•••• Finding Harry Potter wasn't easy. Columbus and producer David Heyman auditioned thousands of age-appropriate British boys, but by July, still no Harry. Columbus was especially flummoxed, since he knew exactly who he wanted: Daniel Radcliffe, whom he had seen in a recent BBC production of ''David Copperfield.'' But his casting director had told him Radcliffe's protective parents wouldn't allow it. After another fruitless cattle call, the consternation reached a crescendo. ''My casting director said to me, 'You know, I'm so frustrated with you! I don't know what you want!''' Columbus recalls. ''And I picked up the copy of 'David Copperfield' and said, 'This is what I want! This is the person I want to be in the film! It doesn't get much easier or simpler than that!''' The following week, the casting director resigned.
Soon after, Heyman and writer Kloves went to see a play (''Stones in His Pockets,'' by Marie Jones) and ran into Radcliffe and his parents. Heyman had heard Columbus rave about this boy, yet it didn't hit Heyman until seeing him how right he was. The next morning, Heyman called Radcliffe's father and made the plea again, only to learn that Radcliffe's parents had been reconsidering. After a meeting over tea at the Radcliffe home in London, where Columbus assured them he would protect their son from the pressures to come, ''Harry Potter'' finally had its Harry Potter.
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