From “The Boy Who Lived”, Daniel Radcliffe has proved his talent beyond Hogwarts for almost a decade now.
We all met Daniel Radcliffe for the first time as the bespectacled boy wizard in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (2001), and there was no looking back for him at all. However, it was highly unlikely that he would be able to step out of that enormous shadow, but he sure did so. On the occasion of his birthday on July 23, here’s a look at the actor’s post-Potter evolution and how he did his quiet but powerful reinvention.
Daniel Radcliffe spent almost ten years as Harry Potter, and became a household name across the world while growing up on the screen. He was last seen as Harry Potter in the final installment, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 (2011), and most of us wonder that he could not move beyond one of the most successful film franchises in history.
Albeit, he took an unexpected path to stardom even after the film series, and chose indie cinema, experimental theatre, and offbeat scripts. Be it playing a haunted young solicitor in The Woman in Black (2012) to portraying the infamous beat poet Allen Ginsberg in Kill Your Darlings (2013) or being part of the cult hit Swiss Army Man (2016), he made sure that his post-Potter filmography was no less.
In Horns (2013), Radcliffe played a man with devilish appendages after his girlfriend’s murder. In Imperium (2016), he played an undercover neo-Nazi. So, most of his roles have been a deliberate pivot away from franchise.
He also turned to theatre to hone his craft. His 2007 West End debut in Equus left the audiences and critics impressed. Later, he made a comeback to theatre with The Cripple of Inishmaan, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, and Broadway’s The Lifespan of a Fact. With each performance, he cemented his place as a serious actor.
With TV, Radcliffe forayed into comedy. In the anthology series Miracle Workers, he played several parts, including a low-level angel, a medieval prince and a post-apocalyptic road warrior. His self-deprecating humour got him a new generation of fans. He also made guest appearances in several shows, from hosting Saturday Night Live to being himself on the Extras.
Unlike many celebrities who grew up embracing the spotlight, Radcliffe is still known for his humility, candid interviews, and charitable work, and he refuses to be typecast.
On his birthday, fans across the globe remember the “The Boy Who Lived” but let’s also celebrate the artist he’s become over the years, post Hogwarts.
