Warning! This article contains SPOILERS for The Menu.The Menu almost cast Daniel Radcliffe in a key role, but its better that they didn’t. The Menu opens with 12 guests boarding a boat bound for a private island to take part in an exclusive dinner experience at Hawthorn, a restaurant owned by celebrity chef Julian Slowik, played by Ralph Fiennes. The Menu uses the guests to reflect on social inequalities as themes of social justice and a critique of celebrity culture pervades throughout the film as Chef’s plan to kill everyone becomes evident to guests and viewers alike.
Not only is The Menu a successful film as it is, but the actors seem to fit perfectly well with the characters they play and among each other. Therefore, the fact that the cast of The Menu was originally different may come as a surprise given that The Menu is centered around its ensemble cast. In April 2019, Emma Stone was initially announced as the lead of the film, opposite Fiennes’ Chef, before she was replaced by Anya Taylor Joy to play Margot Mills. Moreover, in the early stages of The Menu, Daniel Radcliffe was also considered for an important role.
Daniel Radcliffe Could Have Played The Menu’s Movie Star
One of the guests at Hawthorn is a washed-up movie star and his personal assistant. Through the film, the movie star makes a big deal of being recognized for his former fame and knowing big-name celebrities like Chef Slowik himself, although this is soon revealed to be a lie. As viewers find out, the reason Chef wants to kill the movie star is because of his involvement in a terrible movie that bombed at the box office and ruined one of his few days off. The role of the movie star is played by John Leguizamo in The Menu but Daniel Radcliffe was initially considered for this role.
The Menu features hints at Chef’s plan as the movie progresses as well as more details about the guests’ lives and relationships with each other. In the case of the movie star, viewers find out more about his relationship with his assistant and his plans to revamp his career before he inevitably dies at the end of the film. Throughout The Menu, he is often one of the most shocked guests at Chef’s words as he slowly realizes what is happening. Another actor playing this part would have inevitably changed the character of the movie star and perhaps the whole tone of The Menu, but this would be especially true with Radcliffe.
Daniel Radcliffe As The Menu’s Movie Star Wouldn’t Have Worked
Although Radcliffe has demonstrated his versatility and talent as an actor with movies like Weird Al and Kill Your Darlings after starring in his most famous role as the titular character in the Harry Potter films, Leguizamo was probably the right choice for The Menu. While he could have certainly played the part of an entitled and spoiled Hollywood actor whose fame is decreasing, and it would have been interesting to see Radcliffe play an unlikable character, this would have ultimately hurt The Menu overall.
Casting Radcliffe in a role opposite to Fiennes would have perhaps called back to the Harry Potter movies too much and the two actors may have unconsciously fallen into similar styles to their previous roles, taking away from the uniqueness of The Menu and its own storyline. In addition to this, the presence of Radcliffe and Fiennes playing enemies in a film once again would have been distracting, and would also change the entire dynamic between the rest of the cast in the film. With such a small cast, the chemistry is essential to the success of the film and the interaction between the characters of The Menu is part of what makes it such a good product, so not casting Radcliffe was the right call.
