Daniel Radcliffe first starred as “The Boy Who Lived” in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone in 2001 at the age of 11. Then, he continued on with the Harry Potter films for the next ten years. However, was there ever a time when Daniel Radcliffe ever wanted to get away from the boy wizard franchise? Here is the British actor’s hilarious response.
It’s normal for child actors who are in film series or a television show to want to step away from that to avoid being type-casted or to be a typical kid. While speaking on The A24 Podcast about his experience as a child actor, Daniel Radcliffe had a humorous response when sharing why he never wanted to drop out of Harry Potter. As he put it,
My mom and dad asked me between every film, basically, ‘Are you still enjoying it, and do you want to go back?' I was always like, ‘Yes. I hate school.'
Well, portraying a wizarding student going to a cool place like Hogwarts for school is much more fun than any ordinary school for sure. With the charm and preciousness that the young child actor brought to his audition, you can’t help but want this kid to stay with the series for as long as possible. Radcliffe also said in the podcast that what made him stay with Harry Potter for all of these years was the crew being a second family to him. This should come as no surprise as he's previously thanked the cast of Harry Potter for influencing him as an actor like Imelda Staunton, David Thewlis, Michael Gambon, and Gary Oldman. Not to mention, Radcliffe has said that he really enjoyed being an actor. So why walk away from that?
Daniel Radcliffe was not the first actor in Harry Potter to wonder whether or not he would continue being in the movies. His co-stars Rupert Grint and Emma Watson actually considered leaving their Harry Potter roles in the middle of the series. The Little Women actress was at a point in her life where she worried she would forever be Hermione Granger. Her ginger-haired pal had similar feelings wondering what his future was going to look like going forward if he continued playing Ron Weasley or felt it was best to “call it a day.” I wouldn’t be able to picture it any other way than to have this magical cast continue playing the roles that helped shape their acting careers.
Luckily, J.K. Rowling only wrote seven books so it was only a matter of time before the series came to an end. On the other hand, there’s always the possibility of Harry Potter making a return in the play inspired by the bestselling series Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. The question is, would Daniel Radcliffe ever come back as Harry Potter? As for right now, he’s said that he has no interest in going back. But who knows? With the Star Wars legacy actors coming back to their hit franchise after 30 years, maybe the same can occur for the Swiss Army Man actor.
Daniel Radcliffe is an example of an actor who took on wild roles after his time with a hit franchise was over which helped him avoid the “boy wizard” typecast. He showed his dark side in Horns playing a man who discovered horns had grown out of his head. He also played a farting, vomiting, exploding corpse in Swiss Army Man which led to plenty of walkouts from its first audience. Then there was his role in Guns Akimbo, where a programmer learned guns had been bolted into his hands. As of recent, it doesn’t get much weirder than Radcliffe’s next role as Weird Al Yankovic, the kooky singer-songwriter known for performing song parodies.
So, the 33-year-old actor clearly doesn’t need the Harry Potter series to keep him afloat. But, he clearly has no regrets about being part of the blockbuster series for its entire run. I’m looking forward to the journey this passionate actor will go on in his acting career. You can see Daniel Radcliffe’s weird performance in Weird: The Al Yankovic Story on The Roku Channel on November 4th as well as the entire Harry Potter series on your HBO Max subscription.
