Daniel Radcliffe Knew He Wanted to Act for Life After 1 ‘Harry Potter’ Movie; It Wasn’t the First

It’s safe to say that Daniel Radcliffe caught the acting bug early on in life. Even before he was cast as the lead in the Harry Potter movies at age 11, he had accrued professional acting credits. But his career has been quite different from many other child actors. His parents, for instance, did everything they could to ensure he had a normal upbringing. Furthermore, they never pressured him to continue acting or relied on him to be the family’s breadwinner.

Daniel Radcliffe’s parents turned down his first audition for the ‘Harry Potter’ movies

Potterheads may find it very difficult to imagine anyone other than Radcliffe in the role of Harry Potter. However, his parents could’ve easily prevented him from portraying The Boy Who Lived. In fact, they turned down Radcliffe’s first audition for the film because of the original contract. Initially, the contract was for seven films, and they were to be shot in Los Angeles. Radcliffe’s mom and dad rightfully assumed that those conditions would be too disruptive to their son’s life. However, when the deal changed to two films shooting in England, they reevaluated their decision.

Which movie made the child star want to act forever?

For his part, Radcliffe was thrilled that his parents changed their tune. As an energetic kid, he found film sets preferable to school. He recalls having tons of fun working with Chris Columbus on the first two Harry Potter films. He admits to being excited and wide-eyed about everything that was happening on set. But when did Radcliffe start taking the films a little more seriously?

Interestingly enough, Radcliffe started taking his work as an actor more seriously at the same time the Harry Potter franchise got serious. In an interview with Collider, the Equus actor cited the third film, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, as the film that made him decide he wanted to be an actor for the rest of his life.

Radcliffe praised ‘Harry Potter’ collaborators, Gary Oldman and Alfonso Cuarón

“I think a combination of working with Gary Oldman [Sirius Black] and also the direction I was given from Alfonso Cuaron that just sort of gave me more confidence or a greater insight into what it was to be an actor,” Radcliffe explained. Continuing on, Radcliffe shared that he felt mentored by Oldman. “And also, the confidence that Gary gave me, because he was really supportive and really great to work with,” he said. “I thought, ‘I want to work with more people like you. I don’t want to walk away from this. I don’t want this suddenly to end and suddenly for me not to be in this industry.'”

Radcliffe certainly didn’t let his acting career end with the Harry Potter movies. Since wrapping the films back in 2011, he has stacked his resume with a number of projects. Such projects include TV shows and plays in addition to movies. Radcliffe seems hellbent on remaining booked and busy in his acting career. It’ll be interesting to see what projects he attaches himself to next.