‘Harry Potter’ Star Daniel Radcliffe On Reprising His Role

Daniel Radcliffe may have moved on from his days as the titular character in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter films, but he can never truly separate himself from that now iconic role. In a new interview, Radcliffe acknowledges his notoriety as Harry Potter and speaks openly on his thoughts of returning in future J.K. Rowling penned events. Daniel also shares his thoughts on the idea that Warner Bros. might even choose a new and younger actor to take up the mantel, telling more Harry Potter stories for younger generations.

Daniel Radcliffe Shares His Feelings About Harry Potter’s Future

Harry Potter is again thrilling fans with the new Harry Potter and the Cursed Child book and stage play, but Radcliffe, who is still recognized as that title character throughout the world, has worked hard to distance himself from the franchise, reports Forbes. Adding such films as the zombie comedy Swiss Army Man and the skinhead thriller Imperium to his list of credits, Daniel has tried to escape that Harry Potter typecasting. Now, Mr. Radcliffe says he isn’t entirely opposed to reprising the role in new films based on J.K. Rowling’s famous wizard.

“I’m never going to close the door; that would be a stupid thing to do,” Radcliffe said.

Daniel was at the Deauville Film Festival to accept the Rising Star award. During the interview, the actor said he would be happy and feel secure enough to see younger actors make the Harry Potter role their own. Radcliffe also said that going back to the franchise later, maybe 10 years into the future, would still leave him feeling “strange” about playing Harry Potter.

“There’s a part of me that’s like, some things are better left untouched. If we went back to Potter, there’s a chance we’d make what Star Wars: The Force Awakens was to the original Star Wars, but there’s also the chance that we’d make Phantom Menace,” Daniel joked. “So I don’t want to go back to anything like that and maybe sour what people have already loved.”

Radcliffe suggests that Jamie Parker, who plays Harry Potter in the stage play, would translate well onto film, if Warner Bros. does choose to recast Harry Potter for more films.

Daniel Radcliffe Abandons Hogwarts For The Jungle

While the world of Harry Potter spins on, Daniel Radcliffe shared with The Hollywood Reporter that he just wrapped up filming Jungle, which was shooting on locations in Colombia and Australia. Jungle is an action adventure film based upon the memoir of Yossi Ghinsberg, telling the true story about a group of friends led astray in the Amazon jungle by an unsavory tour guide.

For his Jungle role, Daniel revealed that he put himself on an intensive diet to slim down enough to look like Ghinsberg, who was lost in the Amazon for several weeks.

“It was hard physically because I wasn’t really eating. We were doing very long days and I was operating on not very much food,” says Radcliffe.

Mr. Radcliffe is joined in Jungle by Avengers: Age of Ultron star Thomas Kretschmann, who the former Harry Potter star says is “one of the craziest people I’ve ever met – and he wouldn’t mind me saying that.”

Aside from acting, Daniel also shared that he was working on a script of his own, suggesting that he had hopes of directing the project once it was ready for production. Radcliffe says the inspiration for this screenplay comes from Seven Psychos and In Bruges, citing director Martin McDonagh as the filmmaker he most idolizes.

“It’s not like it’s bad, it’s just not ready yet,” Radcliffe says of his unnamed project.

Jungle, directed by Greg McLean (Wolf Creek, Rogue), will be released theatrically in 2017.

[Image by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images]