Daniel Radcliffe Initially Disliked ‘Harry Potter’ Books, Needed Rupert Grint’s Help During Interviews
Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe earned worldwide acclaim and fame thanks to the film adaptations of J.K. Rowling’s famous book franchise. However, the story didn’t necessarily appeal to all young folks, despite its notable popularity across all age groups. Radcliffe once admitted that he initially couldn’t get into Harry Potter. As a result, he needed co-star Rupert Grint to help him as a lifeline during interviews.
‘Harry Potter’ actor Daniel Radcliffe got his start in ‘David Copperfield’
Before Harry Potter came along, Radcliffe got the bug to start acting at age 5. It officially started with 1999’s David Copperfield, an adaptation of Charles Dickens’ acclaimed novel. Radcliffe played a young version of the lead character, but he wouldn’t make his feature film debut until 2001’s The Tailor of Panama. As a result, of the movie’s success, he started to generate some traction behind-the-scenes.
The search to play the title character in Harry Potter was heavily publicized. Therefore, the discussion of whether to cast a well-known child actor or a fresh face was underway. However, Radcliffe left a prominent impression on the decision-makers, ultimately securing the highly-coveted role in one of the biggest franchises in the world.
Daniel Radcliffe couldn’t initially get into ‘Harry Potter’ books and needed Rupert Grint to help with trivia
According to Susan Blackhall’s Daniel Radcliffe: The Biography, the Harry Potter books didn’t charm the young actor like many others. Some press members weren’t the kindest toward him because he didn’t read all of the books, yet he still earned the leading role. Radcliffe said at the time that he read the first two books “a long time ago,” but he didn’t remember much from them. However, those feelings weren’t only toward Rowling’s book series.
“I found it really hard to get into them,” Radcliffe said. “I couldn’t get into any books when I was that age. A lot of the other boys in my class know I’ve read the first one or two and they’ve read all of them and they’re a bit angry because I had read the least Harry Potter books.”
Interviewers put the young actor on the spot and asked him trivia questions involving the books. One asked Radcliffe the real name of Voldemort, which was Tom Marvolo Riddle. As a result, he turned to his Harry Potter co-star, Rupert Grint, who played Ron Weasley.
“Rupert was trying to help me and wrote the answer down on a bit of paper and slid it to me,” Radcliffe recalled. “We thought we were being really subtle and clever, but of course, we were seen. it was then I realized I had to read the books.”
He branched out after the franchise’s end
Radcliffe took his success from Harry Potter and displayed versatility onward. He demonstrated his romantic comedy chops in 2013’s What If and moved into the horror genre with The Woman in Black. Radcliffe even went as far as to play a sentient corpse in 2016’s Swiss Army Man.
Nevertheless, the actor never forgot where he came from. He continues to interact with longtime Harry Potter fans, but he gave even more reasons to love him with other fun projects. Most recently, Radcliffe starred as Weird Al Yankovic in Weird: The Al Yankovic Story.
