Daniel Radcliffe
Daniel Jacob Radcliffe (born 23 July 1989)[1] is an English actor. He rose to fame at age 12 when he began portraying Harry Potter in the film series of the same name. Radcliffe portrayed Potter in all eight films in the series, beginning with Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001) and concluding with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 (2011).
Daniel Radcliffe
Radcliffe branched out to stage acting in 2007, starring in the West End and Broadway productions of Equus. He returned to Broadway in the musical How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (2011), earning a Grammy Award nomination. His other Broadway roles include Martin McDonagh's drama The Cripple of Inishmaan (2014) and Stephen Sondheim's musical Merrily We Roll Along (2023). His other West End roles were in revivals of Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (2017) and Samuel Becket's Endgame (2020).[4][5]
Radcliffe also expanded his film roles, acting in a variety of genres such as the horror film The Woman in Black (2012), surreal drama Swiss Army Man (2016), thriller Now You See Me 2 (2016), and comedy The Lost City (2022). He also portrayed Allen Ginsberg in the biopic Kill Your Darlings (2013) and "Weird Al" Yankovic in the musical parody Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (2022). The latter earned him nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award and a British Academy Television Award. He has also played multiple roles in the anthology comedy television series Miracle Workers since 2019.
Radcliffe has contributed to many charities, including Demelza Hospice Care for Children and the Trevor Project; the latter awarded him its Hero Award in 2011 for his advocacy with LGBTQ youth.[6]
Early life and education
Daniel Jacob Radcliffe was born at Queen Charlotte's and Chelsea Hospital in Hammersmith, London, England[7] on 23 July 1989,[5] the only child of casting agent Marcia Jeannine Gresham (née Jacobson)[8][9] and literary agent Alan George Radcliffe.[1][10] His Jewish mother was born in South Africa, traces her ancestry to Jewish immigrants from Germany, Lithuania, Poland, and Russia,[11][12][13] and was raised in the English town of Westcliff-on-Sea in Essex.[14][15][16][17][18] His Northern Irish father was raised in a "very working-class" Protestant family in Banbridge in County Down.[19][20] In 2019, he explored both sides of his family history in the BBC genealogy series Who Do You Think You Are?[21][a] Radcliffe's parents had both acted as children.[22][23] As a casting agent, his mother was involved in BBC productions including The Inspector Lynley Mysteries.[8][9][10]
Radcliffe was educated at three private schools for boys in London: Redcliffe School,[24] Sussex House School,[1][25][26] and the City of London School.[1][27] After the release of the first Harry Potter film, attending school proved difficult for him as some fellow pupils became hostile, though he states they were just trying to "have a crack at the kid that plays Harry Potter" rather than acting out of jealousy.[28] As his acting career began to consume his schedule, he continued his education through on-set tutors. He has admitted to not being a very good student, considering school useless and finding the work "really difficult".[25] He achieved A grades in the three AS level exams that he took in 2006, but decided to take a break from education and did not attend university.[29][30] Part of his reasoning was he already knew he wanted to be an actor and screenwriter, and it would be difficult to have a normal college experience.[28]
Career
1999–2001: Acting debut and early career
Radcliffe first expressed a desire to act at age five.[31] After one of his mother's casting agent friends secured him an audition, he made his acting debut at age ten in BBC One's two-part adaptation of the Charles Dickens novel David Copperfield (1999),[32] portraying the title character as a young boy.[33] He made his film debut in The Tailor of Panama (2001), an American film based on John le Carré's 1996 spy novel, which was a moderate commercial success.[34]
Other ventures
Philanthropy
Radcliffe has lent his support to various charitable organisations. He designed the Cu-Bed for Habitat's VIP Kids range (a cube made of eight smaller ones which can be made into a bed, chaise-longue or chair)[127] with all the royalties from the sale of the bed going directly to his favourite charity, Demelza House Children's Hospice in Sittingbourne, Kent.[128] Radcliffe has urged fans to make donations to the charity's Candle for Care programme in lieu of giving him Christmas presents. In 2008, he was among several celebrities who donated their old glasses to an exhibit honouring victims of the Holocaust.[129] During the Broadway run of Equus he auctioned off a pair of jeans and other items worn in the show, for New-York-based Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS[130] and was a presenter at the 2011 Gypsy of the Year competition.[131] He has also made donations in support of Get Connected UK, a London-based free confidential national helpline for troubled youth.[132]
Political and social views
Radcliffe is a supporter of the Labour Party.[133] He previously supported the Liberal Democrats,[134] and endorsed then-Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg in the 2010 general election. In 2012, however, he switched his political alignment to Labour, citing disillusionment with the performance of Clegg and the Liberal Democrats while in government, and approving of then-Labour leader Ed Miliband.[133] In 2015, he endorsed Jeremy Corbyn's Labour Party leadership campaign. He told The Big Issue, "I feel like this show of sincerity by a man who has been around long enough and stuck to his beliefs long enough that he knows them and doesn't have to be scripted is what is making people sit up and get excited. It is great."[135][136]
Radcliffe supports the concept of abolishing the British monarchy and replacing it with a republic.[137] He also supports British unionism, and opposed the 2014 Scottish independence referendum because he "personally like[s] the UK being how it is".[138]
Radcliffe is supportive of the LGBTQ community. Speaking out against homophobia, he began filming public service announcements in 2009 for The Trevor Project, promoting awareness of gay teen suicide prevention.[139][140] He first learnt of the organisation while performing Equus on Broadway in 2008[140] and has contributed financially to it.[141] He said in a 2010 interview, "I have always hated anybody who is not tolerant of gay men or lesbians or bisexuals. Now I am in the very fortunate position where I can actually help or do something about it." In the same interview, he stressed the importance of public figures advocating for equal rights.[140] He received The Trevor Project's Hero Award in 2011 for his contributions.[139][142] In June 2020, amid controversy over Harry Potter author J. K. Rowling's remarks on gender identity — which many have condemned as transphobic, although Rowling has strongly denied this[143] — Radcliffe penned an essay published by The Trevor Project in which he voiced support for the transgender community and expressed regret that Rowling's statements had damaged fans' experience of the Harry Potter books.[144][145]
Personal life
Radcliffe splits his time between homes in the Fulham area of London[146] and the West Village neighbourhood of New York City's Manhattan borough.[147] He has been in a relationship with American actress Erin Darke since 2012, after having met on the set of Kill Your Darlings.[148] In March 2023, they were confirmed to be expecting their first child together.[149][150] Darke gave birth to a son the following month.[151][152]
In 2008, Radcliffe revealed that he has a mild form of the neurological disorder dyspraxia, which sometimes prevents him from doing simple activities such as writing or tying his shoelaces. He said, "I was having a hard time at school, in terms of being crap at everything, with no discernible talent."[153]
Radcliffe has expressed his fondness for hip hop music and admitted to having "an obsession with memorising complicated, lyrically intricate and fast songs". On 28 October 2014, he rhymed the 1999 Blackalicious song "Alphabet Aerobics" during an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.[154][155]
Radcliffe is close to his family, whom he credits for keeping him grounded.[156] In August 2010, he became teetotal after finding himself becoming too reliant on alcohol.[157] In March 2020, he appeared as the guest on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs, where he discussed his alcohol misuse during his teens and his decision to become teetotal, and how his parents' support and staying in his native England helped him cope with fame.[158][159]
Radcliffe stated of his beliefs in 2012: "There was never [religious] faith in the house. I think of myself as being Jewish and Irish, despite the fact that I'm English."[22] He has said that his family are "Christmas tree Jews,"[160][161] and he said: "I'm an atheist, but I'm very proud of being Jewish. It means I have a good work ethic, and you get Jewish humour and you're allowed to tell Jewish jokes."[2][162] In 2009, he stated that he was an atheist and said, "I'm very relaxed about [being an atheist]. I don't preach my atheism, but I have a huge amount of respect for people like Richard Dawkins who do. Anything he does on television, I will watch."[163][164] However, he was quoted as saying in 2012, "I'm an atheist, and a militant atheist when religion starts impacting on legislation."[165] In 2019, he described himself as "agnostic leaning toward atheism".[166] In 2009, Radcliffe stated that although he considers himself a "fierce patriot", he is not a royalist, adding that the monarchy "symbolized a lot of what is wrong with the country".[167]
His favourite films include: 12 Angry Men, A Matter of Life and Death, Dr. Strangelove, Little Miss Sunshine and Jason and the Argonauts.[168]
Radcliffe was reported to have earned £1 million for the first Harry Potter film[43] and around £15 million for the sixth.[25] He appeared on the Sunday Times Rich List in 2006, which estimated his personal fortune to be £14 million, making him one of the richest young people in the UK.[169] In March 2009, he was ranked at number one on the Forbes "Most Valuable Young Stars" list,[170] and by April The Daily Telegraph measured his net worth at £30 million, making him the 12th richest young person in the UK.[171] Radcliffe was considered to be the richest teenager in England later that year.[25] In February 2010, he was named the sixth highest-paid Hollywood male star[172] and placed at number five on Forbes' December list of Hollywood's highest-grossing actors[b] with a film revenue of US$780 million, mainly due to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows being released that year.[173] As of 2021, Radcliffe's net worth is estimated at £95 million.[174]
