IS it nice to be seen in other things, especially in a serious role on stage such as Equus?

Yes. Harry is brilliant, and I love playing him, but I do want to establish myself as someone other than that character. Equus did seem a bit of a change and some people were expecting I would fail, so the fact that I didn?t is something I?ve enjoyed!

?Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince? is the sixth Harry Potter film. Do you think there will be mixed emotions when you finish shooting the next films?

Definitely. It will be very, very odd to suddenly not be coming back to Harry Potter. It does act as a safety net, in a way, when you?re going off to make something else. Knowing that you don?t have that will be sad. I?ll be sad to leave the character behind and not see the friends I?ve made on a daily basis.

The Harry Potter film series has been such an enormous part of your life. Do you ever look back over early films in the series and see how you have developed?

There?s a certain amount of cringe in my own performance; so I don?t look back on the early films. I probably should watch them and take the positives from the way my performances have improved and developed over the years, but it?s a little embarrassing to see yourself and hear yourself at that age. When I eventually do look back it will be very interesting.

Rupert tells us you?re improving at the games of table tennis that you play when you are relaxing between scenes on ?Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.? But he says that Emma really knocks everyone else out.

Yes, and it?s really irritating that Emma is so good! [Laughs.] Rupert and I had been playing for about eight months and working on each other?s game. Then Emma saunters in and is absolutely brilliant. Neither of us could beat her. I have got better but I?m never going to take Emma on again.

You have always been a big fan of indie rock, so what are your music discoveries this year?

A band called Vampire Weekend are on my tip sheet. There?s a girl called Laura Marley, whose lyrics are astonishing. A girl called Adel is great, too. One of my favorite albums last year was by The Wombats??Love, Lost And Desperation.? There?s another band whom nobody seems to have heard of called Beirut. They?ve had two albums and they?re both astonishing. I?d encourage anyone to buy them. I like Mars Volta and I loved My Chemical Romance?s last album, even though I never liked anything they ever did before that.

So are you really a frustrated rocker?

No, I don?t have enough talent to do that. If I suddenly discovered I was an amazing guitarist, that would be great, but I don?t think that?s going to happen!

But do you have a go at karaoke?

I?m brilliant at karaoke, actually. ?Rock and Roll Suicide? by Bowie is my speciality. I blew them away singing that at the Equus wrap party.

Back to the world of Harry Potter. Will ?Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince? show another side of Harry?

There?s friction in this film; it has much more to do with Ron and Hermione than with Harry. Harry is mostly unhappy in this film, mainly because people keep trying to kill him. And his lovelife is awful, too. That?s what Jo [JK Rowling] does so well: Combining everyday, mundane problems with this incredible other world.