Child Stars Talking Pictures

It's often said that the film industry is obsessed with youth.

That's even truer than ever when it comes to child actors.

You might find them delightful and heart-warming

or precocious and brattish but, over the years,

there have been times

when the biggest names in cinema have also been the smallest.

Today we are looking at those who made an impression on the public

that outlasted their growing up.

And when talking about child stars,

there's one name you have to start with - Shirley Temple.

So here is the girl with the curly hair all grown up

and looking back on her days as the biggest box-office draw

in the world on Parkinson in 1972.

-How, in fact, were you discovered, Shirley?

-You really want to know?

I would love to know

cos you were discovered at a very early age, weren't you?

-Three.

-Three!

-What were you doing at three?

I can't remember, I can't even remember what I was doing yesterday,

never mind three.

I really cannot.

I was in a neighbourhood dancing school

and there were ten little children all about three years old

and a producer, not a very major one,

but a producer came into the dancing

school and he was looking for some children for some short subjects.

I was a short subject at the time, in fact!

And he told us all to line up and do a time step.

And I lined up and I looked at him and I didn't like his face.

And so I broke out of the line and went and hid under the piano.

And he said, "I'll take that one."

-That was my start.

-Really?

-Yeah.

-Amazing.

Let's have a look. That did embark you on your career.

Let's have a look at one of the, I suppose, classic moments from the...

How old would you be? Six years old? When you did Bright Eyes.

About five, I think.

Let's have a look at this and it's the classic...

It's Good Ship Lollipop.

Oh, marvellous(!)

-I'm a good sport, go ahead, Michael, do it.

-Oh, it's nice.

# I've thrown away my toys

# Even my drum and trains

# I want to make some noise

# With real-life aeroplanes

# Someday I'm going to fly

# I'll be a pilot too

# And when I do, how would you

# Like to be my crew?

# On the good ship Lollipop

# It's a sweet trip to a candy shop

# Where bonbons play

# On the sunny beach of Peppermint Bay

# Lemonade stands everywhere

# Crackerjack bands fill the air

# And there you are

# Happy landing on a chocolate bar. #

APPLAUSE

Did you in fact enjoy being a film star at that age?

-I didn't know anything else and loved it.

-Yes. But I mean, how...

You say you didn't know anything else, I suppose you didn't.

You didn't have an ordinary life at all, did you?

Oh, I did, yes. Well, the time I spent at the studio was different

but then I had my neighbourhood gang and I was a tomboy.

And as soon as I got home, I would put on blue jeans

and a T-shirt and climb trees and all that.

I wasn't really, and I'm probably still not, what I'm thought to be.

-What's that?

-I'm not still a tomboy but...

LAUGHTER

Well, for instance, I shot Eleanor Roosevelt with a slingshot

when I was ten, you know.

-Really?

-Yeah.

-Where did you hit her?

Same place I got punished afterwards.

LAUGHTER

Were there many rumours put about that you weren't really

seven or eight, that you were something else?

Yes, I think it was... No, it started in Paris.

The rumour in Paris started that I was a midget of 35

with three children.

-And we sued.

-Really?

-Yes, and we won, of course.

But before that, the newspaper had to send the journalist and

a lawyer all the way to California and they had to observe me

at the studio for about a week before they were convinced

-that I was really a child.

-Yes.

-Nice(!)

And what about the other thing, there were other allegations, too,

well, not serious ones, but that the studio didn't deliberately build...?

-I think it was England that did that rumour.

-Was it?

-Does your file say that?

-Er, I don't know, I don't know.

I think it was...

LAUGHTER

-I bet I still have some pounds over here somewhere.

-Probably so.

-Yeah.

In 1934, Shirley Temple became the first winner of a special

children's Oscar - the Academy Juvenile Award.

The last person to win the award before the Academy stopped presenting

it in 1960 was Britain's very own Hayley Mills.

Probably the most successful child star of the '60s, Hayley made

her film debut alongside her father, my dear friend John Mills,

in the 1959 film - it was called Tiger Bay.

The next decade saw her become a major star in America

and appear in over a dozen films.

Here she is comparatively ancient at the age of 22 being interviewed

about her life on the set of another film, the thriller Twisted Nerve.

You made Tiger Bay in 1959, which was a great success for you.

The critics liked it and then, of course, Walt Disney saw it.

Yes, it was his wife saw it, actually.

It was raining one day in London, she told me,

and she was shopping with a friend

and they went into a cinema, really to get dry, and, uh...

same thing, he wanted to make this film Pollyanna.

I was about the right age.

So... I met him, actually, one day in the Dorchester,

in the top... I think it's called the Harlequin Suite.

And...

we spent all afternoon, they've got one of those machines

that you put a penny in... In the Harlequin Suite, a penny!

..put a penny in and it lights up all the interesting bits of London.

And, uh...

he...

My brother was there, who was about seven at the time, and he's

so great with children, he was really marvellous with children.

He played with this machine and us all afternoon.

In those days, were you aware of being a star?

In some ways you must've been

but perhaps at home it was very different.

Oh, I demanded the full treatment. Breakfast in bed...

er...

You know, the full stuff.

I wouldn't go anywhere without your escorts and your Rolls-Royces.

I wasn't having any of that mucking-in business with the washing up,

-no, not likely.

-I don't believe that.

It can't be an easy thing to be a child star and yet

lead a normal life.

And I'm sure your parents were only too well aware of that.

Didn't they go out of their way to make your life

at home as unglamorous as possible?

But, you know, erm...

Life is...

Life is what you make it, isn't it? And, uh...

..you work as you have always worked,

you live as you've always lived, unless something...

..traumatic changes it. You have to change as a person.

I suppose that's what I'm saying.

And, uh...

I don't think...

that I did. I mean, you don't change overnight.

And this business is not...

has never been a completely new business, a completely new world.

And, erm...

You know, my father was an actor when I was born.

So...

And, after all, when I wasn't working, I went back to school.

And, uh...

What was that like?

I mean, to go from the glamour, from the bright lights,

to go back to school. How did that hit you?

Oh, it was a relief.

I went back to school till I was 15 and then, uh...

I went to a finishing school in Switzerland

and learned French rather badly and I learned how to ski

and I got terribly fat on Swiss chocolates, I think

that's where my weight problem started.

Fondue every day of the week. And, uh...

I suppose it wasn't a normal life, really, but...

but, erm...

I did things that I had always done. Went riding, went to the cinema.

-What do you like at the cinema?

-Anything, really.

I'd go every day of the week if I could.

I made so many frilly-knicker films.

The films where you're always sort of upside-down

going like that in rompers and white socks

and all that sort of stuff.

Erm...

I find it awfully hard to get away from those,

get out and do something else.

And...

The, uh, difficulty now for people my age, for me now, is that there

are not really an awful lot of very good parts written for...

..females of my age.

There are much more, many more parts written for men.

Women so often are just bunged into films as...

a bit of love interest.

But, uh, when I was first starting,

there weren't really so many kids and it was...

You know, there was rather less competition

and now there's rather a lot.

That interview was recorded in 1968,

the same year that the smash-hit musical Oliver! transformed

the life of our next subject,

Jack Wild, in the role of the Artful Dodger.

It set Jack on a path that included the highs of television stardom

in America and, sadly, the lows of alcoholism and addiction.

Here he is at the start of that journey,

Oscar-nominated for Dodger and discussing newly found fame

and fortune with the chat-show host Simon Dee.

APPLAUSE

-You've got a few fans out there, Jack.

-I see.

-Welcome to the show.

-Thank you.

Listen, congratulations on your nomination for an Oscar,

you must be knocked out about that.

I was, actually, I didn't think children got Oscars, you know.

I haven't heard of any children getting too many Oscars

-but I hope you get it. You haven't got it yet, good luck.

-Thank you.

When did you first get the very fat script

of Oliver! put in your hand?

Well, it wasn't until about a week before we started rehearsing.

Did you think you'd get through it all right?

I didn't then at the time but I did, you know.

-I see. Did you make any goofs, Jack, on the show?

-I did, actually.

-They used it, which was...

-They used it?

They used it because, you know,

-they have problems speaking cockney with America, you know.

-Yeah.

-Well, I said "mate"...

-Yeah.

..on one of the sequences and they don't know what "mate" is, you see.

-Of course.

-So, you know, they used it anyway.

I can't see anything wrong with "mate".

You are a cockney. Where do you come from in London?

-I don't, actually, I was born in Manchester.

-That's what I said.

LAUGHTER

Whereabouts in Manchester? So a few Mancunians can say,

-IMITATES MANCUNIAN ACCENT:

-"Oh, he lived on our street."

-I lived near Oldham, which is a place called Royton.

-Mm.

-And it's a sort of village, like, you know.

-Is it?

-Yeah.

You don't sound too Mancunian but never mind.

Have you been back there since you sort of made a hit?

Oh, yeah, I go back there about every six months or so,

you know, to see me friends and relations.

You're going to buy your mum a house, are you?

-Yeah.

-Where are you going to put them?

-Erm... Somewhere around Hounslow, you know, in the district.

-Hounslow.

-Yeah.

-Of course, one good thing, a curious fact, very much

on your side... I made a note of it so I won't forget.

..boys who play Oliver Twist tend to fade away a little bit

but the Artful Dodgers live on. I can name you a few Artful Dodgers,

Anthony Newley, Davy Jones, Leonard Whiting,

and they've all achieved a very different type of success.

Anthony Newley, who's making movies now,

Leonard Whiting playing Shakespeare.

What do you want to do with yourself?

I just want to be successful, me, you know.

LAUGHTER

-Normal run-of-the-mill success?

-Yeah.

-Mrs June Collins is your manager, Jack, is that right?

-Yeah.

And she found you in a park, or something, playing football.

Yeah, I was just sort of playing football with my brother,

you know, and this lady came up and said, "Do you want a job?"

-See, and...

-LAUGHTER

-All right, all right.

-I thought, you know, "What's she going on about?"

I thought she was a bit...

you know, and so...

I said, "I've already got one, I help the milkman," you know.

LAUGHTER

That was true, that. It was, honest, it was really true.

How much a week were you getting for that?

I was getting about five bob or something stupid, you know.

And so...

-And so she said, "No," she said,

-HE STUMBLES:

-"Show..."

-"Show business."

-Have a drink.

-Thank you very much.

She said show business, see, and so I said,

"I don't care," and me brother said he didn't care and so she spoke

to our parents and they said,

"If you want to do it, do it," so we did.

LAUGHTER

Good.

Did what?

Well, you know, went for an audition for the Oliver! stage show.

What did you have to do for that?

Just sing, oh, what was the name of it?

-Friends And Neighbours or something.

-How did it go?

# When you've got friends and neighbours... #

That's it.

LAUGHTER

Quick as a flash, quick as a flash.

You know, a lot of child stars... Forgive me for using the word,

Jack. ..have achieved fame and then a lot of disappointment.

People like Jackie Coogan and also girls like Judy Garland and

a few others, they've had a lot of sad stories after their success.

How do you view all that? Does that frighten you a bit?

No, actually, it doesn't because...

my father puts my money into a certain sort of building society

and he looks after it, you know, and I don't think...

You know, cos they won't take money off me or my brother, me parents.

You know, which is very nice of them.

LAUGHTER

Who have you got pinned up in your bedroom?

-Manchester United Football Club.

-Oh!

-LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE

-Hey!

Of course you have.

-Anyone in particular that you like? George, I suppose.

-George, yeah.

Bobby and everybody. Do you see them play much?

I've...actually, I've only been to one football game.

And, then, you couldn't see...

No, I went to one where they played here in London, you know.

They're not doing too well at the moment, are they?

No, but, you see, when I go to America, they always lose.

-So when I come back, they win.

-You need to be their mascot, I think.

-Yeah.

-Jack, that's what it is. A serious question for a second,

what did you think of the Hollywood gloss when you went over there?

Well, erm...

It was much to the way I thought it was going to be, you know.

There was a lot of people with long hair and...

-They were women, Jack.

-Were they? Oh, sorry.

LAUGHTER

But...you know, it was very warm and...

-Did they treat you nicely?

-Yeah, it was very nice.

What are you going to do with all this?

What was the first thing you bought when you signed your contract?

I think... Oh, what was it?

I think... Oh, yeah, I went down to some big apartment store

and bought some clothes and, er...oh,

-some flippers for swimming.

-Yes.

A snorkel and a mask and some swimming trunks.

You were going swimming, then, we may gather from that?

Yeah.

With Jack Wild and Mark Lester, Oliver! contained

some of cinema's most enjoyable children's performances.

Our next film is also stuffed with them,

the all-child extravaganza Bugsy Malone.

It came out in 1976 and visiting the set was Barry Norman's programme,

Film '76.

I wanted to make a film where the kids were the heroes

and a film where we'd talk down to them

and a film made as well as one would make an adult film,

so that when the mums and dads take the kids to the pictures,

they won't fall asleep,

which is what normally happens. Which is what I do, anyway.

The big problem is obviously the guns

and you can't have a gangster film without guns,

so we invented a thing called the splurge gun which is

a regular machinegun but it fires a capsule which, on impact,

is like a custard pie,

and so instead of St Valentine's Day Massacre

or whatever, we have Custard Pie Massacre.

Nobody's ever killed or dead

but they're all splurged and they're out.

Just a bit more. That's it. Great. >

Just say your line, Tim, please. >

-The gun, Captain.

-Yeah?

-Get in there.

Yeah, but what kind of gun?

-A big gun, Captain.

-"A big gun, Captain"!

You've been standing here for two hours

and you're going to tell me "a big gun"? You banana brains.

They are no different to adults, actually,

in a way and you have to con them at times, you have to be nice

to them at times, you have to be strict with them at times.

Generally, the best way is that it has to be fun for them.

There are 1929, 1930 replicas of cars,

they're all pedal-driven cars to avoid injuries of kids driving.

But, to all other intents and purposes, they just

look like regular cars, they're just driven by foot power.

There are 11 musical numbers, most of them take place

here in the Speakeasy.

We're making a totally American-speaking film

and we happen to be making it here but I hope that

if we make it well enough,

the only time that people think of it as an English film

is when they see, "Made at Pinewood Studios," at the end.

# Once you get here feel the good cheer

# Like they say in the poem

# Fat Sam's ain't humble

# But it's your home sweet home

# Plans are made here Games are played here

# I could write me a book

# Each night astounds you

# Rumours are a-buzzing Stories by the dozen

# Look around your cousin at the news we're making here

# Anybody who is anybody will soon walk through that door

# At Fat Sam's Grand Slam Speakeasy. #

Of course, one of the standout performances in Bugsy Malone

came from the acclaimed child actress Jodie Foster playing

the nightclub singer and gangster's moll Tallulah.

She was already a sensation

and had won huge praise for her role as a young prostitute opposite

Robert De Niro in Martin Scorsese's film Taxi Driver.

In 1978, the broadcaster Desmond Wilcox made

a documentary about the 15-year-old Foster, gaining a level of access

to her private and home life that today seems quite extraordinary.

You've never taken any acting lessons, have you?

-No.

-Why not?

Well, I don't think it's necessary. If you have some instinct

and if you're doing OK... I think maybe I might

when I'm, like, 18, 20 years old.

I might take it at Strasberg or something like that,

Jeff Corey maybe,

because there are a lot of other actors out there

too that are just as good.

Right now, I think it hurts you a lot

because it makes things that aren't natural for children,

especially for children, who all work on their instinct

and just working on things that they think are OK.

But your sense of timing, for instance,

is that instinct or is it something you've learned or taught yourself?

-I don't know.

-Do you ever feel like a big shot?

Yeah, sometimes, when people ask me for my autograph. It's really nice.

When I go to a screening. And people say, "There's Tatum O'Neal."

Then I feel like a big shot. Nobody really knows me, I don't think.

Yes, they do, they stop you in Disneyland

and they don't always say, "Is that Tatum O'Neal?"

No, not always. "You're somebody, aren't you?

"Don't I know you? I mean, I know you, don't I? You're somebody."

But it's nice, you know, people thinking that you are someone,

it's nice.

WHISTLE BLOWS

In her journey through the Hollywood jungle around her,

Jodie is careful not to forget that it was in the bright

world of imagination and fantasy

created by Walt Disney that she was first discovered and acclaimed.

She's wise for her years and still makes Disney pictures.

She hasn't rejected the child-star roles which she knows one day

she must grow out of but would be foolish to despise.

Anyway, she's also young for her years and, whenever she can, she

goes back to Disneyland to take advantage of all the free rides

the publicity people will give her

and to enjoy recognition and admiration.

You've got Taxi Driver on the wall here.

Taxi Driver and that's my name.

Is that the first time that you had your name up on a big

-movie billing like that?

-Erm, let me think...

Yeah, I think so. Yeah.

I think except for Echoes Of A Summer

but that didn't have the big release that Taxi Driver had.

Those are the British Academy Awards, you've got two of those.

Yeah, these are the British Academy Awards.

This one... Let me see which one it is. This one is for

best supporting actress for Bugsy Malone and Taxi Driver

and this is for most popular, no, most promising newcomer.

The British Academy Awards.

APPLAUSE

Thank you very much to everyone that was involved in Taxi Driver

and Bugsy Malone,

directors and great actors and everyone that cooperated together,

and mostly the press that has been so nice to me over this year

and everything else this year. I'm so nervous, I can't even believe.

And most of all my family, who stood behind me when...

when I needed it. Most of all my mother. Thank you.

APPLAUSE

Do you think about your own looks at all?

There you are with lenses and cameras pointed at you all

the time, you must think about how you look.

Well, every kid my age has to think about how they look.

"Oh, my God, what am I going to do? My nose is out of shape,

"I've got a big nose, my mouth..."

Yeah, but, I mean, I'm not sitting there in the mirror

all the time going like that.

Cos I figure, once I look in the mirror,

I'm going to look the same as the last time.

Do you think you're pretty?

No!

Why not?

-I don't know. I have a big nose.

-I think you're pretty.

I begin to like my nose. I used to hate my nose.

But then I sprained it in the bottom of the swimming pool

and now I like it because it goes like that.

Do you wear make-up at all or do you want to wear make-up?

No way! Because as soon as you get it on,

you have to wash it off again.

And I've always had to wear make-up on film. On film.

And it's such a pain.

You have to get out all this stuff and stick it on. Gross.

Are there occasions when you like to look pretty, wear a dress...?

I'd always like to look pretty if I could, believe me.

I don't wear dresses usually because they're so uncomfortable

and I always end up splitting them or breaking them.

I'm really a klutz and I always end up tripping over.

Did you notice on the British Academy Awards I tripped

-on the steps?

-Yes.

-I always end up tripping,

so I try not to wear a dress because I look even stupider.

But I like wearing pants.

-Well, I think you're pretty.

-Thank you.

I think you do, too, really, actually.

Well, you're not supposed to get up here and say it.

I mean, I think I've got things that are OK. Like my nose, I like my nose.

And I have pointed ears. I like my ears, see? Ears.

Leonard Nimoy ears, Dr Spock. Is it? No. Yeah, Dr Spock.

-You know, Star Trek.

-That's right.

-Right.

-Mr Spock. Dr Spock is the...

-..is the other guy, the baby guy.

-That's right.

Jodie Foster would go on to become one of Hollywood's greatest stars,

winning best-actress Oscars for The Accused

and The Silence Of The Lambs.

And here's another young star destined for Oscar glory,

Christian Bale,

who, at 13, appeared in Steven Spielberg's film

Empire Of The Sun.

So how does the schoolboy from Bournemouth get chosen to be

the star of the new Steven Spielberg epic?

-Um, I applied to an agency.

-Yeah.

And I've been doing acting lessons since I was about ten years old.

And he just finds me the auditions, sends me along to them.

If I get it, it's great.

But, I mean, I take acting lessons about every month or so.

Yeah, are you a natural actor? I'm sure a lot of young people

looking in would envy you being the star of a...

The film hasn't been shown here yet, so you're not the big star

-that you're going to be in about three months' time.

-Yeah.

I mean, are you a natural actor, did you show an early aptitude?

No, I was never interested in acting before.

I mean, when I was three years old,

I wanted to be a hedgehog for some reason.

-LAUGHTER

-I don't know why, but...

erm... Then I got into Doctor Who.

But my sister Louise, she's 15, she's always done dancing

and then she got a part in Bugsy Malone on the West End...musical.

I saw that a few times and I just thought

it looked like really good fun.

And there were boys in that and I thought it looked easy as well.

But you got this job from Spielberg over 4,000 other applicants?

5,000 applicants?

-4,000.

-4,000. So why you, do you think?

Did he tell you why he picked you?

-No, he never did, no.

-How do you get on with him?

He's great, he's really good fun. He makes you feel really relaxed.

I mean, obviously, I was really nervous

and tense the whole time but he was great.

-AMERICAN ACCENT:

-You went to the premiere, did you? In LA?

How was that?

That was great, that was really good.

I turned up, I was with all my family in LA

and we turned up in this big stretch with blacked-out windows

and I had to get out with my sister and walk up this red carpet to

the cinema, there were photographers at the side interviewing you

as you walk up, doing autographs.

That was really good fun and then we saw the film

and then afterwards there's about half-a-mile-long red carpet

going through the streets to this massive tent, which is like

a reception where you have dinner afterwards.

I was just amazed at it. There's spotlights everywhere,

I mean, there's crowds,

they had barriers, and I had these massive bodyguards either side.

And now and then you get someone bursting out of the crowd

and running out and saying, "Can you sign this for me?"

But you'll be ready for the Royal Film Premiere,

because the film's been chosen for that in March.

Do you think the Queen will enjoy it?

I hope so. She'd better do.

LAUGHTER

And, of course, Christian DID become a huge Hollywood star, winning

the best supporting actor Academy Award for his role in The Fighter

and starring as Batman in the hugely successful Dark Knight series.

But that was when he was an adult.

The boy breaking box-office records in the 1990s was this

young man, Macauley Culkin.

-You look great.

-Thank you.

-You're a hot property at the moment, aren't you?

-Yeah.

-I read the papers, one million dollars for your next movie.

-Wow!

LAUGHTER

He's taking it well, isn't he? You're taking it well.

You would accept that. What would you do with all that money,

one million dollars?

Oh...buy myself a licence.

-And then...

-A licence to what?

-To drive.

-Oh, to drive.

-And say I'm a midget and I'm 21.

-Yeah.

-And I would buy myself a Porsche.

-What, now?

-Yeah.

-And keep it in the garage? Until you're ready?

-And not let anybody else drive it?

-Yes.

-Certainly not, good thinking.

But it's a lot of money,

I mean, do you get to see any of the money that you've been making?

No, actually, all I have to do is sign the cheque and...

-Don't tell me, your mother takes it?

-No, my mom takes it to the bank.

Oh, does she? That's what she tells you.

-You hope.

-Yeah.

Good for you, though.

-Obviously, you're not a person that fame has changed.

-No.

-You're a simple, God-fearing young man, aren't you?

-Yes.

-That's you.

Tell me about the movie.

In Home Alone, which has been an enormous success in the States,

hasn't it? Biggest movie in the States. Did that surprise you?

Erm, well, kind of, you know,

I didn't think it would do THAT good but, really...

it's a good film, it's really funny.

So what happens is, this young man... How old are you?

Erm, I'm ten right now but I'm supposed to be eight in the movie.

When you made the movie, you were probably nine.

We'll take some time to establish.

-You get the whole house to yourself.

-Yeah.

I mean, what happens when the young man

gets the whole house to himself?

He bounces on the bed with his shoes on and eats popcorn

and gets this huge bowl of ice cream, puts in ice cream, whipped cream,

sprinkles, cherries, marshmallows, anything.

He takes advantage of it.

He takes advantage of it early, see.

That's great.

-That's the way to do it. Would that be what you would do yourself?

-Yes.

So it was an easy part for you,

-this, wasn't it?

-Yeah.

-Piece of cake.

Did you do all your own stunts? Because there's a lot of...

acrobatics involved.

Yeah, erm, well, erm...my stuntman,

my stunt-midget, did...

LAUGHTER

APPLAUSE

Timing.

-My stunt-midget...

-Poor little chap.

..climbed up all the shelves to fall and everything.

I would only do the close-ups.

And then I would run, slide on my knees, that was me.

That's great, isn't it? You'd be the envy of... Do you go to school?

Mm-hmm.

-Have a lot of your school pals seen this movie?

-Yeah.

They must be really envious of you.

No, no, they treat me the same and everything.

They play up to you a little bit cos you've got all that money now.

-No, no, they don't.

-Do you get much spending money?

-I don't get an allowance at all.

-That's really mean, isn't it?

AUDIENCE: Aww.

No, but sometimes, you know,

if I ask Mom...

I ask for, like, some money and she says, "What's it for?"

And, erm...

Let's say I want to get a sword, I go,

"What's it for?" "Schoolwork." "OK."

And I just get the money and go shopping.

What about all the screaming fans and the stretch limos,

do you like all that stuff?

-It's OK, you know.

-Yeah.

-Supposing it was all taken away, could you handle that?

-Yeah.

I bet you could, too, and I wish you great success in your career,

which I'm sure is going to be star-spangled.

-Thank you for joining us.

-OK.

Macaulay.

-CHEERING

-Macauley Culkin.

Good man.

We're ending today with what else? -

the Harry Potter films.

Here are the three main cast members back in 2001.

Emma Watson, Rupert Grint and, of course,

Daniel Radcliffe, who has grown into a very fine actor.

It's the early days of their JK Rowling roller-coaster ride

and these are their very first television interviews,

in which they talk about their roles in the most

successful children's film franchise in cinema history.

Um, I didn't really think I had a chance at all but I thought

it would just be like a really, really exciting experience to say...

to, like... to tell my children or something. I can say,

"Oh, yeah, I auditioned for Harry Potter, did you know that?"

And stuff. And tell my friends that and that.

That would be cool. I never thought I'd get it.

Ah, when... At the beginning, you know,

I was just doing it for fun,

I was just doing it for a bit of fun, I never took it very seriously

until I got to sort of the second and third...

"Hang on a minute," you know, "I'm through to the third one,

"I actually have, you know, a small chance of getting this."

I kind of realised, "Maybe I will." You know, "Do I...?"

I started really properly thinking about it.

And then I realised, you know,

and I kept going through and I realised that

I'd got down to the last five and I'm going, you know,

"This wasn't supposed to happen!" It was amazing. And I just got it.

It was just...

Went so quickly.

It was just... Didn't have time to think about it, even.

I didn't think I had a chance, really,

but I still wanted to try because I love acting and I love

Harry Potter and it was just a dream role to be acting in Harry Potter.

And when I found out, I was in the bath and I just cried,

I was so happy because it was...

because it was such a surprise.

I mean, why do you think they chose you?

Don't know.

HE LAUGHS NERVOUSLY

It's really weird because I remember sitting in the car on one audition

with my dad going,

"You know the guy with the black hair on my second thing? You know,

"he was in front of the camera, he's going to get it."

And I remember thinking to myself, "He's really good,

"he's so going to get it," and I remember, I think it was...

I met Rupert before I met Dan but on the first time that we did

the thing I also thought that he'd get it.

I remember just sitting in the car going, "Yeah, he's going to get it,

"he was really good and he was really good."

Yeah, my first impression of them was...

.."They both look the part".

I didn't know whether they acted well, but when I saw them act

I thought they were really good as well.

I was very excited because I didn't know... I didn't know...

I knew it was going to be big news but I didn't know it was going to

be THAT big news, because within 20 minutes of the announcement,

the press were outside my house, apparently, which was pretty funny.

In a way, I'm a bit like Hermione but in a way I'm not because I'm

not like her in the way that I spend all of my time devoted to school.

I am quite devoted to school but I'm not, you know,

as obsessed as she is.

I don't spend my free time, you know, reading my science book,

I'm just not like that.

But I think that she has great charisma.

I think that most people think, "Oh, you know,

"she's really bossy and she's a really awful character,

"because she's just such a swot," but that's why people like her

so much, that is her character and if she didn't

have that, she wouldn't be Hermione,

she wouldn't be someone who is quite as funny

and quite as different, and that's

why I think that she's so popular around people.

I think that's what people see her as.

We get along really well

because we are all quite like our characters and, um...

Like, Rupert's very funny, Emma's very intelligent

and I'm in between, because that's, I think, how Harry is.

And the characters are very compatible, so I think we were...

We got on really well and we still do get on really well.

From Shirley Temple to Harry Potter,

child stars have entranced generations through the ages.

Their fortunes may vary as they grow older

but their youthful performances have been preserved for eternity

on film and continue to delight audiences across the globe.