Although he had wanted to be an actor for as long as he could remember, Daniel Radcliffe had to convince his parents to allow him to pursue his dream. The schoolboy had been encouraged to try out for a 1999 British TV version of Charles Dickens' "Oliver Twist" but his mother and father opposed the idea. When the opportunity to audition for another of Dickens' young heroes, this time "David Copperfield" (BBC, 1999), they relented. Surviving five callbacks, Radcliffe landed the role and earned glowing notices for his work. He also displayed a poise and screen charisma and more than held his own opposite such veterans as Bob Hoskins and Maggie Smith. Still, that was a mere warm-up for his first major film role. Radcliffe landed the highly coveted part of Harry Potter, the bespectacled young wizard of the popular series of books by author J K Rowling. The young actor beat out numerous other performers (including the much rumored Gabriel Thomson, who ironically had played another Dickens hero, Pip in 1999's "Great Expectations", and Liam Aiken, who had co-starred in director Chris Columbus' "Stepmom" 1998). Radcliffe received the imprimatur of author Rowling and was expected to be a breakout when "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" opened in theaters in November 2001.
Prior to filming Harry Potter he made his feature film debut as Jamie Lee Curtis' and Geoffrey Rush's screen son in John Boorman's The Tailor of Panama.
Now being 13 and staring a sequel to one of 2001's biggest movies (Harry Potter and the Chember of Secrets) Daniel is sure to win our hearts again!
