PotterCast 131: Rowling Along Transcript

News Talk (0:00 - 22:59)

Melissa Anelli (MA): Second part of our exclusive interview with J.K. Rowling! This PotterCast Number 131.

Sue Upton (SU): Wow.

John Noe (JN): Woo hoo!

MA: And I'm back, guys! I'm back!

JN: It's kind of sad that she's not here anymore, though. I was getting so used to it. (SU laughs)

MA: I know.

SU: (laughs) I know. Wait, who were you getting used to? Melvin being gone, (MA laughs) or Jo being here?

JN: No! Our lovely fourth co-host.

MA: Jo brings us together, people. (SU: That's true.) She comes around and I won't leave again. No, seriously, we had so much- Wasn't it just so much fun for you guys?

SU: It was just...

JN: (sighs) I can't even begin to describe it. This- I need to start my blog now, because-

MA: (laughs) You've been saying that for years.

SU: Yeah. (laughs)

JN: I know, but this is- If there's ever been a moment that it's worth it so I can get some of that experience out a little more, that's got to be it.

MA: Well, let's talk about that in a few minutes. We still haven't said who we are, (JN: Oh, right. Sure.) in case Jo hasn't already told you, I'm Melissa, and I'm here with Sue and John.

SU: Hello.

JN: I'm the boy's voice.

MA: John's the boy-voice. (laughs)

SU: (laughs) Yeah.

JN: I'm the boy. I'm John.

MA: And let's do our news, so that we can talk about the interview ,and then present for you the last piece of J.K. Rowling.

SU: Well, the big news of course is Jo coming on PotterCast. I guess there was another thing. We did get to see our first look at the J.K. Rowling documentary, which I thought was pretty cool.

MA: Really touching.

SU: Very, very much so.

JN: I can't wait to watch that thing. Oh my God.

MA: I know. And by the time this comes out, you'll have seen the second bit they sent us.

SU: Yeah. There'll be too. The first one that we saw was when Jo was actually finished writing Harry potter and the Deathly Hallows, when she was in the Balmoral Hotel. And that was- (JN: Mm-hm.) Wow. Just gave you chills, you know? To know, when she goes "I've finished it. Yep, I finished it." Wow.

MA: The look on her face.

JN: You know what I loved about that, though? Is that it just shows how real Jo is. (SU: Mm-hm.) And that she knew that this is going to be on her documentary, but this is as honest as you could get to probably her writing environment, (MA: Mm-hm.) how messy her desk was.(SU: Yeah.) Nothing was tidied up for this. It was just an honest and true moment, and if this is what the whole documentary is like, I'm just am so excited to watch this thing.

MA: Well, we don't know when it's going to be published in- (laughs) Published? We don't know when it will run in America. We'll find out. As soon as we find out, it will go on the website. The U.K. listeners- (JN: Yeah.) U.K. listeners? See? I'm out of practice! (SU: Hm.) The U.K. audience will be able to see this on the 30th, on iTV.

JN: Everybody needs to make a friend with somebody in the Uck, who has a TiVo, and work something out.

MA: We can't put the entire documentary on Leaky. I'm very sorry, (MA and JN laugh) but I think that would be cutting...

JN: What if we do a screen shots for every- Four every second?

MA: Four times a second. No, yeah.

SU: I'm thinking not. Not so much. (laughs)

MA: Let's do the flip book of the documentary. (JN: Yeah.) No, I think that would cut into James Runcie's profits for the documentary, which he hardly deserves, so, yeah, we are no. (laughs)

JN: We all ready did that.

SU: Yeah, and by the time that this program will be broadcast, we'll have seen the second clip, which is actually a very emotional clip of Jo going back to where it all began for her, when she first- In the flat, that now famous flat where she wrote Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, (JN: Yeah.) Sorcerer's Stone. Wow.

MA: And she spots-

JN: How have you guys already seen it? I'm jealous. I'm out of the loop.

MA: Sue and I are in the News Club. We get stuff.

JN: I want to be in the News Club. (SU laughs)

MA: You're not in the News Club.

SU: No. (laughs)

JN: If you think John should be able to post news, (MA laughs) send your emails to staff@the-leaky-cauldron.org.

MA: Oh, no. Here we go. (laughs) Here we go. Here we go. No, but anyway. She's walking- She goes into the bedroom of whoever is living there now, and there are Harry Potter books on the shelf.

SU: Yeah.

JN: (laughs) I hope she told them that they were coming. That would be an awful big surprise to everyone living there.

MA: You would have to know you were living in JK Rowling's old flat.

SU: Yeah.

JN: What's that?

MA: You'd have to know that you were living in JK Rowling's old apartment.

JN: I know, but you wouldn't always expect a documentary crew to just show up.

MA: I'm pretty sure they cleared it with the owners.

SU: Probably.

JN: They're just sitting eating breakfast in their underwear, (MA: I'm sure.) and there's a documentary crew...

MA: No, no, no, no, no, no.

JN: An J.K. Rowling. No, of course not. That would be awesome, though.

SU: But it's a very poignant moment actually, when she's talking about what a struggle it had been. And for her to go back, and see her published works in this very room. It's just...

JN: Yeah.

MA: It's an extraordinary moment. It's great.

SU: Jo is an amazing woman, and I can't wait to see that documentary. I hope it comes- Is released here in the United States. I think it will be.

JN: Of course it will. It has to be.

MA: I'm sure it will be, and I'm sure that somebody's going to end up with it on YouTube for a while at least.

SU: Probably. (laughs)

JN: No, that sucks. Don't disrespect the documentary people.

MA: We know that's going to happen. I know ITV will put in a claim, but don't do that. Re- yeah. Respe- yeah. (laughs) Anyway.

SU: You know there's been a lot of press about Jo lately, and I have to say there's a very good article written. Jo was not named TIME's Person of the Year, but she was named runner-up and TIME Magazine, which always gives out their famous awards of the year about, usually people who are quite, have made significant contributions to society, and for Jo to get even mentioned in the same breath as Al Gore and Putin, (MA: I know!) it's just pretty amazing, but the article they wrote about Jo is really quite well done.

MA: But you have to- I mean, Vladimir Putin, Al Gore, the President of China. It's completely -(SU: And Jo.) Exactly. And a children's author and it's amazing to me! (JN: Yeah.) And it's just to be third on that list is an incredible achievement, (SU: Yeah.) and the article is one of the best articles I've ever seen written about the phenomenon. (SU: Yeah.) It's very good. One of our staffers helped to write it.

SU: Yes, Gina. We should say hello. (MA: Gina. Gina Elliot.) Or congratulations. Yeah.

MA: Congratulations! That's fantastic. We're very proud of you.

SU: So we're all talking about books ,but Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is currently in production right now, and there has been more casting news. As we heard last week when Jo was talking about going to the set, and she thought Matt Lewis might play Cormac (MA: McLaggen.) McLaggen, and now they actually cast him, so we got the name for that. (MA: Yeah.) And Blaise Zabini's been cast, Romilda Vane, who- I just love that name! (laughs) It's just...

MA: Romilda Vane. Yeah, it's a fantastic name. I'm just so glad she's cast, (SU: Yes!) which means they're keeping the whole cauldron thing.(SU: Mm-hm!) Oh man, that's gonna be one funny scene, (SU laughs) because Rupert Grint is such a good comedic actor, (SU: Yeah.) and he gets so much of it in this film, so fingers crossed that it's as funny as it could be.

SU: It's really good though, because they cast these parts that we think "Oh maybe not," but here they have a new Katie Bell, but they're casting her friend Leanne, and Marcus Belby. These are not really huge things, but it's just that they're keeping that in. It's just really, really cool.

JN: Well, they cast Pansy Parkinson, too. (SU: Well...) In(MA: They re-cast Pansy Parkinson.) the last movies, and she didn't do anything.

MA: Well no, (SU: Hm.) they re-cast Pansy Parkinson, the old Pansy Parkinson...

JN: Well, (SU: Right.) that's what I'm saying. They've casted people before, and they just kinda are background characters.

MA: Well, not really, because they had somebody who was sort of probably Michael Corner, but they didn't name him Michael Corner. (SU: Right.) (JN: Yeah.) I think there's a difference when you get a name, actors correct me on this, but I think there's some sort of qualitative financial difference when you get a name (SU: Probably.) as a cast member, that if you are unnamed it's a different pay scale, (JN: Yeah.) so they probably only name who they need to name.

SU: Well...

JN: Props to Nigel.

MA: Yeah. (MA and SU laugh) Exactly.

SU and MA: Nigel.

SU: The mysterious kid who nobody knows. (MA: Out of nowhere. Oh...) Oh, we love that mysterious kid. I know this is an issue. This is kinda a funny thing. We did see the release of the Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix DVD, and there was a really cool gift set that came out, and you could purchase it in the new formats, the high definition formats, and if you bought, if you're one that wanted to buy this and you bought it in the Blu-ray format, you might have gotten a surprise, because one of the wrong discs was in there for Goblet of Fire. It was in the wrong format. So there's another...

MA: That's excellent.

JN: Was it the Japanese edition or something?

SU: No, it was the high definition. Okay, say you bought it in Blu-ray, (JN: Yeah.) and then you were gonna go say "Oh! I'm gonna watch Goblet of Fire!" and you got to put it in but it's not for that player, (JN: Oh it's in the other format. Okay well that sucks.) it's in the wrong format. So it's just the one. (laughs)

JN: That sucks.

MA: That's excellent. (laughs) (SU makes buzzer noise)

JN: Well, I'm sure they're fixing it. It'll be no problem. People will just send it back, and probably get something cool in the mail, too.

SU: Yeah, they are. They're gonna replace it, and we have the phone number on our web site now so you can call.

MA: Is it like on a telethon, down at the bottom? Is it like on a telethon, like a tip line, down at the bottom?

SU: Yeah, probably. (laughs)

JN: Oh, yeah, I heard they put all of the tables together in the Great Hall, and they have all the cast taking calls from everybody, (SU and MA laugh) and sorting them all out, so it's perfect. You can call the line, and the Muggle Liaison Office will pick up, (MA: Yeah.) and Emma Watson'll be there to take your call, like she did last week.

SU: Was she...(laughs)

MA: We have gotten so many calls- So many e-mails- Calls, you hear me? (SU: Uh huh.) So many e-mails, comments from people who want the number, and want to know if it's real, and there's nothing else to tell you, but yeah. Yeah, it's real, and we're sorry. It's a big secret, that number.

JN: We can't give it out. It took us years to get that number.

SU: It's top secret now. (MA and JN: Yeah.) Well, speaking of...

JN: We may have to call it again sometime.

SU: I think we should. I'd like to call Professor Sprout, but there's a big shock.

MA: Okay. Well, on that note, (JN: That's who Id's call first.) (SU: Yes. I mean, yeah.) let's talk about this for a minute. We're going to- Most of you are probably skipping past this anyway to get to where you hear Jo's voice, (SU: Right.) (JN: Yes.) but we were very, very, very, very honored when Jo came on our podcast last week. (SU: Mm-hm.) A lot of you have asked...

JN: Can you tell them how it happened?

MA: I can't give the full (JN: All right.) thing about how it happened, but she's the one who said it. She said- (JN: It was her idea?) It was her idea! It took me by complete- I think I stared into space for about fifteen seconds. Because you don't- There comes a point when you don't ask Jo, because she's got to know she's welcome at any time, and that it would be wonderful for us, (JN: Yeah.) know what I mean? (JN: Totally.) (SU: Mm-hm.) She just said, "I should come on a podcast," and I was like, "Um, yeah! Yeah, why don't you do that?" (MA and JN laugh) So we set it up. There were some worries at some point that what she'd say would conflict with the documentary, but I think that now she's seen a copy of the documentary, (JN: Yeah.) so she knew what not to repeat. And she was just such a team play- Just so willing to go with the flow, anything we were doing, and to act.

JN: They all heard it. (SU: They did.) Nothing that you heard there- There was no, like, second cut of anything that you heard (SU: No.) that didn't get aired. I mean, she nailed everything on the first go. The edits that we made to this thing was really only just tightening up little bits of dead space here and there, and we didn't cut out anything of significance. (MA: No.) There's a few outtakes that we're holding on to and that we'll probably spread across the next few shows, (MA: Yeah.) but we gave you guys everything that we were possibly able to squeeze out of that time so you're not missing out on nothing. She did an awesome job.

MA: When we gave her the little rundown for how the intro would work, and how she would pick up the phone, (JN: Yeah.) what was her reaction? "Right, great, so you want me sleepy? Do you want me mad? Do you want me this, do you want-" (JN laughs) I was like, "Wow!"

JN: Oh, that was Fiddy, too. She's like, "Now, should I be grumpy you're calling, (SU: Yeah.) (MA laughs) or should I be happy you're calling?" (laughs)

SU: We should explain who Fiddy is. Fiddy is- Do you want to say that Fiddy is her...

MA: Yeah, Fiddy is the Fiddy, Jo's (JN: The Fiddy.) P.A., (SU: Mm-hm.) who is a wonderful and very patient (SU: Yes.) person.

JN: She's the one who picked up first after (SU: Yes.) we punched in the numbers for (MA: Yeah.) the magic number there.

SU: And should we explain about the phone number? (laughs) Because we've got quite a few questions about that magic. (laughs)

MA: Yeah. Guys, the magic of audio recording and editing there. (JN: Yeah.) (All laugh) No, and they were totally game for it, and thought it was a lot of fun, (JN: Yeah.) and Fiddy basically is- If you've read the note that J.K. Rowling put on her website when Deathly Hallows (SU: Mm-hm.) was about to be published, she put all these acknowledgments, and she said, "Fiddy, who's stood between her and a tide of requests," and I'm telling you it is 118 percent true. The requests that come in- If she had to sit there and answer them all, she would never write another word in her life. (SU: Mm-hm.) (JN: Yeah.) And so Fiddy is this force of organization, of kindness, (SU: Mm.) and has that extra tweak of being somebody who sort of get what somebody needs, (SU: Right.) (JN: Yeah.) anticipates it. (JN: Fiddy rocks.) She's fantastic. She's amazing, so...

SU: It's so hard. People kept asking me, "Well, what was your favorite moment?" I don't know, just hearing Fiddy's voice was amazing, but then when Jo said, "This better not be about the house-elves," (MA laughs) I just...

MA: I know! (JN laughs) That was all her, too!

SU: It was all her! I mean, really can't describe that moment. It's just...

JN: Do you guys remember- I remember when Melissa called, and told us about this interview, I was in school, (SU: Yeah.) and I had (MA laughs) a few weeks left before I wrapped up with finals, and I ran into a...

MA: I get to do that to you a lot. (JN: What's that?) I get to do that to you guys a lot, it makes me happy.

JN: I know, I'm sitting there...

MA: I get to call you up and listen to you scream.

JN: I'm sitting there, and I had to run into an empty classroom, and I'm pretty much running laps around the desks in this room. I'm like, "No way! You gotta be kidding me! No no way!" And- oh, we should have taped that one, but I think we actually taped the conversation with Sue, didn't we? (MA: No, uh-uh.) Or that was something else.

SU: Yeah.

MA: That was something else. No, we didn't tape...

JN: That was when we found out we were going to see her in New York.

MA: Right, exactly. (SU: Yeah.) No, we didn't tape her. But no...

JN: Too much news to keep track of.

MA: ...it was so wonderful. You guys actually- of all the things I've been able to tell you that have been great like that, this was the first time you flat out did not believe me.
SU: Yeah.

JN: (laughs) Yeah.

SU: Pretty much.

JN: Oh yes? You are full of crap.

SU: (laughs) Is this a joke? Are you kidding?

MA: (laughs) Yeah, because I didn't quite believe it myself. (JN: Yeah.) It just...

JN: And since then, we've talked about it so many times. We wanted to make the absolute most of the opportunity, and you guys had these planning documents going (MA: Oh, God.) in the Leaky Planning Area, (SU: Yes.) and we had dozens and dozens and dozens of questions where I would look at it and be like, "You guys! We are not going to get to (MA: No.) even a tenth of this. This is insane."

MA: And we didn't. And we didn't. We have plenty more.

SU: Yeah.

JN: There are so many more questions that you could always ask, and even going on the boards afterwards and hearing what some of you guys wanted to hear it's like "Oh. That's good, too."

MA: Yeah. "Why didn't we ask that?"

JN: It's hard.

SU: There's so many. Your mind, when you are sitting there actually speaking to her, your mind goes- it's just exploding. It really is, and it is so hard to not want to stop and listen to what she is saying as oppose to trying to think of a question, what you want to follow up and not just be, you know? (JN: Yeah.) So, for me, that was hard. I have done many interviews before, but it was just so hard not to just want to just-

MA: Yeah. No, you just want to talk. (SU: Yeah.) You just to want to talk, and you have to stop yourself and let her talk, (SU: Exactly.) which is the hard part. (laughs)

JN: What did it for me, though- what totally put me at ease was just hearing how she talks about this (SU: Yeah.) and having it be so similar to how we talk about it, (SU: Yeah.) because you heard her give the line about how it's like, "I'm sorry to speak as if this is all real for a moment here." Some part of our minds think that way, too. You kind of have to, (SU: Yeah.) just to really delve into everything, and she does it. This was her life for seventeen years, (SU: Yeah.) so if anyone is going to understand what it is to be totally immersed with this, and to want to know more, and to care about the characters so much to want to know more, man, she would be the one to get it, (SU: Yeah.) and help put you right at ease. You can't even be nervous anymore after that point, (SU: Yeah.) because she wants to talk about it just as much as you do.

SU: And she was so warm and funny, and you can hear it in her voice. You were talking about that, her love. It's just amazing to hear it in her voice. That's what so many people have remarked on because we don't get to hear her talk so freely. It's been so, I think, very rare. Usually it's a press conference and she's got a million journalists shouting at her.

MA: (laughs) Yeah.

JN: (laughs) You have journalists asking her the same stuff (SU: Yeah.) over and over again.

MA: The same stuff over.

JN: God dang.

MA: I think, maybe, it's a relief to sit down with people who treat her world, or we aim to treat her world, with the respect she that has for it, and the love and the absorption, and you just want to talk about it, and just want to have more. (SU: Mm-hm.) I think that while she is willing to do that, we are more than willing (laughs) to listen, but it was just so wonderful to listen to you guys because I've been very spoiled. I've had a chance to be comfortable with talking to Jo. We were all very worried. All three of us were very worried (SU: Yes.) that Jo (JN laughs) would come on and we'd all be like, "Uh! Eh! Hi Jo, how you doin'?" But it wasn't like that. You guys were awesome. I was just so proud sitting there. It was great. It was great.

JN: And this was like 9:30 in the morning too, so it's like (MA: Yes!)
rolling out of bed here, sittin' down, turning the thing on, and there's Jo
on the other end. It's like, oh my gosh. (MA laughs)

MA: No, but you guys rose to it beautifully. I'm just so- (JN: It couldn't have been any more fun...) Oh, it was great.

JN: ...and the idea that she'd be interested in joining us again some time is just too good to be true.

MA: Yeah, we haven't even said that yet. You guys haven't heard that part yet have you?

SU: No, it's coming.

JN: You'll get to that part in the show. You'll hear our reaction to that part too.

SU: It's just so fabulous, and it's just such a great treat for not just us, but for the entire website and all of the people that listen to it. And I just think that Jo is a class act and she cares about her readers. And...

MA: Mm-hm.

SU: You know?

MA: I thought it was just so wonderful. (SU: Amazing.)A couple of media blogs said things like this: "How amazing is this? What a media success story this is, that an author, of something so huge, the same week that she's being named among Al Gore, Vladimir Putin..." You know?

SU: Yeah.

MA: To sit down, and get to it on a nitty gritty level with the people who want to hear it most, it's just- It's a very giving thing for somebody in her stature to do, and she sounded just completely excited to do it. And not enough can be said about how Jo has maintained her human down-to-earthness (SU: Mm-Hm.) over this incredible upheaval in her life.

JN: Yeah.

SU: That's so true.

JN: Yeah, totally. And I did want to announce, to clear a couple of things, I will be traveling with my copy of Beedle. (SU laughs) I will not keep it to myself. (SU: Where you putting it on?) I'll be going to libraries and letting (SU: Uh huh.) schoolchildren read it.

MA: I wait your reviews, John.

JN: If they put on little mittens and everything and (SU and MA laugh) make sure not to smudge it up.

SU: Mittens?!

MA: Those white gloves that they wear in all the pictures?

SU: Uh-huh.

JN: Exactly. (MA laughs) I'll be supplying a pair to every student, but they
must return them. I mean, come on, I'm not made of money here. I'll get them washed in between.

SU: Oh, come on. You got all that bling. Are they going to be special bling-encrusted...

JN: I'm not going to (SU: ...you know?) chip off diamonds off the cover just so I can pay for the kids' gloves. Come on. (SU and MA laugh)

MA: I'm sorry, that was my favorite thing: "You don't think it was too bling?"

SU: I know, she said that word! She said it. I was dying. (JN sighs)

MA: It was hilarious. I couldn't- J.K. Rowling talking about bling. (JN: Yeah.) (SU: Yeah.) It was fantastic. (laughs)

JN: Oh, man, well...I mean, gosh. I just- I can't wait to play the rest of this for everybody.

SU: Yeah. Yeah.

MA: Well, okay.

JN: You guys can all blame me. I insisted to split this off. It could have fit into one show. A lot of you guys were saying, "Oh, come on, it's so short." No, you can't devour Jo all in one sitting like that. (MA: No.) You need to spread it out.

MA: When we did the interview back in 2005, we put it up in three releases, but we did it day-day-day. I have to comment on that too. Back then, and even though it was so wonderful the way it was handled, we sent it to her people. Her people were involved. There were lawyers, there were agents, there were this, there was that. It was more like a big press event. This was like we had just out of the blue called her up one day. She never asked for oversight. We just recorded it, (JN: Yeah.) and what we recorded is what you get. It's fantastic. It's a very unprotected thing. It's like a statement of trust, (SU: Mm-hm.) which is really fabulous for us.

JN: That's it exactly, I would think. I don’t think she would have come to the show, if that trust wasn't felt there mutually, so...

MA: All right guys, well I think that's it, from us, for the rest of this episode. I think it's time to get back to Jo.

JN: Should we call up the Muggle Liaison Office again and get her back online?

MA: Uh-huh. I think they've seen through that at this point.

JN: Oh nuts. (SU laughs)

MA: All right, next week, a couple of quick things. Next week is our New Years show.

JN: Yeah.

SU: Yeah.

MA: Mm-hm. Going over all the stuff that happened this year.

JN: That will be awesome. I know a lot of you may be new listeners, may be new subscribers. We're going to have a show that is going to kind of wrap up some of the coolest things we've talked about in this past year. Lord knows there has been a lot this year with the releases of the book and the movie, and the PotterCast Tour we did, talking about the book release, and all of the theories that we talked about before Hallows, (MA: Yeah.) and then all the ones that came true, and the ones that were ridiculous. We'll try to cram as much of it as we can into next week's episode, and we might even be able to allow you guys to synchronize your iPods for the New Years countdown clocks, so we can countdown with you to New Years, if (MA: Again.) spending your New Years Eve with PotterCast is your idea of an awesome night, which- Why not? (MA: Why not?) We're pretty awesome.

MA: Why not? (laughs) We should have done a countdown with Jo and played it on- (laughs) But, yeah! Next week's show is going to be great. We have, oh gosh, there's so much. How many shows have we done this year? I think there are about sixty shows.

JN: Yeah.

SU: Yeah. We did so many with our tour. It was amazing.

MA: The tour, it was completely ridiculous so. So, yeah! That's that and Merry, Merry, Merry, Merry Christmas. Happy late Hanukkah, (SU: Yes.) Happy Kwanzaa, whatever it is you celebrate, we hope that you are having a great one.

JN: And we will throw it back to the interview with Jo.

MA: Yay!