The many lauded Brit actors of the "Potter" films have had influence on Radcliffe — perhaps none more than Gary Oldman, who played Sirius Black in several of the films, most notably the third: 2004's "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban." Interestingly, Radcliffe pegs that film as the moment he realized he loved acting.

"Something happened at the age of 14," he says. "I started taking it more seriously, which meant I started having more fun."

He says his parents (who waited patiently in a room next door during the interview) always reminded him that he was "not obliged to just carry on doing this." But Radcliffe grew more confident and began considering his active imagination (which he attributes to being an only child) as his greatest asset as an actor.

"I would have always wound up in the film industry somehow, probably as an assistant director or something like that. It just so happened that it turned out this way," he says. "I want to be somebody who works with the crew rather than for himself."

Since then, his progress has been apparent with each new "Potter" film — "a biannual review," Radcliffe calls it. He has begun transitioning away from Harry Potter, including a hilarious cameo in Ricky Gervais' TV series "Extras," and a well-reviewed performance in a revival of the play "Equus" in London in 2007 and on Broadway in 2008. In it, Radcliffe played a deranged stable boy who completely disrobes — a scene much written about by the press.

Radcliffe counts his last year as both his "biggest leap" and an "overwhelming blitzkrieg of camera flashes."

The soft-spoken Yates — who's directing the final two films, to be released by Warner Bros. in Nov. 2010 and summer 2011 — is credited with helping the young cast mature.

"They're getting more experience outside of the film set and they're bringing that to the floor," says Yates. "People are acknowledging it for 'Half-Blood Prince' — but you haven't seen anything yet."

Watson has a hard time recalling the beginning.

"This all happened to me so young," she says. "It's very hard to go back to that time and be like, 'Did I want to do this?' It feels very foggy — it all feels very blurry."

Watson has acted in a few other films (a voiceover in 2008's "The Tale of Despereaux" and the 2007 BBC film "Ballet Shoes") but she has spent most of her spare time throughout "Potter" — and this is very Hermione-like — studying. This fall, she'll attend Brown University, says producer David Heyman.

"I would have exploded if I hadn't had school to ground me and focus me," says Watson.

She expects to continue acting, but says college felt like the obvious decision.