Film and television roles have a way of sticking with actors long after a movie or TV series has ended. Although he’s had a tremendous career playing dozens of different characters, is there anyone who looks at Harrison Ford and doesn’t immediately think Han Solo or Indiana Jones? Ford was lucky, he not only continues to work outside of his most recognizable franchises but if he’s going to be linked to iconic roles, his big two are not the sort of thing one thumbs their nose at. And while his career is just now entering what might be thought of as its second phase, Daniel Radcliffe shares something in common with Ford in that he will likely never shake an association with the boy who lived, Harry Potter.
Still, Radcliffe has proven himself a versatile actor in the time since he last donned his Gryffindor scarf and guzzled butter beer with Ron and Hermione. This year alone, he’s appeared in a wide variety of films from the indie hit Swiss Army Man to the summer sequel Now You See Me 2, and even as a tense undercover cop in Imperium. And that’s on top of the other films and television series he’s appeared in since the Harry Potter franchise wrapped up its eight-part saga in 2011. Despite working steadily in other roles, Radcliffe is frequently asked about a possible return to the character and the series that made him a household name, a question that was recently given new life as rumors of a possible Cursed Child trilogy began swirling around Warner Bros.
While the studio has denied that such a film project is in the works, such rumors will continue to roam the internet like Nearly Headless Nick haunts the corridors of Hogwarts. Those rumors, then, will inevitably be turned into questions any time an intrepid reporter manages to get a few minutes with a busy actor like Radcliffe. And that’s just what THR did in a recent interview where the one-time boy wizard discussed whether or not he’d play the character again and then answered a bigger question by saying he wouldn’t have a problem if another actor took on the role of an older Harry Potter.
Radcliffe said:
“I’m never going to close the door; that would be a stupid thing to do. But I think I’ll be happy enough and secure enough to let someone else play it.
At the moment it’s not even a concern because I’m too young to play the character, but even in 10 years’ time I would still feel strange about going back to it.”
As Radcliffe points out, at the age of 27 he’s a ways away from portraying a middle-aged Harry. And while the studio could waive their own magic wand in the form of some expensive Benjamin Button-style special effects to make him, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, and the rest of the cast wear the tired, brooding mask worn by most parents of school-aged children, it might be in the best interest of the character and the franchise to let the actors do their aging naturally. Besides, as he goes on to point out, a return to a series as massive as Harry Potter isn’t one to be taken lightly, especially considering how much money is potentially at stake. One false move could be the difference between The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit – or, as Radcliffe is eager to point out, the original Star Wars trilogy and its prequels.
“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. So I don’t want to go back to anything like that and maybe sour what people have already loved.”
There’s been little word on the supposed Cursed Child film series since Warner Bros. denied interest in making one, so perhaps it really is on the backburner for the time being. But if the studio did decide to move forward and to cast another actor closer to Harry’s age as he’s depicted in the new play, it could turn out to be one of the riskier moves any studio has made in terms of casting. Although it would make perfect sense and might even provide the former child actors some distance from the roles that continue to define their careers, one has to wonder whether or not such a decision would sink the films before they were even made or spark a renewed interest in the franchise?
–
Screen Rant will have more news for you on a possible Harry Potter: The Cursed Child movie as details are made available. Meanwhile, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them will be in theaters on November 18, 2016.
