10 Most Eccentric Daniel Radcliffe Roles that Killed His Harry Potter Image
You’ve never seen the former wizard like this before.
Daniel Radcliffe is one of the actors who made our childhoods special. While the role of Harry Potter will always be in our hearts, Radcliffe has managed to lose his round glasses and scar to give the fans many wild and eccentric roles.
1. The Woman in Black, 2012
The Woman in Black is the second film adaptation of Susan Hill's novel of the same name. The first one starred Harry Potter's father, actor Adrian Rawlins.
After years of playing the role of the wizard, the image of a young father in a gothic horror film became Daniel's adult debut, and the first attempt to move away from the role of Harry Potter.
Radcliffe plays Arthur, a young widower trying to balance his fatherly duties with working at a law firm. After a client dies, his bosses send him to the English countryside to prepare the deceased owner's house for sale.
The villagers are hostile and try their best to send the guest away. Despite the villagers' warnings, he arrives at the frightening mansion and sets off a series of mysterious child deaths, allegedly caused by the ghost of a woman in black.
2. Kill Your Darlings, 2013
The role of the young poet Allen Ginsberg was one of the first for Radcliffe after the end of Harry Potter. The actor was approved for the role in 2008, but was forced to turn it down due to filming in the final installments of the franchise.
Then work on the movie got stuck in the production stage, and when production finally started, Daniel was already free and able to join the project.
This is a very complicated story of the relationship between three young students of Columbia University – the future great writers Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac and William Burroughs, which takes place in the 40s of the 20th century.
All of them are representatives of the beatnik movement – they do not want to live according to the patterns of society, but want to create new literature.
3. The F Word, 2013
A rom-com about a guy with a broken heart is a story everyone has seen hundreds of times before. But it becomes unique and special for fans of the actor's work. First, Radcliffe is not a very common star in romantic comedies, and second, this is the first time he has played an ordinary guy living in the present time.
His character is twenty-year-old Wallace, who does not believe in love at all. His idea of this great feeling changes after he meets Chantry at a party. There is an immediate mutual sympathy between them – they understand that they are soulmates. But Wallace is in for another disappointment – Chantry has a boyfriend.
4. Horns, 2013
It was with this movie that the actor loudly declared himself one of the best young British actors, capable of playing anyone, including horned antagonists.
Ig is the main suspect in the murder of his girlfriend. The young man has a hard time coping with the loss: he drinks a lot and seems to have completely lost his faith in God.
After getting drunk, he breaks a statue of the Virgin Mary, and the next morning he wakes up with horns on his head. At the same time, those around him begin to tell him terrible secrets, and Ig understands that this is his key to finding the real killer.
5. Now You See Me 2, 2016
Daniel Radcliffe joined the cast of the sequel and got the part of a bad guy. This is a rare Hollywood film in the career of the actor who prefers to shoot in low-budget films by little-known directors.
The movie takes place one year after the events of the first movie, when the Four Horsemen cleverly tricked the secret service agents and became members of a mysterious order. Now the notorious illusionists are forced to hide from the authorities. To save their reputations, they reunite and embark on a new mission.
6. Swiss Army Man, 2016
One of the most controversial and definitely the most courageous roles of Daniel Radcliffe's career is the corpse in the indie dramedy Swiss Army Man.
The main character is stranded on a deserted island and is contemplating suicide when he suddenly notices the corpse of a man in an office suit on the shore.
A dead man helps him get off the island and then survive in difficult conditions. It turns out that a corpse has many advantages, just like a Swiss army knife.
7. Imperium, 2016
The movie is based on real events, and the prototype of Radcliffe's character was Special Agent Michael German, who spent many months inside neo-Nazi groups.
Playing an undercover agent completely freed Radcliffe from Harry Potter associations.
Nate Foster is an FBI agent, but his colleagues do not take him seriously and do not even allow him to carry a gun. When the Bureau receives information about a possible terrorist attack by neo-Nazis, Nate is shaved bald and sent to a gang of local skinheads. He must find the leaders of the racist movement and prevent a disaster.
8. Jungle, 2017
Jungle is another low-budget indie film in the actor's filmography, based on the real events of adventurer Yossi Ghinsberg.
Three adventurers set off into the Bolivian jungle, led by an experienced guide. Halfway through, the group decides to split up. Two of them will continue on through the impenetrable jungle, while the others will choose to raft down a wild river.
As a result, Radcliffe's character is swept away by the flow, and from that point on, the narrative focuses on his survival in the jungle.
9. Guns Akimbo, 2019
The action-comedy is a fast-paced movie with endless gunplay that pokes fun at computer games, reality shows and cyberbullying.
The actor portrayed a video game developer who finds himself in a real-life survival game. His only tools are two giant guns strapped to his hands.
Radcliffe manages to give his character depth, which is not easy in a genre filled with violence and bullets flying in all directions.
10. Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, 2022
Al Yankovic is one of the most successful comedy musicians in history. Many artists liked his parody songs – Michael Jackson, Dave Grohl of Nirvana and Lady Gaga approved of his work.
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story is not a biopic at all, although there are some facts about Yankovic's biography in the movie. This project is a big parody of the musical biopic genre.
Al himself invited Radcliffe to play the part. This was influenced by his performance on The Graham Norton Show in November 2010, where Daniel sang The Elements by Tom Lehrer in front of Colin Farrell and Rihanna.