From “Potter” to Oscars: Daniel Radcliffe on his growth as an actor

Although Daniel Radcliffe makes it clear that he does not regret his Harry Potter past, he is evidently glad to have begun to establish himself as an actor by taking on a series of different roles, which have shown him in a different light. In a new interview with The Express, Daniel talks about his delight at how Kill Your Darlings is being received (and the possibility of an Oscar one day), growing as an actor, and his love for New York.

When complimented on his boldness as an actor, Daniel replies that boldness “is the quality in all the actors that I admire most.” Referring to Gary Oldman (Sirius Black) and David Thewlis (Remus Lupin) as inspirations, he continues,

Boldness is a quality that I love and aspire to, and I definitely know that I work best when I am challenged by something and when I am going to be pushed by it, […] I also think, frankly, that’s the way I have most fun because if I am not being pushed it is quite dull.

Filming Kill Your Darlings has taught him more about acting than he had ever learned before. He says,

Up until I was 21, working on Potter, I was really just going on my instincts. I didn’t have any kind of acting technique or process or anything like that. Nobody had ever really talked to me about different methods and things you could do. Then when I worked with John he showed me all this stuff to remove self-consciousness, like the Meisner technique. It just completely changed something in me and gave me a freedom.

He doesn’t, however, rate his early Harry Potter performances well.

I was not that as a child actor. Absolutely not. I was really enthusiastic and cute looking, I guess, and I had some good instincts, but it is really in the past three years I finally feel I’ve managed to put together performances that I am consistently pleased with. That is a big step for me.

Daniel admits that even The Woman in Black is uncomfortable for him to watch:

I would hate somebody to think I am being falsely modest, but I really do dislike watching some parts of that film because I am not pleased with my work in it, and that’s fine. I have had to reach a point of acceptance with the fact that my acting lessons are on camera, but I feel like I have now moved beyond that phase, and I have come on a lot.

About acting and film sets Daniel says,

I’ve been on film sets since I was nine, and there’s a level of familiarity and comfort I have on a film set. It’s just a really lovely, comfortable place to be. I love acting, I love being on set and I want to prove myself, so working all the time suits those three purposes.

New York, he says, has “really welcomed” him, and he likes to “spend as much time there as [he] can.”

To read more, see the full article here.

Do you think that Daniel has grown as an actor since Harry Potter? Have you seen him in Kill Your Darlings yet? Let us know in the comments!