Radcliffe backs 'Potter' romance focus

Daniel Radcliffe has claimed that it was "desperately important" for the Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince movie to focus on relationships.

The 20-year-old actor, who has played boy wizard Harry since 2000, told In The News that he understood why director David Yates and screenwriter Steve Kloves set aside so much screen time for romantic scenes.

Half-Blood Prince sees Harry developing feelings for his friend Ginny (Bonnie Wright), while Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) ends up in an ill-fated romance with Lavender Brown (Jessie Cave).

Radcliffe commented: "The sixth film is quite a hard one to do because the book is a transitional book - it's setting up number seven. But luckily in David and Steve Kloves's infinite wisdom, they have really highlighted certain other parts of the story, like all the stuff with Ron and Lavender and Harry and Ginny - and so they've made it a film that stands alone rather than one that just leads into part seven."

He added: "I think it's desperately important. Otherwise, it would just be 2 hours 15 minutes of unrelenting doom and me looking lonely. I mean, that's the reality of it. So I think it's very, very important. I think Rupert and Jessie played it absolutely pitch perfectly."

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince will be released on DVD next week.