Daniel Radcliffe Finally Makes Comic-Con Debut, Gets Serenaded by Fans
Daniel Radcliffe starred in eight films in the Harry Potter series, the most successful movie franchise of all time. Somehow, though, the actor never landed at San Diego Comic-Con throughout the course of that fantasy behemoth’s 11-year run. That changed today as Radcliffe arrived in Hall H to for the panel for his upcoming “tragi-horror-comedy” Horns.
The 6000-something fans in attendance made Radcliffe feel at home as moderator Dave Karger (Fandango) led them in serenading the actor with a rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’ (Radcliffe turned 25 two days ago).
Radcliffe was joined by Horns director Alexandre Aja and novelist Joe Hill. Naturally the conversation centered around the October release, a film about a man in the Pacific Northwest who starts to sprout horns after his girlfriend (Juno Temple) is mysteriously murdered and he’s pinpointed as the primary suspect. The actor told a particularly amusing anecdote about how at one point, while wearing a 6-foot python snake around his neck, he was directed to jump in a Gremlin and jet away. It was then he had to alert the filmmakers that he didn’t know how to drive; lessons followed. He also mentioned listening to a lot of Metallica and Megadeth to nail down his character manner of speaking, revealing he mastered the American accent by using it on his action figures when he was younger.
The Con’s love for Potter showed itself throughout the course of the presentation, starting with Karger’s mention that Radcliffe’s outfit in Horns just so happened to have the same color scheme of Harry’s Gryffindor’s house (“It was pointed out to me afterwards,” Radcliffe said, “I’ve not gotten to the point in my career where I’ve started to reference other films I’ve been in in other films”) and continually throughout the fan question session (with at least a few questions asked by Congoers in crimson-and-gold Potter wear).
One fan asked Radcliffe about how his transition has been so far from The Boy Who Lived to adult stage and screen star. “It’s been fantastic. I won’t lie, there was a time near the end of Potter that I did start to get a little worried,” he said. “I wasn’t before but then journalists started to come up to me and [asking], ‘Do you think your best years are behind you?’ At 20! So that does get in your head a little bit.” He credited his work in the dark play Equus in New York and London (where he appeared nude) as sending “a signal of intent to people.”
Radcliffe later elaborated on the challenges of finding the right roles and how his iconic part might cast a shadow over new gigs in a post-Potter landscape: “There may have been, and I’m sure there still are, a lot of people who just see me as Harry, but it only takes one director to not. And to give you the opportunity to prove you’re something else. And I’ve been lucky so far in that I’ve had four or five directors who have taken a chance on me and wanted to see me do something different.” He also addressed the baggage that comes with the “child star” label: “I believe that the film industry was the making of me and is responsible for the person I am and I’m very grateful for it, it’s a great place to grow up.”
Karger closed the panel by asking Radcliffe if his first Comic-Con experience measured up to his expectations: “It was fantastic, I have many memories, particularly ‘Happy Birthday,’” Radcliffe responded. “So thank you very much.”
Photo credit: Joe Scarnici/Getty Images
