"If we turn our heads and look away and hope that it will all disappear then they will - all of them, an entire generation of people. And we will have only history left to judge us."
Host: He was just a normal 11 year-old boy, a very gifted but quite unknown young actor, until he transformed himself with steel-rimmed spectacles and a lightning-bolt scar on his forehead into the most famous teenager of the world. Daniel Radcliffe became Harry Potter: Here is your number one!
Narrator: A real Harry Potter-hysteria breaks out when the film comes to the cinemas in 2001. The 11 year-old Daniel Radcliffe, who takes the leading role, is in the focus of interest. Overnight he becomes the most famous wizard in training of the world.
David Hasselhoff: Daniel Radcliffe is probably the greatest child star I have ever seen. He was riveting in Harry Potter.
Narrator: Daniel Radcliffe prevailed against 40,000 competitors easily and proved to be the ideal cast for this character.
Celebrity: For me it's very clear that "Radcliffe" is the stage name, for me this man is called Harry Potter, because he looks exactly the way we imagine him in the books.
Celeb: Daniel Radcliffe doesn't play Harry Potter; he is Harry Potter.
Narrator: But Daniel does not only bring along everything he needs visually for the role. It is not only the spectacles that make him the impersonation of the wizard in training.
Celeb: He looks like a class representative. Just cute – just charming. (smiles)
Celeb: He radiates something very pleasant – umm – human.
Narrator: Even Daniel draws a small parallel to his film role.
Daniel (when he was very young): I think – I am – a tiny, tiny bit like Harry – cos – umm – I'd like to have an owl. (smiles)
Narrator: He made his debut at the age of six, when he played the leading role of the young David Copperfield in a historical screen adaptation. Three years later, he was convincing as a young actor in "The Tailor of Panama" at Jamie Lee Curtis's side.
With Harry Potter, Daniel becomes one of the richest kids in England. He brings millions of people into the cinemas and fascinates the little ones and even the really great ones.
Celeb: I think he is a bit overtaxed with all that, yesterday he attended school as usual, and today he plays Harry Potter and is the superstar of 2000 – 2003.
Daniel: All that has changed my life surprisingly little. Actually I get recognized as Harry Potter on the streets, but it is great fun, because people want to talk about the films and I like to hear what they have to say.
Narrator: Daniel is still enjoying his life as Harry Potter, but this role sticks to him, like a second identity, and it will be quite difficult to get rid of it.
Celeb: These films are so popular, that I think he will get difficulties to play in another film, because people will say: "Ah, look! Harry Potter is here!"
Celeb: It depends on his looks afterwards, if he becomes a real ladykiller, or more a shy, confused Hugh Grant type man. I think we will have to wait.
Daniel Radcliffe – let's hope, that he will never lose his magic power, even without Harry Potter.
News: Thanks to Ani, we have a video of RTL's three-minute segment about Dan Radcliffe, who received the #1 ranking in their recent "10 Greatest Child Actors" special. The video features ardent fans, gushing celebrities, and some Dan clips ranging from David Copperfield to Prisoner of Azkaban. Also, screenshots can be viewed here and an English translation of the commentary (which is in German) can be read here, thanks to DR.com.
Source: Video thanks to Ani, English translation thanks to DanRadcliffe.com
-02/03/05
Disclaimer: Veritaserum is run by fans and is for the fans. We are in no way official and are not affiliated with J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros., EA Games, Scholastic, or Bloomsbury. We do not own any of the characters in the books, movies, or games.
