How to Succeed Post Potter Without Really Trying.

In the interest of the future of cinema it is important to be able to spot the talent that will make up the next generation of the industry. More often than not actors will not grow up to be as famous as they were as a kid, with good examples including Haley Joel Osment, and Macaulay Culkin, but occasionally as is the case with Jodie Foster, one will make it through to being a great adult talent.

Years ago when “Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone” came out, I am sure that nobody suspected that the 11 year old boy playing Harry would go on to be a star of Broadway, performing in Tony Award winning revival plays such as “Equus” and “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying”. Daniel Radcliffe was nominated for a Drama Desk award for his performance in “Equus”. His performances in the early Potter films didn’t promise this much talent and yet the films continued to be made around him.

The choices he has made lately continue to baffle audiences as films like “The Woman in Black”, and the upcoming “Kill Your Darlings” show that he has indeed great range as an actor, something that wasn’t obvious with his 10 year devotion to the Harry Potter series. I saw “The Woman in Black” and I enjoyed it very much. It is by no means a new horror movie staple but Daniel carried a film on his back rather well considering that a lot of it required him to act by himself in a haunted house.

He is also able to transform himself very well when other actors cannot separate themselves from their iconic character looks. Sherlock Holmes looks remarkably like Tony Stark, and Edward Scissorhands looks like a first draft of Sweeney Todd, but For anyone who has seen the pictures Allen Ginsberg, the real life poet that Daniel plays in ”Kill your Darlings” has no Harry Potter in him. That is definitely something I want in a good actor. Sometimes the only thing holding an actor back is that they play themselves instead of their characters. Marlon Brando is considered by many to be one of the greatest actors who ever lived but if one was able to do an impression of Vito Corleone then he was probably able to do an impression of all of his characters. If Daniel manages to pull off Allen Ginsberg then he will cement himself as a true chameleon.

Perhaps it is the fact that audiences watched Daniel grow up from an 11 year old boy to a well respected stage actor, but everyone all around seems to like him. It is unusual for actors with similar histories to be universally loved because they usually fall in one of many traps that pop culture has for them, like Daniel’s “Goblet of Fire” co star Robert Pattinson who has a large fanbase but it consists mainly of teenage girls.

He is perhaps the one to watch out for of the three kids to come out of Harry Potter fame. Emma Watson may have an equally impressive career ahead of her but something tells me that both of them have very bright futures to look forward to, something I unfortunately can’t say for their co star Rupert Grint despite an great amount of talent.

Who do you think has a better career after Harry Potter?