The Harry Potter series might be 14-year-old Daniel Radcliffe's claim to fame, but they are not his first tryst with the camera.

Radcliffe made his film debut in John Boorman's The Tailor Of Panama, where he played the son of Jamie Lee Curtis and Geoffrey Rush.

In 1999, he appeared in Simon Curtis' David Copperfield. The film also starred Maggie Smith, who went on to become the protective Professor McGonagall in the Harry Potter series.

At the premiere, Radclifee was happy to sign autographs and be a 'star', saying he has no problems with his heartthrob status. Apparently, he thought the UK premiere was 'brilliant'. He told reporters: 'It is so exciting to be here. It's bigger than New York and I didn't think that could be possible.' The film premiered at New York's Radio City Music Hall last week.

Director Alfonso Cuaron made Radcliffe watch Francis Truffaut's French film, The 400 Blows, made 45 years ago, to get him into the right mood. 'It is a rite of passage, when the boy becomes a man,' Cuaron told reporters. Thus far in the Potter saga, Harry was obsessed about finding out about his parents who were killed by some evil wizards.

Through this movie, Harry also realises his own 'male energy'.

This being a coming of age sort of film for Harry, it also meant lighter moments on the sets. For instance, in one scene in which Harry was required to look awed, Cuaron told Radcliffe to pretend that he was seeing Charlie's Angels star Cameron Diaz in a G-string. It worked.

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