When you think about Daniel Radcliffe, you would naturally think of his most popular character, the young prodigy wizard, Harry Potter. It’s more than understandable, considering he has spent most of his childhood playing the character. For ten years of his life, this young man would continue building his career as one of the most iconic novel characters of all time. In 2011, Daniel Radcliffe would finish his run as Harry Potter and without a doubt, ended it on a very high note. As we all remember, Harry Potter and his friends became adults, got married and had children, and sent their kids to their first year at Hogwarts. It seemed like the perfect way to end the franchise. Of course, the legacy of Harry Potter would continue with the Fantastic Beasts movie, except they wouldn’t reach the same level of popularity as the Harry Potter movies.
Now granted, the third Fantastic Beasts movie comes out next month and it does look awesome. I hope it’s good so the trilogy ends on a high note, but I predict the Wizarding World will continue with other movies. Based on the rumors spreading around the web, it seems we may be getting a movie adaptation of the Cursed Child books. I personally know very little about that storyline, only it follows the first year of Harry’s son, Albus Severus Potter, as he befriends the son of Draco Malfoy at Hogwarts. Sounds like an interesting concept, but based on what I’ve heard about it, the Cursed Child received mostly mixed reception.
By all accounts, pursuing a movie adaptation of the Cursed Child sounds like a risky move. However, director Chris Columbus, the man who helmed the first two Harry Potter movies, has expressed interest in directing the adaptation. That automatically sparks my interest, given that The Sorcerer’s Stone is one of the best movies of the franchise. On the other hand, The Chamber of Secrets is one of the weakest films of the franchise, but that’s just my opinion. If Chris Columbus is willing to direct a movie based on the Cursed Child, then I’m willing to at least give it my attention.
And what about the cast themselves? Unlike the Fantastic Beasts movies, a movie for the Cursed Child would have to involve an appearance from the titular character of the franchise. He would be a grown man at this time, not to mention a husband and a father on top of it, so he would obviously be a very different character from to the last time we saw him. I think the idea of seeing more of an adult Harry Potter is interesting, not to mention Daniel Radcliffe is old enough to play that role. The only challenge is actually getting Daniel Radcliffe to reprise his role after so many years.
Would he actually do it? On paper, it would seem crazy for Daniel Radcliffe to turn down the chance to revisit the character that literally made his career. Well, guess what? It turns out that Daniel Radcliffe actually has no interest in returning to reprise his most famous role for a Cursed Child movie. That sounds very odd, doesn’t it? Daniel Radcliffe himself revealed in a recent interview with the New York Times that he has no interest in returning to the Wizarding World, at least not any time soon.
According to Harry Potter himself, he feels like he ended his run on the franchise on a high note and has enjoyed his time moving on from it. If he were to go back now, he feels like it would be a massive change in his life and I don’t think he would like it very much. That sounds disappointing, but on the upside, he did continue by basically saying never say never. And as an example, he mentioned how the Star Wars guys had about 30 or 40 years before they went back and for him, it’s only been ten. From his perspective, that’s not nearly enough time to warrant a return to the Wizarding World. Ultimately, it’s just something that doesn’t interest him at the moment, but I do believe we’ll see him play Harry Potter again at some point.
So let’s think about Daniel Radcliffe’s point of view here. Harry Potter is what made him and that is probably what we’ll always see him as for the rest of his career. I can honestly see where he’s coming from, because he probably does aspire to be known for more than just one role. He’s still young and wants to continue his career playing more than just Harry Potter. To be fair, ever since he ended his role as Harry Potter in 2011, he has been able to land more leading roles in multiple projects. He may have gotten off to a rough start, but he has managed to move away from the Harry Potter role.
Movies like Guns Akimbo and Imperium have given him a chance to expand his talents beyond the Wizarding World. And with a leading role in the comedy series, Miracle Workers, it looks like Daniel Radcliffe has found his footing outside of Harry Potter. I believe he can continue his success, but no matter how many other roles he takes, we’ll always remember him as Harry Potter. That’s not really a bad thing, but I still think Daniel Radcliffe should continue expanding his talents to other projects. As an actor, he wants to have range and challenge himself by playing different kinds of characters. So far, he has proven that he can. Just watch his more recent films and you’ll see how different they are from the Harry Potter movies.
I think we should respect Daniel Radcliffe’s desire to move on to other movie roles, but if you’re a big Potter head, I wouldn’t lose sleep over this. Again, I do believe that he will return as the titular hero. Maybe it will happen sooner than we think, but I predict Daniel Radcliffe will want to expand his career more before reprising the role. We shouldn’t hold it against him, especially since the Cursed Child wasn’t nearly as well received as the Harry Potter books. If someone presents the right script to him, then I believe he will change his mind. It’s only a matter of time.
What are your thoughts, Harry Potter fans? Do you think Daniel Radcliffe has a point in not wanting to return to the Wizarding World?Chris Columbus
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