‘Harry Potter’: Daniel Radcliffe Was Amazed at How Talented Imelda Staunton and Michael Gambon Are
Daniel Radcliffe was thrown into international stardom with his turn as Harry Potter in the eponymous franchise. For a decade, the star brought the young hero, who faced several obstacles in his wizarding journey, to life. Radcliffe has for years gushed about his time working on the show.
In a recent interview, he said he was amazed at how effortlessly talented his costars, Imelda Staunton and Michael Gambon, are.
Daniel Radcliffe loved watching Imelda Staunton and Michael Gambon at work
Radcliffe was unknown before appearing as the title character in the Harry Potter franchise. However, he worked with some huge names in the industry who were box office draws and learned a lot from watching them work.
While Radcliffe had immense respect for everyone on the set, and a few actors stood out to him. In a recent interview with GQ, the actor named the two castmates he was enamored by. He said, “The people I really admired were the people that, like, didn’t mystify acting too much; who were just able to, like, come to set and do it.”
Radcliffe revealed that actors like Staunton, Gambon, and Gary Oldman had the ability to transform into their characters in a snap. The Miracle Workers star said the actors made acting look effortless. Radcliffe praised Imelda Staunton, who played Professor Dolores Umbridge, in particular;
“Imelda was one of the people that I always just looked at and went like ‘You’re so good’ and it’s so effortless. She will be just chatting away to everyone and having a nice life and day and then able to give an incredibly terrifying or intense performance.”
The actor also said Gambon could switch easily “to a frustrating degree.” Radcliffe shared that Gambon frequently made him laugh on set, and when the cameras began rolling, Gambon could “snap into a performance with inherent gravitas and charm.”
Imelda Staunton’s acting career
Before her role as the menacing Dolores Umbridge, Staunton was already an established actor. Having started her career in theatre, the actor made her first big screen appearance in Comrades in 1986. She followed it up with roles in Antonia and Jane, Peter’s Friends, Deadly Advice, Chicken Run, and Nanny McPhee.
In 2007, she earned her most famous role to date as Dolores Umbridge in the fifth installment in the Harry Potter franchise, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. She reprised the role in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows- Part 1 three years later.
The role earned Staunton acclaim and several nominations. In 2004, Staunton starred in Vera Drake as the title character, a role that earned her the nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role at the 2005 Academy Awards, according to IMDb.
In 2008, the British actor appeared alongside Burt Reynolds in A Bunch of Amateurs and followed it up with Taking Woodstock the following year. In 2010, she lent her voice to Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland and appeared alongside Angelina Jolie in Maleficent.
In 2018, Staunton joined the original cast of Downton Abbey in the movie of the same name. In January 2020, news broke that she would be playing Queen Elizabeth II in the Netflix series The Crown, a role which she is set to reprise for the sixth and final season.
Michael Gambon is one of the most distinguished actors in Ireland and Britain
Gambon’s career also started in theatre training under the famous actor-director Laurence Olivier. In 1965, the actor appeared in Othello alongside his mentor Olivier and Maggie Smith, marking his debut in the film industry.
He then appeared in The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover, The King’s Speech, Victoria & Abdul, and The Insider. In 2005, the actor starred as Albus Dumbledore in the fourth installment of the Harry Potter franchise, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
Gambon took over the part after the death of the original actor, Richard Harris, reprising the role in subsequent films. He has since appeared in Little Women, The Casual Vacancy, and Judy.
Gambon has been nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards; the 2002 Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie for his role as Lyndon Johnson in Path to War. He was nominated in the same category in 2010 for his role as Mr. Woodhouse in Emma, according to IMDb.
