Hill).

There are still a few conservative Democrats who haven’t signed on. But there are also two more Republicans (like Litzow and Pflug, from the suburbs), Sens. Joe Fain (R-47, Auburn) and Andy Hill (R-45, Redmond), who may go for the bill and make up the difference.

Sen. Joe Fain

Sen. Andy Hill

I claim no news-reporter objectivity on this bill. It’s an obvious civil rights issue: Republicans who vote against it are following the bad example of their 1940s, 50s, and ’60s GOP counterparts (and Southern Democrats) who supported Jim Crow laws. Moreover, it should be a no-brainer for Republicans: It’s pro-family legislation.

So, a little lobbying here: Sens. Fain and Hill, please read this article in yesterday’s (01/18)NYT. There’s a bonus if you vote the right way.

Here’s the lead:

All four Republicans who voted for same-sex marriage [in New York state]sharply increased their fund-raising in the six months after the marriage bill passed, in many cases raising money from people they had never met. And Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, a Democrat who forcefully pushed the legislation, raised $6 million in six months helped by fund-raisers that highlighted his support for same-sex marriage.

State Senator Roy J. McDonald, a Republican who is a Vietnam veteran from Saratoga County, became a momentary folk hero for many gay people when he blurted out that people who were unhappy with his support for same-sex marriage “can take the job and shove it.” He raised about $447,000 in the six months following the vote, about 27 times more than he had raised in the same period in 2009.

Senator Stephen M. Saland, a Republican lawyer from Poughkeepsie whose decision to support same-sex marriage became clear only when he rose to speak during the vote, raised $425,000. For rank-and-file lawmakers in Albany, those are large sums — both men raised more in the latter half of 2011 than did the Senate majority leader, Dean G. Skelos, a Long Island Republican.

Senator Mark Grisanti, a first-term Republican from Buffalo, raised $325,000 in the six months after the vote.

publicola.com/

Santorum Screw Over The Vets on His Last Senate Job } Who Would He Screw Again?

2012 GOP presidential candidate Rick SantorumGage Skidmore/Flickr

Like any good presidential candidate, Rick Santorum heaps praise on America's soldiers and veterans. He's pledged to "make veterans a high priority" if elected president, adding, "This is not a Republican issue, this is not a Democratic issue, it is an American issue." But as a US senator, Santorum engineered a controversial land deal that robbed the military's top veterans' home of tens of millions of dollars and worsened the deteriorating conditions at the facility.

The Armed Forces Retirement Home, which is run by the Department of Defense, bills itself as "premier home for military retirees and veterans." The facility sprawls across 272 acres high on a hill in northern Washington, DC, near the Petworth neighborhood. The nearly 600 veterans who now live there enjoy panoramic views of the city—the Washington monument and US Capitol to the south, the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception to the east. At its peak, more than 2,000 veterans of World Wars I and II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War lived at the Home.

But with the rise of the smaller all-volunteer military, the Home began to run into serious financial problems. It was clear that one of its primary sources of revenue—a 50-cent deduction from the paychecks of active-duty servicemembers—wasn't enough to keep the Home operating fully. In the 1990s, the Home scrambled to find ways to avoid insolvency, trimming its staff by 24 percent and reducing its vet population by 800. Still, the money problems began to show, with its older historic facilities slipping into disrepair and decay. To grapple with its worsening shortfall, officials running the Home eyed a valuable, 49-acre piece of land worth $49 million as a potential financial lifeline.

Under one scenario, by leasing the parcel of land and letting it be developed, the Home could pocket $105 million in income over 35 years for its trust fund, David Lacy, then-chairman of the Home's board of directors, told Congress in 1999. Lacy stressed that the Home wanted to keep the property, and not offload it to a buyer. "Once land is sold," he said, "it is lost forever as an asset."

Enter Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Penn.). At the behest of the Roman Catholic Church, and unbeknownst to the Home, Santorum slipped an amendment into the 1999 National Defense Authorization Act handcuffing how the home could cash in on those 49 acres. The amendment forced the Home to sell—and not lease—the land to its next-door neighbor, the Catholic University of America. Ultimately, the Catholic Church bought 46 acres of the tract for $22 million. The Home lost the land for good, and by its own estimates, pocketed $27 million less than the land's value and $83 million less than what it could've made under the lease plan. Santorum's amendment sparked an outcry from veterans' groups and fellow US senators, who barraged his office with complaints.

Laurence Branch, then the executive director of the Home's board, says Santorum's amendment was "a travesty" and the Church's lobbying for the land a case of "coveting thy neighborhood's goods." To this day, Branch says he blames Santorum for the Home not receiving more money for the 49-acre parcel of land. "I'm convinced Sen. Santorum is no friend of veterans," Branch says. (A spokesman for Catholic University did not respond to a request for comment.)

At the time, Santorum said the amendment was the product of "a consensus agreement" and "was certainly not an attempt to shortchange the veterans." (A spokesman for the Santorum campaign did not respond to multiple requests for comment.)

Santorum's advocacy for Catholic University isn't at all surprising. A practicing Catholic, Santorum embodies the church's anti-abortion and anti-gay-marriage positions as well as its support for charities and alleviating poverty. While in Congress, he was a fierce advocate for the Catholic Church. A former Santorum aide told New York Times Magazine in 2005 that the senator was "a Catholic missionary who happens to be in the Senate.'' That same year, Timemagazine named him one of America's ''25 Most Influential Evangelicals.''

Meanwhile, the $22 million from the land sale hardly stanched the flow of red ink at Armed Forces Retirement Home. Financial records, court documents, and government reports from the 2000s show how the Home cut back on the services it provided veterans as it grappled with funding problems. The slashing of services got so bad that in 2003 veterans living at the Home filed a class-action suit against the Home and its director, Timothy Cox, alleging shoddy health care and less access to that care. As a result of cutbacks and declining quality in care, the suit claimed, the suicide rate at the Home spiked from 59 in 2000 to 131 in 2003.

In 2007, an investigation by the Government Accountability Office came to similarly troubling conclusions. The watchdog's head, David Walker, reported that one Home resident had been admitted to the hospital with maggots in a wound. Other vets were admitted with bad pressure sores, suggesting they'd been left unattended for dangerously long stretches of time by the Home's health care employees. In the aftermath of the GAO's investigation, Sens. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) demanded an independent investigation into the quality of health care at the Home.

Yet today, despite some improvement in the Home's financial health, its campus is pocked with boarded-up, decrepit buildings. All but one of the Home's gatehouses is shuttered, as are some of the Home's more elegant buildings, including the historic Grant building (named after the Civil War general) and the red-brick hospital that now sits empty, bearing a sign warning off trespassers. Some veterans believe the Home's constant financial struggles have led to a slow-motion decline of the Home. As longtime resident and Navy vet Robert Devaney says, "I like to call it demolition by neglect."

 

by Andy Kroll a reporter at Mother Jones. 

Can You Guess? Who This Is?

I can't really be bothered to tell you anything about this. I mean, really, what else do you need to know? Just look at it. Just…look.

UDATE: Win an adamfoxie* Tshirt. Just be the 13 person that replies with and name and be right.
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Everybody Seems to be Red Hot For 22 yr Rupert Grint

The Harry Potter star talks about snogging Emma, going nude and what’s next after a teenage life of adoration and wizardry... Rupert Grint is very normal. As normal as any 22-year-old man arriving in a blacked-out chauffeurdriven car might be. As normal as anyone who has their own publicist can be (one of the best in the business, whose clients include Michael Sheen and Sir Ian McKellen). He has his own assistant, too: a lovely (and reassuringly mouthy) woman who’s been with him almost from day one. As we chat casually between shots, she tells me about the odd times, usually in Europe, when she’s feared for his safety after being surrounded by mobs of Potter-mad teens, and it’s only then that you realise just how abnormal, in the nicest possible way, Rupert Grint’s life is. (In fact it’s rammed home throughout the day as we shoot in the street outside the East London studio we’re in, when a group of builders and then two police cars full of policemen turn up to pretend not to watch). Plucked from a normal life as a 10-year-old after he entered a competition on Newsround to audition for a part in the fi lm version of the then already very popular Harry Potter books, he was whipped up into the entertainment stratosphere in a fl ash. He made fl esh one of the most beloved literary characters of our time in eight smash-hit movies, earned quite a few millions (which are locked away in Gringott’s goblin vault, no doubt) and is now making the most of a springboard into an adult fi lm career that most young actors would kill for. Wearing the same battered old shoes he’s apparently had for the past five years (though he wears a posh Issey Miyake sweater and flashes a band of Alexander McQueen underwear), unlike Daniel Radcli e who is a ball of nervous energy, Rupert Grint is completely understated, quiet and shy. He’s utterly charming and sweet, gently blokey, completely unlike Ron – more subdued if you can believe it. But he brings with him a vulnerability that makes you want to cuddle him up and take him o to Center Parcs for a nice weekend away from it all. But maybe that’s just me. But this isn’t the time to retreat. By the time you read this, the last fi lm – Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2 – will be everywhere. And by everywhere I mean EVERYWHERE. For Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley, this is the end. But not for Rupert Grint. He has already had big parts in two small haven’t seen it yet. We probably won’t see it until about three days before the premiere at the cast and crew screening. There’s quite a lot of emotional stuff as we lose a lot of characters. Fred (one of Ron’s brothers) gets killed. There’s quite an emotional scene with all the Weasleys huddled around this dead body. It was really quite chilling. This castle that we’ve known for all these years crumbling to this pile of rubble and there are fire and bodies everywhere – lots of bodies, it’s quite dark. There are lots of scenes where we’re running through sets on fire with things exploding. There was one huge scene running through this courtyard with giants smashing things down. It’s really full-on. A Has it been hard having your adolescence in front of the whole world?R I don’t know any different really. It’s been a long time since I saw any of the early films. I’m not embarrassed about them but we see them about six times at all the premieres. I recently saw shots of my first screen test. It was really, really weird. You can really gauge how long this has all been when you look at that. They had a clip of another potential Ron acting with Dan and Emma. He was really good as well. I would have picked him! A You’ll have had a lot of attention growing up from fans both male and female. How was that for you?R Yeah, I don’t know. Just being recognised is a weird concept that I’ve struggled with. People want you to put your name on a bit of paper. I guess I’ve kind of grown with it. It’s become weirdly routine, normal. I’m used to it now. Having some gay fans is cool. It’s very flattering, definitely. It’s always nice, always cool. A What were your favourite films when you were growing up?R I loved Edward Scissorhands and Willie Wonka And The Chocolate Factory. Anything a little bit weird has always appealed to me. A What superhero would you like to be?R Probably Spiderman, which is a strange choice because I’m arachnophobic. I totally hate spiders. It’s really affected my life. I check my shoes every time I put them on. I check all my bed sheets and pillows. I’m going to Australia in a few weeks. I’ve never been before. It’s always stopped me films, Wild Target and Cherrybomb. Though neither were significant hits, he proved his acting stripes away from the world of Hogwarts. As the celluloid world of Harry Potter comes to an end, it’s clear a new chapter is opening for the owner of one of the three most famous faces in modern cinema history. THERE’S SUCH A BIG STIGMA ABOUT GINGER HAIR. I’VE NEVER THOUGHT ABOUT DYEING OR CUTTING IT. IT’S PART OF WHO I AM A How does it feel now Harry Potter is almost over?R It’s kind of strange. It’s taken a while to really get used to it. It’s been such a constant part of my life. Basically, my whole childhood. I think it’s the right time. It has taken over my life. I’m ready to do other things really and to move on. I’ve had my tonsils out and had some holidays! A Was it sad to finish or was it more of a release?R It was kind of sad. An overwhelming feeling of both, really. There is a sense of release as well but there’s a bit of freedom now. I can do what I want. It’s nice –a really good feeling. A I saw a clip of you, Daniel and Emma filming the last scene. How was that?R It was so weird that the last scene was so random: a green-screen shot of us jumping through a fireplace. That was it. It felt like all these years had ended with that. It was quite anticlimactic but it was a nice day. We had a barbecue. I brought my ice-cream van (Rupert bought one when he was 17). They had a mariachi band. It really was quite emotional, surprisingly. The crew played this video that they’d been putting together. They did this thing called the golden board, which was a few seconds’ shots of every single clapperboard from every day. It was very emotional to watch. A I think it’s sad for audiences of the films. Considering how crazy the world is, there has been something comforting about the reliability of a Harry Potter film. Do you feel that warmth?R I’ve only recently become aware of that. We’re so engrossed in making them that you don’t realise what a big deal they are for people. It’s only when we go to premieres and see the excitement and enthusiasm that we realise that. It’s really nice. A Do you manage to lead a normal life?R It’s pretty manageable. Pretty much everywhere I go I get recognised but I’ve never really found it a massive problem, I’ve never tried to hide from it. I’ve got a group of friends from school and we still keep in touch from the films. A How did you get the part in the first place?R They did a campaign on Newsround for people to audition for the films. You had to send in an application form. My parents were all behind it. We never imagined anything would come of it as thousands of people auditioned. I was a really big fan of the books – I think there were three out then – and I always really liked Ron and the Weasleys. I did a bit of acting, some school plays, and had an interest in drama. I never got a reply until I sent in a videotape of me doing a rap. Then they called me in for months of auditions and screen tests and eventually gave it to me. A Did you think, ‘Oh. My. God. I’m going be a movie star’?R No, not at all. It was possibly going to be just two films at the beginning. That’s all we were signed for. I was just enjoying missing a lot of school. A Who are the most famous numbers you have on your phone?R I’ve actually got Dizzee Rascal. I met him at a basketball match. We’re not best mates, but that’s probably the coolest one. A Is it weird having celebrities know you?R Yeah, it is. It’s only really the random people I get star-struck by. Like EastEnders people. And Alan Titchmarsh. I was starstruck by him! (Laughs) It’s true! A I read that Madonna took her daughter to one of the premieres and Lourdes got really excited when she came face to face with Hermione in the ladies’ loos. Is it weird thinking that people like Madonna know who you are? I mean, the President of the United States must know who you are…R Yeah. She came to the set, actually… Michelle, with the kids. It was crazy. They basically took over the whole studio with their security. It was after he became President. He wasn’t there but I heard him on the phone talking. It was one of his daughter’s birthdays. They did this really big feast in the Great Hall for her with these big banners with her name on it. It was really cool. We met them… all of the Obama family and JK Rowling was there. The whole day was quite strange. I couldn’t really believe it. A What did they say to you?R They said they were all big fans of the films and were really excited. They had a big tour of all the sets. We were eating cupcakes with the Obamas. That was really cool. A The films have spawned lots of big stars, such as Robert Pattinson. Are you a fan of the Twilight films?R Yeah, definitely. There’s no rivalry. I’ve only seen one-and-a-half of them. My sisters love them. It’s great to see Robert in this huge thing. I was pleased for him. A Do you keep in contact?R Not really. The last time I saw him was just before he got the Twilight job. I think it was at the fifth film premiere. He just happened to be walking past as he wasn’t originally invited because he wasn’t in that film. (Laughs). A So to the future. You were great in Cherrybomb. That was quite saucy.R It was a bit, yeah. A Was that a conscious decision to try to be a bit more grown-up and get away from Ron?R No, it wasn’t a conscious move to shock people. It happened quite quickly – in the space of a week I got the script and got on with it. I just really liked it and had the time to do it, which was really rare between films. It’s hard to fit things in but it worked out well in the end. A Your next film is called Comrade and has an anti-war message. What’s that about?R It’s a true story set in the Second World War about two British and three German soldiers who shoot each other’s planes down in the middle of Norway. They land in this extreme minus-30 climate and they’re struggling to survive. They all arrive at an old hunter’s cabin and live together with the Nazis and gradually become friends. It was fun. I had to do a Scouse accent in this and a Northern Irish accent in Cherrybomb, so there’s a theme emerging. It’s a different war film to what we usually see. It doesn’t focus on the violence and brutality. It looks at the people and how they have to team together with the enemy to survive. It was quite refreshing to do. A Is there a negative side to the future because nothing can ever top Harry Potter?R I don’t really think about it like that. I’m definitely aware that I won’t be in anything as big or as important as this again. I’m really proud to have been a part of it. It’s been amazing. I’m grateful as well. If it wasn’t for this I wouldn’t be on this path. I haven’t got a game plan. I’m all about anything with a good story and interesting characters that appeals to me. A Would you ever do a nude scene like Daniel did in Equus?R I don’t know. Yeah, I think so. It takes a lot of guts, especially on stage. I really respect him for that. It depends if it was for an artistic reason (Laughs). I wouldn’t completely rule it out. A We’ve got Nicola Roberts in this issue, too, and she has talked a lot about being bullied for being ginger. There seems to be a lot of crap about that from some people…R Yeah there is! I managed to avoid it. I never really got bullied for my red hair. I knew some kids who really struggled with it. It’s ridiculous. There’s such a big stigma about ginger hair. People think you’re geeky or this or that. It’s really weird. It’s never really bothered me or affected me too much. I’ve never ever thought about dyeing it or hiding it. It’s just part of who I am. A Kids these days seem to use gay as a catchall insult, especially for any kids who are different regardless of whether they are gay or not. Did you get any homophobic bullying just because you were a boy doing drama?R Yeah. I went to an all boys’ school. We used to do school plays all the time. Because we didn’t have any girls I used to get all the female roles. I was the youngest in the class and my voice was the last to break, so I was usually playing the girl parts in the wigs and the dresses. I got a little bit of stick for that. I dressed up as a gypsy fortune-teller at one of the school fayres and it became, kind of, a regular thing, dressing up like this, and I got a little bit stick for that. I always had a good group of friends around me and it never really got me down. A What would you say to kids being bullied for physical things or for being gay?R Hmm. It’s that weird school period when kids can be quite cruel. You’ve got to stick it out and just be strong. It’s hard to know what to do but you have to get through it. I’ve never been that confident. At school I was quite shy. It was through drama club and doing plays that I found my voice. If you’ve got something like drama you can do everything. It’s a really great thing for building up some confidence. by  Attitude.co.uk