Showing posts with label Daniel Radcliffe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Daniel Radcliffe. Show all posts

Friday, January 13, 2012

Danielpalooza!!!

UPDATE: I watched the show this morning and it was a typical episode of SNL: awful. I did laugh twice so it wasn't a complete and utter waste of time (I guess) but I felt bad for poor Dan. He did the best he could, he really did - he was a trooper! But the writing is just so atrocious there isn't a host out there that could make it funny. Honestly. (It's because of this that I'm slightly tempted to tape the February 4th episode featuring Channing Tatum. Dude is a piece of wood with abs and the show is going to be a train wreck!!!! I'm morbidly curious.) Even EW.com agrees with me. About Dan, not the Chan man.


Okay, so the first part of this post is current but the second half is a week late. (Sorry.) I just kept finding more and more awesome Daniel things to post and I couldn't squish it all in on time!!! What is important for you to know now is that DanRad is hosting Saturday Night Live this week! Not much can get me to watch SNL these days but for Dan I'll TiVo it. :o) He is SO adorable and always game for anything so my hopes are high that he will knock it out of the park. Oh, how I hope he does. He's already the funniest thing about the promos:


I have no idea who Lana Del Rey is. I feel old.

Dan also did another interview with MTV's Josh Horowitz the other day (to promote The Woman in Black) and it was just as fabulous as his last one. I know I gush about his interviews every time I post one but I can't help myself! He's always such a good interview, I just adore him. Adore him! Slightly embarrassing. But not enough to stop me from making it public.




And now here's the old part of the post...

One of my favorites is in the upcoming issue of Parade magazine!!! Wheeee! I have to say, I am sad that his stint in How to Succeed is over because I'm digging his current haircut. He looks great! When left to his own devices, he looks more like this. Or this. Which... eh. I really hope he tries to keep it attractive a little longer.


Daniel Radcliffe on Fame, Self-Doubt, and Falling in Love
Photo by Jake Chessum
Daniel Radcliffe opens up about life after Potter, falling in love, and fame in this weekend's issue of PARADE. And with his first post-Harry Potter film — the psychological thriller The Woman in Black — out next month, the actor admits he doesn't do well without fear.

In the highlights below, the 22-year-old actor discusses entering the second stage of his career and what it means to really be in love.

Be sure to check out this weekend's issue of PARADE magazine in your local newspaper for the full interview with Daniel Radcliffe.

Are you a romantic?
"Yes. I don’t know where my romanticism comes from. My mom and dad would read to me a lot.Treasure Island, Robinson Crusoe, tales of chivalry and knights, things like that. Those are the stories I loved growing up. I still see something very romantic in the world that perhaps isn’t there. I suppose I want it to be the place of knights and that kind of stuff.”

Knights marry princesses. Do you want to get married?
"Yes, absolutely. When growing up, I thought of marriage as being very official, drawing up a contract. It seemed slightly clinical to me. But then you meet somebody that you really love and you think, 'Actually, I wouldn’t mind standing up in front of my friends and family and telling them how much I love you and that I want to be with you forever.'

Are you in love with girlfriend Rosie Coker? [Radcliffe met Coker, a production assistant, on the set of the last Potter film.]
"Yes, absolutely. When Rosie’s here, every day seems better….I’m not an easy person to love. There are lots of times when I’m a very good boyfriend, but there are times when I’m useless. I mean, I’m a mess around the house. I talk nonstop. I become obsessed with things. This year it’s fantasy football, which means Rosie has to listen to me talking 24 hours a day about this team. 'Should I take this player out, do you think, darling?' And she listens to it, and she loves me for my oddness, my awkwardness, all of those things that I hate about myself. She finds them cute. I guess that’s love."


Why was that?
"I hated dating because I’m crap at it! [laughs] With Rosie, I didn’t know what was appropriate, like on which date you’re supposed to try and kiss her. At the end of the second date I pulled a move out of the Bela Lugosi Book of Woo—I went to kiss Rosie and at the last minute lost my nerve and ended up kissing her neck, which is such a weirdly intimate place to kiss somebody on a second date. Afterward, I texted her, saying, 'I’m sorry, what I just did probably seems very odd to you.' Fortunately, she just found it really funny, so she kept coming back."

Last year you gave up alcohol. Why? 
"My inner life was being drowned. I’ve worked with Richard Harris, Gary Oldman, all those actors who went crazy when they were young, and I always wanted that. The idea of that kind of life and chaos was always so appealing to me. Unfortunately, the way I do it, there is no romance to it! [laughs] There is nothing glorious or triumphant about it—it was pathetic, boring, and unhappy."

Your dad is a Protestant from Ulster and your mom is English and Jewish. Were you raised in a particular religion?
"There was never [religious] faith in the house. I think of myself as being Jewish and Irish, despite the fact that I’m English. My dad believes in God, I think. I’m not sure if my mom does. I don’t. I have a problem with religion or anything that says, 'We have all the answers,' because there’s no such thing as 'the answers.' We’re complex. We change our minds on issues all the time. Religion leaves no room for human complexity." 

You’ve had enormous success for someone so young. Do you fear that it won’t last?
"Yes. But it’s reality, not fear. It will happen, and I have accepted that. In a way it’s a great relief that I will never, ever do a film as successful as the Harry Potter series. But neither will anybody else. [laughs] Or it will take them a long time.”



What Daniel Radcliffe Worries About
Photo by Jake Chessum
In the exclusive extras below, the 22-year-old star talks about the cause he wants to put his Potter fortune behind, his new film, The Woman in Black, his love of poetry, and more.


On giving back. 

“I got involved in The Trevor Project [a charity which works to prevent young gay people from committing suicide] in late 2008 when I was in New York doing Equus. A few of my friends had made me aware of it. It sounded like such a fantastic thing. People need it. The suicide rate for gay teens is four times that of straight kids. I couldn't believe that nothing like this had existed before. I think that any free-thinking person who becomes very wealthy and has strong opinions on things would get involved with something like The Trevor Project or scholarships for schools or whatever. Fame is very useful in directing attention toward those things.
 
“I got paid so well for doing the Harry Potter films, it's ridiculous. If somebody asked me, 'Did you think you deserve that money?' No, of course I didn't. 'But would you have taken it anyway?' Of course. I happened to have found this industry where people get paid stupid amounts of money. That's the reality. I feel almost guilty for having done so well out of Potter. But there’s a moral imperative to help others. You know, the fact that I wake up in my lovely apartment in New York and get to stroll down here and do a couple of shows, and there is somebody in some country waking up wondering where he's going to live that week—it's a horrendous feeling. There is a sense that you have to do something. I feel Brad Pitt would agree that the way to help is to really get behind things that you're passionate about, like The Trevor Project. You have to give back.”

On homophobia. 
“Realizing that other people have a problem with [homosexuality] was the weirdest thing for me. As a kid it wasn't even something that was mentioned. It was never something that was even explained to me. It was just, “That's Mark and he's gay.” Mark was just another friend of my dad's who would talk about his boyfriend instead of his girlfriend. I was 5. I didn't care. It seemed perfectly normal, and still does....It just drives me crazy...that people can make such sweeping, ignorant statements and bring religion into it....Why would you want a god that’s up there picking and choosing who he lets in?...That doesn't make any sense." 

On marriage.
“I've got a great example to look at in my parents, because they've been married for at least 25 years and, I think, they were together for about five more before that. So they've been together a long time. I wouldn't recommend anybody marrying an actor, really. [laughs] Of course, there are cases where it works, but I’m an actor and I know what I’m like. Actors and actresses are generally pretty neurotic.”
 
On work — worrying about it, achieving the most. 
“I do worry about things like I'm not going to be good enough or my next film is not going to do well enough and that eventually people will go, ‘Oh well, why don't you move on and do something else?’ … Of course I worry about all of those things, but it comes out of a place of pride, in my knowing that I'm smart enough, good enough, hard-working enough to achieve. I now want to make as big a mix of everything as I can, from stage acting to film, and just keep working. What's lovely is that [my fame] will really help get a small independent film made, because my name carries bankability at the moment, and it will do for a few more years. If you look at somebody like Brad Pitt or George Clooney, those are guys who have immense fame and do some very successful commercial films, but they balance it by doing stuff they love, that interests them. Both could have gone down just playing romantic leads for the rest of their careers and made a very nice living. But they wanted to do different stuff. The majority of Clooney's career, acting and directing, is what I look at. If I can achieve half of what he has achieved, I'll be happy.”

On his love of poetry. 
“I think true poetry is a color—it's as fundamental as that. It can provoke a profound, basic human reaction. Understanding what the poet is saying comes from something fundamental in us that is moved by the musicality of language. I love T. S. Eliot’s 'The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.' I was so obsessed by it. That poem is how I see myself. It’s how people feel who have an inner life they struggle to express. That’s what's so powerful about that poem. To me it's about somebody who wants the world to be the world in his imagination and is constantly disappointed that it is not. Poetry once was not an elitist thing. Somewhere along the line, writing poetry became viewed as a kind of girlish thing to do, not something that real men should be concerning themselves with. English writer Tony Harrison is a modern poet and my hero. It's tough, muscular, brutish, angry language, and it's exciting to read.”

On his new film, The Woman in Black. 
“On the surface it's about a young lawyer, a widower, who is given a task to collect the paperwork of a recently deceased woman in her house in rural England. He goes and is terrorized by the ghost of a different dead woman. Every character that you meet in the film has been touched by bereavement at some point. It’s character-driven. Stanley Kubrick said that any film about the supernatural is inherently consoling because it implies an afterlife. That's what our film is about, really. On the surface it's about being terrified, but actually it's about love.”



And you can see a little slideshow of Dan through the years here. He's adorable! Cause they didn't include too many of his scary hair photos.

Friday, November 25, 2011

You Knew It Was Inevitable...

More Harry Potter! Actually, just more Daniel Radcliffe. Hey, the Deathly Hallows 2 DVD came out a couple weeks ago so you had to expect this.



And just for fun:

Rickman-Radcliffe
Image Credit: Timothy Eaker













There was a Hogwarts reunion at Broadway’s Golden Theatre on Nov. 7 when Daniel Radcliffe nipped backstage to congratulate former Harry Potter co-star Rickman on his Main Stem return in Seminar. The actors, who were all smiles in Rickman’s dressing room after the show, are both currently gracing the Great White Way — at least until Radcliffe bows out of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying on Jan. 1.

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Movie Morsels 71: The Woman in Black

Being the crazed Potterphile that I am, I have known a little about this movie for awhile but the second teaser trailer for Daniel Radcliffe's first post-Harry era movie was released yesterday. Yahoo! had a little blurb to go along with the clip but you can read more about it here. I am totally fine buying Dan as a character other than Harry - that's not a problem. Will I buy him as a father young son? Jury's still out on that one.

Thursday, August 04, 2011

I Am Harry Potter

Okay, okay, okay I know I said the Harry Potter posts would cease once the movie came out but my friend Kris sent this to me so it's totally not my fault!!! And I love it too much not to post it. You're welcome. 


And this one is just another set of mini-interviews with some of the cast. I can't help myself! It's a sickness, really.




Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Movie Morsels 69: HP London Premiere

I'm going to skip right over my obligatory apology for more Potter stuff and get right into the meat of things:


And here's the link to everything Potter at EW.com. I am Dork Supreme!!!

Friday, November 19, 2010

Harry Potter Cast Speaks 'American'

Robert drove by Union Landing last night (around 8 or so) and said the street next to the movie theater was completely shut down. People were wiaint in line with sleeping bags and folding chairs to see Deathly Hallows. I don't think that's ever happened here in the poky ol' Tri-Cities! I, of course, bought our tickets several days ago and Robert and I are seeing it in IMAX on Sunday afternoon. (How much do 2 IMAX tickets cost when you buy'em through Fandango? Click the 'Comments' to find out!) I CAN'T WAIT! And, seriously, I'm suuuuuuuper excited that I have no tests the following week. Sunday can just be Harry Potter all day! Woohoo!

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Forgotten Post #2

Here's an interview with Daniel Radcliffe from MovieFone... from July 15th. You know I always enjoy Daniel Radcliffe interviews - though, let me stress once more that he is most definitely NOT a 'hot man' - so here goes:


Daniel Radcliffe became world famous overnight when he was cast in the lead of the movie versions of J.K. Rowling's monstrously popular 'Harry Potter' novels -- he was just 11. Yet somehow, in a movie industry where super-sized egos and a grand sense of entitlement are often excused, Radcliffe remains grounded, genuine and self-deprecating.

As movie no. 6, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, makes its way to a sure-to-be blockbuster opening, a grown-up Radcliffe, now 19, speaks candidly to Moviefone about transitioning from child star to sex symbol, dropping trou on stage in 'Equus' -- and why he really thinks Dumbledore was outed.

You became rich and famous so quickly and at such a young age. How in the world did you avoid turning into a raging a-hole?
[Laughs] Thank you very much. Nicely phrased. I think I have just always had an awareness that when you go to a premiere and people start cheering and shouting your name and stuff, they are shouting at a perception of you that they have. They are shouting at an idea of you as a famous person. They don't know me. They might still like me if they got to know me, but it would be a different person than the one that they're cheering for. If you think they're cheering for you and all your flaws, and the slobbishness, and everything else that goes with you, that's when I think you start to become thick-headed and believe your own hype. Also I just think I've been lucky enough to have great parents, and I've had good people around me who have always been honest with me, who would give me a purely metaphorical slap if I ever got too big for my boots. I really think that's what it comes down to. I think England is a place that is not tolerant of arrogance, and also the reaction to arrogance in England is different than it is in the States, because sometimes in the States, people can be a bit freaked out by that thinking and back off, whereas in England, they become more aggressive at you and take the piss out of you. In England, anybody's arrogance is just lampooned, constantly. When you grow up in that culture, you know that's not what you want to be.

Where do you think 'Half-Blood Prince' makes the biggest departure from earlier Harry Potter movies?
I think it's in the comedy. We really go all out on the comedy this time. It's a very funny film, there are some really funny moments in it. And there are more drug references in this film than there have been [laughs]. It's very strange trying to explain them to people sometimes. Also, I think in terms of Harry's character, individually, before he's always been Dumbledore's student, whereas here he becomes Dumbledore's lieutenant. In this one he's a fighter. He's starting on the path to becoming the warrior that he is in part 7.

How has the dynamic changed for you, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson on set, going from child actors to adult stars?
It's been great, actually. But what's great is that the people we work with, in terms of the crew, have seen us when we were kids as well, and so I think it's been interesting for them to see the journey of starting to take it seriously and going from being kids who were having a great time on a film set to suddenly really wanting to do this for a living, which me and Rupert certainly do. I think Emma does as well, though she's going to study for a few years as well. I think that's the main difference, is that I take it much more seriously. The more seriously you take it, the more fun it becomes. It's a very, very rewarding profession when you feel that you're getting better at it. I feel like I've made a big jump since the sixth film, I got better since finishing the sixth film, doing 'Equus' on Broadway, and now doing 'Harry Potter 7.'


How do you feel about Dumbledore becoming somewhat of an icon for the gay rights movement?
It's wonderful. I grew up around gay people my entire life, basically, that's possibly why I'm quite camp, and some people think I'm gay when I meet them, which I think is awesome. It's always good to keep them guessing [laughs]. I don't go on any blogs or chats or anything, but my friends are demons for them, and apparently someone said "Daniel Radcliffe is gay. He's got a gay face!" [Laughs] I really don't know what a gay face is. But I think it's wonderful that Dumbledore was outed as gay ... Half of me thinks Jo Rowling just did that to see if she could piss off the right wing, but I'm not sure how true that is. I think she had it planned, I think she always knew he was gay.

What do you make of the 'Harry Potter'-'Twilight' rivalry that's been brewing?
It's very funny. It's very much like the Lord of the Rings rivalry, in that it was a rivalry mainly built up by the media, for the media. I met Elijah Wood once, I met Peter Jackson, I met Orlando Bloom, and they're all really cool. Did we talk about the rivalry? Did we [ever]. Having Rob Pattinson be in both films is quite funny. I've never even seen 'Twilight,' to be perfectly honest with you, and it's actually really interesting to me. Being such a central part of the 'Potter' thing, being so in the middle of it all, I have no idea how the rest of the world sees the 'Potter' franchise, which is why it's quite interesting for me to watch the 'Twilight' franchise explode globally and have some sense of how people must view us.

So let's fuel it – any trash you want to talk to Robert Pattinson?
[Laughs] No, I've nothing but good things to say at Rob. I've worked with him. I won't pretend to know him really well or anything. It's interesting because people assume that because I'm famous I know all famous people. And so people come up to me on the street and say "Do you know Rob Pattinson? What's he like?" And I say, "Well, he's very nice. I haven't seen him in four years, but he's doing very, very well for himself and good luck to him, I hope he's doing alright."

Now that 'Equus' is over and done with, are you glad you did it?
Oh, so glad. It was the best thing. Particularly, I'm glad I came over [to New York] and did it, because that was like the change in my acting. Having done that is huge, I certainly think it is, I hope it is. So I'm thrilled to have done it, I'm thrilled to have been given the opportunity by other people who I worked with to do it.

You were never worried about your junk being all over the Internet?
It was just going to happen, wasn't it? Somebody was going to get a picture up. It's not me looking my proudest, if I'm honest with you, it's not me in my best [laughs]. But, hell, the pictures were always going to get out, and I knew that. And frankly, there's not even one part of me that feels I shouldn't have done it. It was the best thing for me, to get back to what I love doing, which is acting.

Was 'Equus' a strategic move in terms of your career path and trying to break away from the 'Potter' pigeonhole?
I don't like to say "strategic," because it makes it sound very cynical, the way I'm planning my career, very Machavellian or Mr. Burns. But we knew we needed to do something different, and we knew that if we were going to do something on stage, it has to be something that would say, "I'm doing this seriously. I'm not just going to do a light, fluffy piece on stage, I'm going to do something serious that will make people go, 'OK, he wants to take this seriously, and he wants to work hard.'" That was certainly one of the reasons behind doing it, but also just to do 'Equus' was amazing. And when you think about it, there are very few decent-sized parts for 17-year-olds in stage, generally speaking.

Has it been odd to watch not only yourself, but also Rupert and Emma go from child star to sex symbol?
It's been funny with Emma. Yeah, it's been very strange to watch that suddenly happen, because there was that weird time when she was like 15 or 16, and guys kind of knew they fancied her, but no one could say anything. She's always been a very, very pretty girl, and now suddenly that she turned 18, everyone's like "OK, now she's fair game! Paparazzi!" It is kind of creepy, I did feel bad for her. Men will never know the kind of humiliation of having an upskirt done, which poor old Emma had. We talked a few days after her birthday, and she said, "It was awful, they were all over me. They were trying to shoot up my knickers!" It's incredibly invasive. That's why I do think it's much, much harder for girls being famous than it is for guys.

You've said recently that you would like to date older women. You know who's older, single now and likes British guys? Madonna.
Oh, Christ. I don't think that I'd do my chances of working with Guy Ritchie any good. I don't know which one I'd rather do ... I'm not sure I'd be her cup of tea.

Gary Oldman reportedly taught you bass guitar on the set of 'Potter.' Have you ever considered starting a band?
No, he gave me one bass guitar lesson. He taught me how a bassline comes together [imitates sound of bassline]. Sounds better on a bass. But I've never considered it. I'm not nearly good enough. I haven't played bass in years, I gave it up because I wasn't getting any better. You have the realization of going, "I don't know what I'm going to do with this." And also bass isn't an instrument particularly that gets you laid. On its own, cool, but not like guitar, you can't really be a flash bastard with bass. And I just didn't have the patience, I suppose, in the end. But I always wanted to be in a band when I was growing up. I think, the thing is, all actors want to be in a band, and all rock stars want to be actors, and the truth of the matter is, neither of them should do either, we should all stick to what we're doing, because when actors start a band, it's almost always crap.

If 20 years from now J.K. Rowling revisits the 'Potter' kids as adult wizards, would you imagine doing the movie?
I saw her the other day, and I said, "You're not writing any more ['Potter' books], are you?" And she said, "No," and I said, "OK, cool." And then I said, "You know, if you did, I would have to think long and hard." I think also I would only do it if Emma and Rupert would. Honestly, after the seventh film, I don't think she should do anymore. I think it would have to be something pretty good. But Jo Rowling's such an intelligent person, she knows. She knows if she was ever going to consider doing another, it would have to be bulletproof. It would have to be an almost perfect book not to get slaughtered. So hopefully she won't, but if she does, of course I would have to consider it, because I have a loyalty to her and to the fans. But it certainly would not be in an instant.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Daniel Radcliffe in Parade

Harry Potter fever is in full swing, people! Well, okay, maybe it's still in more of a winding-up stage. But still! It's coming!!! And I'm a huge dork who's very excited! Gah!

Anyway, the upcoming issue of Parade has an article on Daniel and in the spirit of bombarding you with all sorts of Harry Potter crap over the next few weeks, here it is:

Daniel Radcliffe has an ambition that might surprise you.

“Ultimately, I really want to do a bungee jump,” he tells me over Diet Cokes in a Manhattan café. He grins. “But not for a while.”

No, not for a while. Not, at least, while Radcliffe is still the very valuable centerpiece of  Warner Brothers’ gigantic Harry Potter franchise, whose five films to date have earned almost $4.5 billion (that’s billion with a “b”) worldwide. The sixth installment, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, premieres next month, and the series’ two-part finale—Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, currently in production in England—finishes shooting next spring. By that time, Daniel Radcliffe will be close to 21 and will have spent half his life portraying Harry.


What better way to celebrate a great run than a big jump?

Prior to beginning Deathly Hallows, Radcliffe made a physically less perilous but no less daring leap: starring in the Broadway revival of Peter Shaffer’s dark, disturbing play Equus. Radcliffe portrayed an unbalanced stable boy with a religious and sexual fascination with horses. He also had a nude love scene.

Of course, it wasn’t the subtle, dramatic structure of Shaffer’s play that drew all the headlines. People were initially shocked and titillated by the prospect of Harry Potter taking it all off. Then they weren’t.

“As soon as we started doing the show, people went, ‘Oh! So this is not pornography—this is a play,’ ” Rad­cliffe says matter-of-factly. “It was mainly hyped beforehand.”

Still, the mere sight of him, dressed or undressed, is enough to stir up some of his fans. At one performance, four girls sitting in the gallery above the stage caused a scene.

“From the moment I walked onstage, I could hear them talking and getting very excited,” Radcliffe recalls, shaking his head. “Then they started talking to me: ‘Dan! Dan! Look over here, Dan!’ ” He pauses. “I’m not somebody who particularly gets angry about stuff like that. In my professional life, I rarely get angry at all. And yet, I came offstage seeing blood. I was so furious!”

It will shock nobody that Radcliffe is a spectacularly sensible and articulate young man. Just like Harry. Over the years, he admits, it’s been hard to tell where Harry leaves off and he begins. “When I started out at the age of 10 or 11,” he says, “I was essentially saying the lines as I myself would say them. When I became aware that that’s what I was doing, at 13 or 14, it didn’t make sense to change, because it would suddenly be a dramatic shift in the character.” He smiles. When his mother read the sixth Harry Potter book, he remembers, she noticed that “Harry argues in the kind of irritating, pedantic way that I argue. She thought Harry and I were getting closer and closer together at that point.”

But not at this point. Significantly, Radcliffe’s smooth cheeks show a haze of dark whiskers. Gossip columns have linked him with a succession of slightly older actresses, and he doesn’t deny his taste in women: “Girls my own age are not really an option,” he tells me. “I find, generally speaking, they have to be entertained more than older girls do. So most of the girls I have had serious things with are generally sort of in their 20s.”

See exclusive pics from our wild shoot with Daniel Radcliffe

Perhaps most portentously, when a magazine photographer recently asked the actor to pose holding a magic wand and wearing the trademark Potter spectacles, he politely declined.

“I’ve now reached a stage in my career where I am starting to break away,” he says. “I just think I’m a bit too old for that now.”

So was Equus his declaration of independence?

“I didn’t set out to shock people. I set out to do something different from Potter. If I had wanted to shock people,” Radcliffe says, “I would have played, you know, a gay drug dealer. But, equally, you have to tread a very fine line. If, say, my next film was another fantasy film, everyone would just go, ‘Well, he’s not stretching himself.’ Then, if I played some drug dealer, everyone would turn around and go, ‘Oh, this smacks of desperation to stop being typecast.’ ”

Still, he hasn’t cut the cord just yet. Radcliffe is—as might be expected—extremely respectful of the Potter story, its creator J.K. Rowling, and all that the franchise has done for him. “I’ve had a happy and very healthy, really enjoyable childhood, and a fantastically interesting one,” he says. “I genuinely think I am a better person for having done these films than I possibly would have been had I not.”

Not to mention a much richer one. His salary for the most recent Potter picture was a reported $25 million; overall, he’s said to be worth at least twice that. He’s been declared England’s richest teenager.

“I think it’s amazing,” Radcliffe says. “I have been very, very fortunate. But I’m not going to spend it on flashy cars or particular extravagances. What it does in terms of my career, which is how I like to look at it—it gives me the thing that George Clooney has, where he can go off and do a big-budget movie like Ocean’s Eleven, make a lot of money for it, and then go and do stuff that won’t pay as much. It gives you room to maneuver, basically. It means I can relax, and I think that’s the best thing it can do. It’s one thing in my life that I am incredibly fortunate not to have to worry about. Money will never be the focus for me. That’s not how I’ve been brought up.”

The only child of Marcia Gresham and Alan Radcliffe, a casting director and an actor turned literary agent, Daniel grew up in show business: He was a veteran of two films before he was cast for Potter. As a middle-class Londoner, he was sent to private schools, but then, as acting consumed his schedule, on-set tutors took over his education. He never looked back.

See photos of the Harry Potter star through the years

“I wasn’t very good in school at all,” Radcliffe says. “I was kind of useless. I found the work really, really difficult.”

I ask him to imagine what his life might have been like if it had taken a more conventional turn.

“I think, on the whole, I wouldn’t have half the confidence that I have,” he tells me. “I’m not saying that I’m a
brazenly confident person. But I’m kind of sure of myself intellectually. And I know I wouldn’t have been if I had stayed in school because, before I did Potter, my confidence had been more or less destroyed by a couple of teachers. So I had it all restored by the people who taught me on the films.”

But confidence never turned to cockiness—or worse. “In England, you’re treated as a kid first, then an actor,” he says. “I think in America it’s the other way around. You’re more likely to get inflated ideas about yourself because it’s happening during your formative years. If I ever got too big for my boots in England when I was growing up on the films, someone would let me know. I’ve been surrounded by very honest, good people the whole time.”

Not so many people these days, though. A few months ago, Radcliffe quietly moved out of his parents’ house and into a place of his own in London. “It’s a bit weird,” he admits. “The first few weeks you’re getting used to living alone, which is bizarre, but I really enjoy it now, actually.”

And what about the prospect of—gulp—turning 20 next month?

“I’ve noticed I make noises when I get up and sit down now,” Radcliffe says in all seriousness. “I mean, my knees are rotten bad—I refused to wear knee pads too many times when I was doing stunts, and I just clobbered them up a bit. I am an old man in a young man’s body.”

But then, we kind of knew that all along, didn’t we?

Tuesday, September 02, 2008

Random Round-Up 19

If you wound up reading the 1st chapter of Midnight Sun after I posted the link last week, I hope you didn't enjoy it too much - the author just released a statement saying that the book has been postponed. Indefinitely. Apparently, an incomplete draft was leaked online somewhere and now Stephenie Meyer is "too sad" to write anymore. Awwwww. Poor little rich authoress housewife. Life is such a burden!
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I haven't been a fan of Us Weekly for quite a while now but I did come across this game earlier this morning and it's kind of fun. A good time-waster... and a good way to refresh yourself on how incestuous Hollywood is! I've only played a handful of times so far and my best time is only 1 minute 47 seconds. That may sound good but I'm ranked, like, 1043rd or something. Ridiculous!
Six Degrees of Celebrity Dating
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Robert's wealthier doppleganger Daniel Radcliffe is on the cover of October's
Details. You can check out the piece online here.


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Mini TV Tidbit: Zack is back on Bones. He won't be a full-time, regular character but he'll definitely be reappearing throughout the new season, which kicks off this Wednesday. Look for Zach's first episode sometime late September.
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JustJared has a sneak peek of the new cover of TV Guide featuring fall TV's hottest hunks. I concur with Simon Baker and Joshua Jackson (who looks ever so much finer now than in his Creek days!!!) but Christian Slater? Ehhhhh... maybe in '87. 20 years + Botox does not a hunk make in my book.


Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Daniel Radcliffe in Vogue

This is most definitely NOT a "hot men" post - I think Daniel is a wee bit too young and too... goofy. Gawky. I don't know but he's definitely safely outside the 'hot men' circle. He's more of an "Awww, he's so cute!" kind of guy. He is quite funny and personable in interviews and whatnot... but I could never, ever, ever go there. Just wanted to make that clear before I start! :o)

That being said, I came across his interview in this month's Vogue promoting his upcoming Broadway debut and thought I'd pass it along. You can access part of it at Vogue's site but the scans below include the entire article and both photos.









I feel a bit bad for Daniel - the dude is already *ahem* on the shorter side (he's allegedly 5'6"*). Did they have to photograph him all curled up in the fetal position on a giant horse?! He looks like a small child! Dang.



* When I read that, it got me thinking - isn't Dan just a younger, richer version of Robert? Let's see, shall we?


Well - I guess Robert's got this one, after all. Even if he is a few million dollars less rich. ;o) Guess I lucked out, then... whew!

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Random Round-Up 16

Boo!!!! As most of you know, I hate change. So much so that I recently had someone liken me to a turtle - I'm ever so happy in my shell and content to just poke my head out once in a while to see what's going on. If I don't like it, I just bury myself back in my shell. I don't think this was a compliment. Anyway, my point is that I am at my most comfortable when surrounded by the known. You can imagine my displeasure, then, when I read that Hasbro is 'updating' Clue... by putting in a spa room and ditching the lead pipe (among other transgressions)!!! Good grief! That is just ridiculous. I don't really want to play Clue if it's taking place in The Hills or the Big Brother house, you know? Bleh. EW.com feels my pain:

Some of changes that make me cringe: The now-excessively pimped-out mansion will boast more rooms — including a spa and theater — and Colonel Mustard will shed his military garb in favor of a football uniform as a former sports star. And prepare to say goodbye to the lead pipe, which has been replaced by three new weapons — a trophy, a baseball bat, and an ax.

For me, the reason I stayed home on Saturday nights to play Clue loved the game was because it was so archaic. It was far more fun and silly to solve the crime when you imagined it being committed with such ridiculous turn-of-the-century objects as a lead pipe and a candlestick holder. (Michael Slezak, on the other hand, likes the addition of the ax, making his case with the irrefutable rebuttal, "Axes are hot.") Plus, Hasbro's going about this all wrong. Come on, if we're really going to make Clue modern, shouldn't Miss Scarlett — now with a first name: Cassandra — have a sex tape and her own E! reality show? And Hasbro should at least include a pair of sunglasses so players can tear them off David Caruso-style when they say, "Mrs. White, in the hot tub, with a bottle of Cristal. Looks like she showed her true colors."

Stupid young people. They ruin everything!!! Next thing you know, they'll get rid of Hungry Hungry Hippos because it promotes unhealthy eating habits. Gah!
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Now I have some Christian Bale news... yaaaaaaaay! ;o) Two quick things: (1) It turns out he will not face assault charges after all for his mother's crappy trumped-up allegations* (yes, we speak regularly and I know this for a fact, people); and (2) Robert is a wonderful man. He knew I wanted the UK edition of August's GQ (the U.S. version has Seth Rogen on the cover - that tells you a lot about the differences in our cultures!) so he looked and looked and finally procured one for me. *sigh* He's the sweetest.

*Even a statement by the CPS seems to corroborate this: "Whilst the CPS treats all incidents which take place in a domestic context seriously, it is important that the views of complainants are also taken into account when making decisions in such cases." It's crystal clear here, people - Christian Bale's mom sucks. Fact!




And just LOOK at who is on the back cover:

It's as if the magazine and I were meant to be. It's true.
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This has nothing to do with anything but I came across it yesterday and was reminded of just how funny it was. Robert and I really like Ricky Gervais' HBO show Extras and this episode was quite hilarious. (Robert loves one part in particular - can you guess what it is? I bet you can!) The clip below isn't the entire episode - it's just the bits with Daniel Radcliffe. But, really, do you need to see anything else to know it's a funny show? I think not.



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Mini TV Tidbit: According to Ausiello, "Aliens in America's Adhir Kalyan, is joining the cast of... CBS' Rules of Engagement. He'll be appearing in the recurring role of David Spade's new assistant, Timmy." This is good news because I'm glad at least one Aliens alum has gotten a job. It's bad news because this means David Spade will have a storyline on the front-burner. Bummer. I think he's funny (he's very good live, actually) and loved him on Just Shoot Me but he's just so creepy to look at... it's difficult for me.
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2nd Mini TV Tidbit: After much hemming and hawing,
Bret Michaels confirmed that Rock of Lurv will be returning early next year for a 3rd season... to be filmed entirely on the road. On a tour bus. Yum. I figured he'd cave and do another season after he broke up with Ambre so I'm glad he finally did. I love the Lurv! I realize 9/10 girls who go on reality shows go strictly to be on TV and not to win whatever it is they're competing for... but statements like
"...he’ll never be over Ambre. Whoever he decides to pick from season 3 is going to have to accept that as well because she comes with it.” - Big John (Michaels' body guard)

do make the show seem all the more pointless!