HARRY POTTER cast discuss Life After Hogwarts

Then in 2000/Now in 2009

After nine years, the Harry Potter franchise is almost complete. With the 6th film Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince coming out next week, and the 7th and 8th final installments in the middle of being filmed, the cast is preparing for a bittersweet farewell from Hogwarts.

Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grin have earned nearly £45 million(it's almost double that amount in US dollars) between them, and have spent half of their young lives working on these films. So what do the film's stars have planned for the future? In this report from The Daily Mail we get some insight into what the trio has has in store for life after Hogwarts.

Daniel Radcliffe, who turns 20 this month, has chosen to focus on establishing a name for himself as a serious actor, finding acclaim on the stage in high-profile Broadway and West End shows.

The actor, who stars in the films as Harry Potter, even stripped off for his demanding role in the disturbing Equus.

But he has admitted to having doubts about his future in the acting world.

Hopefully just keep acting is the plan,' he said today. 'I just want to keep going for as long as I can and I've had a fantastic time with Potter. I will be very sad to leave it.

In an interview with this month's Esquire he revealed that despite his success he has fears about the future:

The thing is, in a few years I'll be 21, 22, and that's when all the guys who've been at drama school will come out.They've been learning dance or singing and all that stuff, and I'm going to need to compete with them because I won't have Harry Potter as my safety net any more.

Emma Waston, 19, is off to America, where she will study at Columbia University.

She has talked of becoming an 'anonymous' student and has registered under her middle name of Charlotte.

But, despite her change in direction, Emma is fast becoming the highest profile of the trio, eclipsing even Harry himself.

She is making strides in putting her role as Hermione behind her, starring in advertising campaigns for Burberry and fronting the covers of numerous glossy fashion magazines.

I'm very excited and looking forward to a bit of normality for a while, it would be nice. But that by no means means that by going to university I'm never going to act again.

It was nice to be back and to know that this film is, to me, more of a romantic comedy than ever before and that we would have a chance to focus more on that side of things. Sometimes I have to bring myself back with Hermione, because she is so innocent and so naive and she really is very vulnerable in this film. She really does get her heart broken by Ron and Lavender and that whole situation.'

Emma says with the end of filming on the series of eight films, she will be saying goodbye to her 'second family' on the Watford set.

It’s going to sound dramatic, but I feel like it’s going to be my life over as I know it. My whole life has been about Harry Potter and then all of that will shut down and I don’t know what it will be like. I go to university in September – I’ll be doing bits and bobs at Christmas, but September feels like my cut-off point, the moment when I’ll really stop.

The final member of the trio, Rupert Grint, also appeared at today's press call, despite only just recovering from a mild bout of swine flu.

The 20-year-old, who plays Harry's best friend Ron Weasley, was equally modest about his prospects.

It's always at the back of my mind that acting might come to an end for me when Harry Potter finishes. I don't know if I'm good enough to have a long career.

I've got a bit of an inferiority complex about my acting. My self-esteem is quite low in that sense.

Despite Rupert's worries he has just completed filming on Wild Target, in which he stars alongside Bill Nighy as an apprentice hitman. He also starred in the gritty thriller Cherrybomb, in which he played a troubled youth dabbling in sex, drugs and violence.

But, whatever happens to the Harry Potter stars in their future careers, they are financially set up for life - with personal fortunes worth tens of millions of pounds.

At 20 years old, Radcliffe is worth £30million, while Ms Watson has banked more than £10million. Grint, also 20, has picked up £5million. The movies, based on JK Rowling's books, have raked in almost £3billion in worldwide box office sales.

So how do you guys feel about saying goodbye to the world of Harry Potter? I thought the cast of the Lord of The Rings had it bad. As LOTR spent nearly two years straight filming initially. And then over the course of 6 years, had pick up shoots before each subsequent film was released. But they were adults. I can't imaging growing up on a film set, filming 8 movies back to back to back. By the time Deathly Hallows parts 1 & 2 come out, it will have been 11 years for the trio!

It's going to be a hard transition, going  from having your face plastered everywhere, to facing what's out there in the real world. I hope these now adults, can stay on their feet! Cheers to them for doing so... so far.