Now a Muggle,Harry Potter star gets serious

Entertainment : With satire of corporate world,radcliffe wants to prove child actors can survive.

DAVE ITZKOFF

The most famous 21-year-old on the planet came barreling into a West Village diner one wintry February morning,desperately craving Belgian waffles. He was bleary eyed and scruffy. Slipping unnoticed into a backup location that presented no imminent threat of explosion,he winkingly acknowledged his mornings travails You were trying to kill me,werent you? he said through a smile before tearing into the breakfast that would power him through that days rehearsals for his new Broadway musical.

It seems fair to say that Daniel Radcliffe who is about to leverage the decade he spent playing the title character in the Harry Potter film series and take on the starring role in a stage revival of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying has not grown up quite like other young stars.

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Certainly the success of the Harry Potter movies has yielded unparalleled recognition for Radcliffe. He is said to be earning $20 million to $25 million for each of the last two films,and may be worth more than either Prince William or Harry (countrymen who never had to earn their status by slaying basilisks). However,what Radcliffe does not seem to possess is the arrogance or petulance that comes with such fame.

When it comes to his career which will veer into uncharted territory when the final Harry Potter film is released and its star becomes an ordinary Muggle or non-magical person Radcliffe is deeply serious. Explaining why he chose to bid farewell to his boy-wizard character with an American satire of the corporate world,he spoke about a need to prove a child actor can have a career with longevity. If I can actually do it, Radcliffe said,having been in one of the biggest franchises ever,then that can end the debate. It is possible. Thats whats my mission is.

Asked to name performers whose footsteps hed like to follow in,he cited former child stars who outgrew that label,from Christian Bale to Elijah Wood,as well as mentor Gary Oldman,the actor who plays Sirius Black in Potter films.

He realises that once Potters finished,he is in the marketplace, Oldman said. And just because hes been Harry Potter for 10 years doesnt mean a thing.