The entire world fell in love immediately back in 2001, when one of the arguably best casting decisions was made for a book movie. Daniel Radcliffe was chosen to portray Harry Potter, the boy wizard, for what is to be one of the best movie franchises ever.

However, at the time, Daniel was not sure if he would make more than two movies in the Harry Potter series, let alone that his career would have reached international heights he never dreamed of. But, let’s get back to the beginning before he got the role.

BBC | Bob Hoskins and Daniel Radcliffe in David Copperfield (1999)

Mr. Radcliffe Before Harry Potter

Young Daniel wanted to be an actor ever since he was five. He was born in 1989, in London, England, so this was around 1994. And, a few years later in 1999, he debuted on TV in an adaptation of the celebrated novel David Copperfield. He played the young version of the title character.

Now, this role is very important, as we will see later on. His movie debut came in 2001, in The Tailor of Panama, again based on a novel of the same name, written by the famous John le Carré. However, his auditions for the role of Harry already started in 2000.

Chris Columbus, the director of several of the movies from the Harry Potter movie series, has seen Daniel in the mentioned David Copperfield adaptation and he recalls literally saying to himself: “This is what I want. This is Harry Potter”.

The writer of the novels, J. K. Rowling, agreed, and, 8 months later and after several auditions, Daniel got the part. After hearing that their son would have to film six movies, all made in the USA, they turned the offer down, so Daniel was offered only a two-movie contract at the time.

He Was Taking A Bath When He Got The News

Daniel recently spoke in an interview recalling the moment when the producers phoned his father to tell him his son got the part. He was taking a bath and his father came to tell him and was so happy he cried.

BBC/Wall to Wall Media Ltd/Marcia Gresham | Daniel At 13

After the first movie, Daniel Radcliffe made a seven-figure salary, but he stated that his earnings were not important to him at that point. After receiving the critic’s praise for his performance, and after the second movie, Daniel was on board for the whole thing.

The Path To The Stars

Well, his life didn’t change all that much in the sense that he was already an actor and it is very fortunate that he already had a focused mind and knew what he wanted. His career did skyrocket, his earnings as well, and Daniel, along with his other child co-stars, literally grew up in this made-up school on the set.

BBC/Wall to Wall Media Ltd/Marcia Gresham/Vanessa Davies | Alan Radcliffe (Daniel's father), Marcia Gresham (Daniel's mother), and Daniel, aged 19

The kids even had tutoring lessons daily, on the set, which meant their education did not suffer, but it also helped with their chemistry many believe, as the kids were so good together. Over the years, Daniel took on many different roles from a broad spectrum of characters and has shown artistic brilliance in all.