Daniel Radcliffe Initially Refused Harry Potter Audition
Daniel Radcliffe almost missed out on playing Harry Potter as his parents turned down the opportunity for him to audition for the role.
Daniel Radcliffe's parents turned down his chance to audition for 'Harry Potter'.
The British actor shot to fame after portraying the boy wizard in all eight movies in the series but he almost didn't get the chance to play the role because the initial commitment was so huge and his mum and dad only allowed him to try out when the contract was scaled down to two films.
He explained to The Hollywood Reporter: "[Director] Chris Columbus had seen [me in] 'David Copperfield' and said, 'I want to audition this boy'.
"They went to my parents, and, at the time, the deal was to sign on for, I think, six films, all to be done in LA, and my mum and dad simply said, 'That's too much disruption to his life. That's not gonna happen'.
"I didn't know any of that had gone on. And then, maybe three, four months down the line, the deal had changed, and it was going be to shoot two films, and they'd both be done in England, and so they said, 'OK, we'll let him audition.' And then it all went from there, really."
Daniel also spoke of his pride of how the 'Harry Potter' franchise reinvigorated the British film industry.
He said: "I won't be able to look at any of these films without remembering what they did for the British film industry at a time when it wasn't doing great -- it's now flourishing, but in the early half of the decade, you know, there was nothing happening, and films were closing, and 'Potter' was the only, kind of, sure-thing happening in England."