LEARNING THE CRAFT APPARENTLY, THESE 'HARRY POTTER' KIDS ARE ALSO WIZARDS IN HANDLING THE PRESS.

Byline: David Kronke Staff Writer

HERTFORDSHIRE, England - Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint are here to take their victory lap. They're poised to become the most famous children on the planet, the kids who landed the most sought-after youthful roles in the history of movies: Harry Potter and his pals Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley.

Radcliffe, 12, stars as Harry, who, unbeknownst to him, is already a legend in supernatural circles in ``Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone,'' the adaptation of the first book in author J.K. Rowling's phenomenal kid-lit series. Radcliffe previously headlined a handsome BBC adaptation of Charles Dickens' ``David Copperfield.'' Watson, 11, who plays know-it-all Hermione, and Grint, 13, essaying the modest-means, chess-loving Ron, both make their film debuts in this massive project.

Explains director Chris Columbus, who cast the young actors, ``They felt like the characters I had come to know in the books. The other key was finding kids who could turn in naturalistic performances. So I cast kids who I thought were very real, and what I'm most proud of was the moments that feel real.''

At a press conference and in separate interviews, the three come off as normal, if slightly polished, kids indeed turning in naturalistic performances. Just as Kevin Costner coached Tim Robbins in the art of the nonprovocative interview reply in ``Bull Durham,'' the kids seem to have been tutored in their own, measured responses.

They all credit the cast and crew with making the shoot such a pleasurable experience. They all expect to remain normal and credit their family and friends with helping them maintain equanimity, though they are vague about what that help is. They were huge Harry Potter fans before they were cast and loved subsequently meeting author Rowling, though none can remember a word she said to them.

Like Dickens, with trolls

``(Getting the part) was the scariest thing that ever happened to me, it was the biggest thing that ever happened to me,and it was the best thing that ever happened to me,'' enthuses Watson. ``Hermione is very nose-up, she's very, 'I'm right and you're wrong,' and I love that about her. My brother would say I'm bossy.''

Grint's favorite word is ``wicked.'' ``The movie is wicked,'' he enthuses. A scene in which he was covered in fake dog drool ``was kind of disgusting, but it was wicked.'' Making the film was ``wicked, wicked fun.''

Radcliffe tries to compare working on ``Harry Potter'' with ``David Copperfield.'' ``It's similar, but on a much wider, huger scale. 'David Copperfield' was great fun, this was really great fun.'' The main difference? ``More stunts, probably.''

As an example, Radcliffe says, ``It was very surreal playing Quidditch,'' the polo-meet-soccer-on-broomsticks game Rowling created in the Potter books. ``You see it in your mind - the book is so clear - then you see it in the film and it's just the same. It was so amazing. We went so fast on the broomsticks. All I can tell you is we were very high. It was cool!''

Watson, too, had a stunt sequence, in which she eluded a giant troll in a girls' bathroom: ``I had to crawl under all the cubicles. I measured it - 30 centimeters (about a foot)! I might as well have been in the army. I think that day I took in 50 percent dust and 50 percent food.''

Robbie Coltrane, who plays Hagrid, the giant who befriends Harry and his pals, says, ``They were very sweet - what impressed me is that they were very good-natured, even though they were very tired. They kept their enthusiasm going, because I remember in their first few days, I was thinking their love affair with this would end. But you forget, children kind of reinvent themselves every morning. They don't carry the problems of one day over to the next.

``Daniel's a very serious boy quite a lot, while Rupert is very rock 'n' roll,'' Coltrane continues. ``You have no idea how much noise those boys can make. They always shout at each other - they shout at each other when they're an inch apart.''

Richard Harris, who plays Professor Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, says, ``Emma's so spontaneous. Daniel was wonderful. I thought that Chris really handled them beautifully. He never once lost his cool with the kids. You're under pressure and the kids are acting up, and he never lost his cool.''

Columbus concedes that dealing with a cast predominantly consisting of children was a challenge. ``You get lazy as a director when you work with brilliant stars - you walk up and say, 'I'd like you to change this,' then walk back and say, 'Action,' '' he says. ``With this, I'm actually performing for myself and the kids. The key is, you can't tell them how to do something, and then wait for the cameras to roll, because by the time I've walked away from them to the monitors, they're already talking about WWF, they've already forgotten what I've told them.

``So I start the cameras rolling, and then tell them, 'OK, this is what you're doing, focus, action!' And that's how you get it.''

Now that they've gotten it, the question of fame pops up. Ask him his thoughts on becoming the most famous child in the world and Radcliffe grins mischievously as he says, ``I think that'd be fun.'' At the premiere in London, however, Radcliffe seemed a little overwhelmed by all the adulation.

Watson says, ``There is nothing in me that says, 'Oh, I really want to be famous, I want my name written across the world.' '' Again, however, at the premiere, Watson coquettishly played to the cameras with the verve of an actress three times her age.

And of course, Grint simply says, ``Being famous is wicked.''

Celebrity's spell

Columbus, however, has seen in tight close-up the pitfalls of the child actor: As director of the first two ``Home Alone'' movies, he watched as an entire family seemed to implode.

``It's not just Macaulay Culkin - I've done a couple of films, and sometimes it just seems that child actors and trouble go hand in hand,'' Columbus says. ``Here, it was important to cast the parents as well as the kids. So even though we had a brilliant cast, I wanted to make sure the parents were OK. In the case of Daniel Radcliffe, you couldn't find two more supportive parents.

``The thing about Mac was I was never sure he wanted to make films,'' the director continues. ``I never got into the parental thing much, but to him, it seemed like a job. For Daniel, it's where he wants to be, it's where he comes to play.

``And also, I talked to the kids about this all the time, (that) you remain normal - the last thing you want to do is go to Michael Jackson's ranch for the weekend. That really is important to me, that they not become Hollywoodized. That's not going to happen here, that's the great thing about London. Acting is more of a job, so you don't get the star thing a lot.''

The kids are already at work on the sequel, ``Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets'' - Grint is looking forward to the scene in which Ron coughs up slugs, while Watson anticipates turning into a cat. Further down the road, though, romance will hit Harry and his pals. In book four, ``Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,'' it's hinted that Hermione and Ron may hook up.

Naturally, this isn't a favorite topic among the kids.

Radcliffe and Grint fall silent and assume embarrassed expressions. ``Yeah, I know,'' Grint says, disgusted, about the hint of a flirtation between his character and Hermione. Surely, though, when the time comes, he'll be more comfortable with such scenes? ``Probably not,'' he says flatly.

``It was hard enough to say all those soppy lines to Harry at the end of this one,'' Watson says. ``I don't think I could do that, to be honest. I think Hermione will end up single.''

CAPTION(S):

5 photos

Photo:

(1 -- cover -- color) OUT OF THE MOUTHS OF WIZARD BABES

The young stars of `Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone' conjure tales of their filmmaking adventures

(2) The Hogwarts students get their first lesson in the art of broomstick flying in ``Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone,'' which opens today in theaters.

(3) Emma Watson as Hermione Granger.

(4) Daniel Radcliff as Harry Potter.

(5) Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley.