When director Alfonso Cuarón was first approached about helming Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, he had just completed work on his award-winning film Y Tu Mamá También and was not familiar with what he calls "the mythology of Harry Potter." After reading Steve Kloves' screenplay and the series of novels, Cuarón was hooked.

"Even though on the surface this is a story about magic and magical creatures, it was the issues explored in it that were so interesting to me, and so relevant today," says the acclaimed writer-director. "Issues about growing up, identity, relationships with friends, the lack of parental guidance and the search within. There are also issues about social class, injustice, racism - things that affect all of us around the world."

As producer David Heyman notes, "Y Tu Mamá También is a story about the rights of passage from teenager to manhood, and the third Harry Potter story is about the journey from childhood to teenager. The themes are quite similar. Alfonso has a keen understanding of the nuances of teenage life - he is a teenager at heart. Moreover, you only need to watch A Little Princess to see that he has magic in his soul. He is a deeply compassionate man with a great sense of humour. He is a wonderful filmmaker."

"Alfonso is terrific with young actors, and that's obviously very important with these films,"  adds Chris Columbus, who joined Heyman and producing partner Mark Radcliffe as a producer on Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban after directing the first two blockbuster Harry Potter films. "He is also one of the most visually exciting directors working today, and he has an incredible storytelling sense."

Having spent a total of four years directing Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Columbus made a decision "to finally have dinner with my kids!" he says good-naturedly. "Choosing another director to further explore the cinematic world of Harry Potter was really a double-edged sword. On the one hand, we were looking for a director who would be happy to take on an established universe, with sets and a cast already in place, but at the same time we wanted someone who would bring their own point of view and vision to the production. We wanted the audience to continue these adventures with the characters and world they'd grown to love, but be equally exposed to a new perspective."

Author J.K. Rowling, who reportedly counts A Little Princess as one of her favourite films, gave Cuarón her full support as he endeavoured to bring her exciting yet contemplative third novel to the screen. "Jo Rowling asked me not to be too literal with my interpretation, but to be faithful to the spirit of the books," the director relates. "She's so eloquent about the world she has created, and equally aware that if you want to make a film that is not more than two and a half hours long, you have to make choices. I knew that if I honoured the universe that is Harry Potter, I could potentially make my best film yet."

Cuarón enjoyed the fact that he "inherited" a pre-established world of sets and cast, as it gave him more time to focus on the story and the performances of stars Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint. For the young actors, the production brought two new challenges: conveying their characters' adventurous transition to adolescence, and working for the first time without Columbus, their acting mentor.

"I got the chance to put into practice everything I learned over two years working with Chris," Daniel Radcliffe enthuses. "I don't think I'd have been able to make an Alfonso Cuarón movie before this, but I felt ready having learned so much with Chris, and equally everything I've learned with Alfonso I'll be able to put into practice with Mike Newell. It's a continual education for me."

For Emma Watson, the greatest gift Columbus gave her was confidence, which was crucial to her portrayal of Hermione in Prisoner of Azkaban. "Alfonso made us think about our characters and how they would react to certain situations, which is something I don't think I was ready to do in the first two films," she muses.

Cuarón felt lucky to be working with the actors at this age, with their invaluable experience from the first two productions. "They knew everything related to their characters and the universe around them, as well as all the technical aspects, such as special effects, blue screen, and acting against a ball on a stick," he observes. "Plus, they had matured to the point where they were willing to explore more emotional territory than they had ever done before."

One of the Cuarón's main considerations is the inner journey the central teen characters embark upon, in which the fears they face manifest themselves from within, rather than in the form of tangible monsters.

According to Heyman, "It was important for Alfonso to encapsulate the way the kids' lives changed when they hit thirteen. The demons they experience are not just monsters on the outside, such as spiders or the Basilisk. Their demons come from within."
"Harry isn't so much dealing with the threat of magical creatures, but revelations about his own life," Cuarón elaborates. "He discovers new things about his identity and those around him that force him to grow up fast."

Radcliffe tapped into what he describes as "the teenage angst" in Rowling's novel for his portrayal of thirteen year-old Harry Potter. As he sees it, "Harry is a very angry young man. He's not afraid to talk back to the Dursleys, nor to confront his own identity, although I think as with any other teenager his anger is balanced with a kind of social awkwardness."

As Harry confronts startling revelations about his past, Hermione also experiences a coming of age of her own. "In the first two films, Hermione is the sensible one, always knowing what to do," Watson says of her precocious character, whose Muggle heritage is a point of contention with Slytherin nemesis Draco Malfoy. "In the third story, Hermione decides she's not going to take it anymore, not from Malfoy or anyone else. She ends up punching Malfoy and storming out of a class. She's more 'girl power,' more outrageous, and of course more fun to play."

To help the three young actors deepen their understanding of their characters, Cuarón asked them each to write an essay detailing how they viewed their character's growth from their early days at Hogwarts to the beginning of the third story. "I remember handing in my essay and being so pleased, as neither Emma or Rupert had done theirs yet," Radcliffe remembers, grinning. "I wrote a whole page on my character. But then the next day, Emma came in and had written sixteen and a half pages!"

"My essay about Hermione made me think of things I'd never thought about before," Watson confides. "Alfonso asked us to write about why our characters behave the way they do, what's behind their thoughts, and how things affect them. He calls it 'taking off their masks.' I realized that Hermione's obsession with books and schoolwork is her security blanket. It really helped me to understand her."

Cuarón is still awaiting Rupert Grint's essay. "But hey, that's my character!" Rupert protests. "Dan and Emma helped me give Alfonso all the usual excuses, like the dog ate my homework, that kind of thing. But Ron has never liked schoolwork, and he'd have found every excuse possible to get out of doing the essay, so I was just being in character!"

The director found the exercise incredibly useful, as it gave him further insight into the personalities of his young cast and their characters. "The kids really bared their souls in those essays, and were not afraid of revealing or exploring their vulnerabilities," says Cuarón, who kept the compositions even after production wrapped. "We often used them as reference during filming, a sort of short hand that helped the kids get into the moment."

new characters and cast members
In addition to developing the teen identities of the central cast, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban also introduces several mysterious new characters, played by a host of Britain's finest and most respected actors.

To play escaped convict Sirius Black, the man accused of leading to the murder of Harry Potter's parents, the filmmakers turned to versatile actor Gary Oldman.  "The whole story is based around Sirius Black, the only prisoner to ever escape Azkaban prison, who everyone believes is trying to kill Harry," Alfonso Cuarón notes. "But Black is a character with many layers. It was an extremely challenging role to play, even for an actor of Gary's calibre."

For Oldman, it was the chance to work with Alfonso Cuarón that initially attracted him to the role. "Alfonso brings such passion and heart to his films," Oldman observes, "which is partly a reflection of his Latin American background, the infusion of culture and music."

Like Sirius Black, duality is a key aspect of Hogwarts' newest Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor, Remus Lupin, played by David Thewlis (Timeline, Naked, The Big Lebowski). "Lupin is very avuncular and likeable, but he also has this dark secret," Thewlis says. "He's one of the last surviving links between Harry and his parents, along with Sirius Black and Professor Snape. So Lupin is a great comfort to Harry, which was part of the appeal of the role. Many of the scenes I have are with Daniel - no special effects, just conversation - which was very rewarding for both of us."

"David brings a great warmth to the character of Lupin," says Cuarón. "He is like Harry's elder brother, the person who offers advice and support without being patronising, but he has demons himself. David brings tremendous wisdom and warmth to the role, but it is never simply black and white."

Michael Gambon (Sleepy Hallow, Gosford Park, Angels in America) joins the cast as Hogwarts' esteemed Headmaster Albus Dumbledore, a role played by the late Richard Harris in the previous two Harry Potter films. "People often ask me what it's like to be taking over from Richard Harris and I liken it to King Lear," Gambon relates. "So many actors have played Lear, and none of us worry about what the previous actor has done; you just take the part and make it your own."

Gambon does play tribute to Harris in his own subtle way. "I am originally Irish, and on my first day of shooting, the Irish accent just came out. It seemed natural. Alfonso liked it, so I kept it. I think of it as my homage to Richard."

The role of the extremely near-sighted yet prescient Professor of Divination Sybill Trelawney is played by multi-talented actress-writer Emma Thompson. "Because Trelawney is always looking beyond the present into the future, she is completely incapable of seeing what's right in front of her," Thompson reveals. "She's very neurotic and there is something faintly helpless about her, but underneath her helplessness is steel."

Another mysterious new character in the film is Peter Pettigrew, one of James Potter's closest friends, who is said to have been murdered by He Who Cannot Be Named. Pettigrew is played by Timothy Spall (The Last Samurai, Vanilla Sky, Almost Famous). "I thought the character an interesting one to play, as he is both repulsive and sympathetic, and he elicits a begrudging sympathy from the audience," Spall says. "He's a sort of pariah. Out of a group of school mates, he's the runt who hangs around and is tolerated because the others feel sorry for him. But he's really on the periphery of the group, and as with many runts, he's the biggest troublemaker."

designing harry potter
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban once again welcomes back Academy Award winning production designer Stuart Craig and his team of talented art directors, scenic artists, draftsmen, storyboard artists, sculptors and set decorator Stephenie McMillan. Having designed key set pieces for the Harry Potter film series, including the Great Hall and the Gryffindor common room, Craig was tasked with expanding Harry Potter's world within Hogwarts - and beyond - for the third production.

The designer worked closely with director Alfonso Cuarón in the creation of many new sets for the ambitious production, including: Professor Trelawney's Divination classroom, which was cleverly transformed from Professor Lupin's Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom with the aid of over 500 teacups; the dark forest, which was built in Shepperton Studios' largest sound stage; Hogsmeade village; The Three Broomsticks public house; Azkaban prison; the clocktower courtyard; and the feat of engineering known as the Shrieking Shack.

One of the film's most challenging environments to create, the Shrieking Shack needed to give the impression of being almost alive, "creaking and moving as if being continually buffeted by the wind," says Craig.

The long and winding road to the "most haunted building in Britain" commences through the trunk of the Whomping Willow, continues down an underground tunnel, snakes up through a trap door, farther up a set of rickety stairs, and finally ends in the Shack's ruinous living room.

"The journey to the Shrieking Shack is meant to represent the terrible journey Lupin endures during his transformation into a werewolf," Craig reveals. "The living room is totally decimated and reflects his inner torment."

Though not typically involved in set design, special effects supervisors John Richardson and Steve Hamilton collaborated with Craig and company to bring the Shrieking Shack to life by constructing the set on a large hydraulic platform.

Cuarón added his own flair to the film's overall design, incorporating subtle references to his Mexican heritage in many of the sets. For example, when the teens pass the clocktower terrace en route to Hogsmeade village, the sculptures surrounding the terrace fountain feature serpents and eagles, based on a motif taken from the Mexican flag.

To help establish a contemporary, atmospheric look to the film, Cuarón employed the talents of editor Steven Weisberg (A Little Princess, Men In Black II), sound designer Richard Beggs (Lost in Translation, Adaptation) and director of photography Michael Seresin (Midnight Express, Fame, The Life of David Gale).

"This story is much darker than the previous two, so the lighting is more moody, with more shadows," Seresin says. "Alfonso is a great believer in using close-ups sparingly. By shooting with wide angle lenses, the backgrounds become as important to the storytelling as the actors."

According to Cuarón, he utilised an array of wide angle lenses to amplify Hogwarts' prominence in the story, and underscore the characters' development: "We have the camera moving constantly and don't use close-ups as a storytelling device. We prefer to observe the kids from further away, as I find body language to be very interesting."

"Although Alfonso 'inherited' several established Harry Potter sets, the way he and Michael Seresin shot them using wide angle lenses makes for a whole new visual experience," Craig believes. "It's like seeing the world of Harry Potter with fresh eyes."

Adding to the film's eerie atmosphere is the footage filmed on location in Glen Coe, Scotland, where the production spent several weeks filming scenes depicting Hogwarts' exterior environs, including the climactic sequence in which Harry, Ron and Hermione attempt to rescue Buckbeak, the magical Hippogriff. "The scenes we shot in Scotland represent my proudest achievement of the film," enthuses Seresin, who endured 28 days of rain while shooting in the Highlands. "We couldn't have dialled up more perfect weather for our story. The whole crew was sliding around in the mud, but I couldn't have been happier!"

Amazing creatures and magical transformations
Screenwriter Steve Kloves  & Director Alfonso Cuaron