Years after “Harry Potter”, Alan Rickman was complimentary of Daniel Radcliffe during a 2016 interview, which the actor recently discovered.
Daniel Radcliffe had to prove himself after Harry Potter
The saga Harry Potter (2001-2011) allowed Daniel Radcliffe to become a world-famous celebrity. Even though it wasn’t his very first role (David Copperfield in 1999), it is Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone who launched him into the deep end when he was only around ten years old. But after playing the famous wizard, the actor had to work hard to prove that he could be a good actor and act in different genres of films. If some will be convinced of his qualities, this was not the case forAlan Rickman of the time ofHarry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004).
It was during the filming of this one that the interpreter of Snape wrote about Daniel Radcliffe in his logbook Madly, Deeply: The Alan Rickman Diariespublished posthumously in 2022. He then said: “(Daniel Radcliffe) is so focused now. Serious and focused – but still having fun. I still don’t think he’s much of an actor, but it is certain that he will direct and/or produce. And he has such support from his parents, calm and respectful support. Nothing is forced“.
Not so positive words therefore, which contrast with a 2016 interview in which Alan Rickman this time praised the young actor. An interview that Daniel Radcliffe recently discovered during the podcast Happy Sad Confusedand which visibly touched him.
Daniel Radcliffe discovers an old interview with Alan Rickman
Daniel Radcliffe was present in the podcast alongside Jonathan Groff and Lindsay Mendez on the occasion of musical comedy Merrily We Roll Along which is currently playing on Broadway. Before hearing Alan Rickman’s words, Daniel Radcliffe shows up very humbleeven seems to still suffer a little from imposter syndrome when he says:
I had a big complex. I wondered if I belonged here. I thought I was only there because I’m famous for Harry Potter. This is a little less the case now. I try to convince myself that this is my fifth musical. I can’t sing as well as the others but I can contribute something of value.
To which his colleagues responded that contrary to what he said, he sang very well and was good enough for Broadway : “Stop that, you’re awesome!“. But Josh Horowitz, the presenter of the show, then goes on to share this old interview with Alan Rickman. In it, the actor said he was impressed by the work done by the young performers ofHarry Potterpresent on the sets for 52 weeks, before focusing on Daniel Radcliffe:
Daniel was down the street playing at one theater, and I was up the street at another. I was so proud to see him in the musical How to Succeed. We say to ourselves how dare he dance as well as the professional dancers of New York? But it’s because he worked.
“He saw that I really wanted to do this job“
Words that touched Daniel Radcliffe who specifies that he never seen this interview before. The importance of this statement also comes from the fact that the actor was very intimidated by Alan Rickman during the first three Harry Potter films.
He terrified me and I was like, “This guy hates me.” But at some point, he saw that I really wanted to do this job and that I was working.
After this, Alan Rickman was very attentive to Daniel Radcliffe’s career and greatly supported him, going so far as to say:cut short his vacation in Canada to come and see (him) in Equus“.
He saw every play I was in while he was alive. He would invite me out after the show and we would talk about it. (…) Hearing him say these words is really adorable. Thanks for showing me this.
The entire meeting with Daniel Radcliffe, Jonathan Groff and Lindsay Mendez can be seen below:
