Daniel Radcliffe was one of a slew of child actors who got their big break as a character in the Harry Potter universe. Of all the kids, Radcliffe has had a particularly enduring and unusual career in the years that followed the franchise’s end, making headlines for nudity onstage in Equus and taking oddball roles that had him doing his best Weird Al Yankovic impression (sans singing) or expelling gas as a corpse in Swiss Army Man. While Radcliffe’s openly spoken about his shift into “weird” roles, he’s still open to talking about his magical time on Harry Potter, noting that while he’s moved on from the franchise it’s still a part of his story.
Speaking to Andy Cohen about his wide-ranging acting career, the Watch What Happens Live! host complimented the actor on the way he approaches the Harry Potter fanbase and the work he did during his formative years. Cohen called the actor’s relationship with the franchise “refreshing,” also stating her really enjoys Radcliffe’s “reverence for it,” to which the actor responded:
Yeah, exactly. That’s why – if I was to stop talking about Potter, I’d have to stop talking about 10 amazing years of my life that I loved. And all the people on it that I knew. So, I genuinely don’t have a problem with talking about it. I just like being able to do other stuff now and that it’s not my day-to-day anymore.
Andy Cohen also mentions celebrities who have had issues with discussing staple roles in the past, and while he doesn’t mention anyone by name, there are certainly celebrities out there who have been reticent to cater to the fanbase or even remotely get into it when it comes to discussing popular roles. (*cough* Harrison Ford talking about Star Wars *cough*)
Radcliffe has been on the press circuit for Weird: The Al Yankovic story recently, and Potter’s come up more than once. For example, in another wide-ranging interview where Daniel Radcliffe spoke fondly of his myriad roles, one of the biggest things he touched on was filming the eight Harry Potter films between 2001 and 2011. Radcliffe admitted the work was “so intense” and “so crazy” but that he really only properly worked through how wild it all was after the experience was all over. He noted of the process of looking back:
There was so much on Potter that was so intense and so crazy you don’t even think about at the time. You’re just like, ‘Oh yeah, there building a tank where D-stage used to be, they’re just like building a tank and they’re going to be filming underwater for six weeks.’ I had like a logbook of all the hours I’d done underwater. It was really cool. I’ve heard that we averaged like seven seconds of footage a day or something, like of usable footage. But again those are one of those things that you go, ‘I will never do that again, and if I do, I’ll be one of the only people who’s done it before.’ It was one of those moments you look back on and go, ‘That’s really special.’
When asked to expand on some of the moments that stood out more than a decade after Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows - Part II filmed, Daniel Radcliffe had some very specific memories. He talked about filming the dragon sequence for the Triwizard Tournament in the fourth movie. He also did some wire work in the sixth film that seemed difficult and dangerous when he described it. He was totally happy to share these stories.
He’s not the only former Potter actor who plays ball. Tom Felton recently wrote a book about his Harry Potter experiences. In another interview, Felton also recently told MTV’s Josh Horowitz that he didn’t think anyone would mind if he said that he and the other child leads were absolutely not good at acting when they got started. From what Radcliff is saying, though, he learned a lot on the fly while making the Harry Potter movies and that period helped lead him to where he is today.
It sounds like a healthy perspective on transitioning from a child actor to an adult career all things considered, though I’m sure plenty of Potterheads would still love to see the actor return to this role one day. Even if Radcliffe's out, at least the aforementioned Tom Felton has said he'd be game to return for more Potter in the right context.
