Daniel Radcliffe’s Formula to Success After Harry Potter Involved Not Doing One Thing Many Young Actors Do and It’s Gotten Him a Tony Award Years Later

Daniel Radcliffe rose to acclaim at the mere age of 12 for playing the role of the titular orphaned wizard in the Harry Potter film series, based on J. K. Rowling’s eponymous fantasy novel series. Radcliffe and his co-stars Rupert Grint and Emma Watson emerged as brilliant child stars when they began starring in the franchise.

The fame that came with the roles essentially meant that the young actors grew up in the public eye and became synonymous with their respective roles. There was a mould that they had been cast in and it was inevitably going to be tough to break it. Radcliffe, for his part, did not try to distance himself from the character forcefully like some other actors who gained stardom for a specific franchise role have tried doing in the past.

Daniel Radcliffe Did Not Plan to Distance Himself from His Biggest Role With His Other Roles

Every actor has a breakout role when they step foot in the entertainment industry. It is this role that earns the actor enough recognition to have new and bigger oppurtunities. While for some this role presents itself early on in their career, others have to struggle quite a bit to achieve it.

In Daniel Radcliffe‘s case, Harry Potter was not just his breakout role but also the one that made him a star overnight. He joined the franchise as a young child and left it as an adult. Although some other actors who became stars through famous franchises turned their backs on the roles to distance themseleves from the image, Radcliffe knew it would be no use.

The Grammy nominee is known to have played some rather bizarre roles since he left the Wizarding World franchise. When he was asked his reasoning for doing so, he said his decisions were solely based on the scripts and directors (via The Guardian).

I’m not interested in making films I’ve seen before. There’s nothing more exciting to me when I read a script than originality. That’s all it’s governed by; there’s no master plan to distance myself from Potter with every role.

On the other hand, celebrities like Robert Pattinson (Twilight), Blake Lively (Gossip Girl), Miley Cyrus (Hannah Montana), and even Kate Winslet (Titanic) have often expressed resentment for the roles that that made them stars (via BuzzFeed).

Daniel Radcliffe Was Worried About His Future After He Was Done with Harry Potter

From portraying the musician Weird Al in the musical parody Weird: The Al Yankovic Story to the Cripple Billy with a useless leg in the dark comedy The Cripple of Inishmaan, Radcliffe has appeared in many diverse projects. He has also appeared in many stage plays and Broadway shows.

The Kill Your Darlings star most recently appeared in the Broadway musical Merrily We Roll Along. He has won a Tony Award for performance in the play, and also revealed how he was worried about his career after playing the Boy Who Lived.

Speaking about he felt about winning his first Tony Award, he told the reporters at the 77th annual Tony Awards (via Variety):

When I finished [‘Harry Potter’] I had no idea what my career was going to be. I’d already started doing some stage stuff, but I didn’t know what the future held at all.

The Boy Who Lived has certainly survived and is practically thriving with his new responsibilities as a new father, and an award as prestigious as the Tony Award under his belt. His decision of doing different roles without trying to sideline his biggest role has certainly played a huge role in his achievements as a performer.