Who is this kid called Dan Radcliffee

[hpoldfan]

Since things seem a little slow in the forum at the current time I 
thought it might be interesting to write about our favorite child 
actor from HP. Since so little is really know about the kids non-
public life (thank goodness) it is easy to speculate on what they 
are really like based on what we see in public. So I will start with 
my favorite, Dan.

Who is this Kid called Dan Radcliffe?

Since Dan sprang upon the scene a little more than two years ago his 
progress as an actor and growing maturity has fascinated me. I know 
that some people, mainly young ones take joy in Dan bashing, but I 
don't think that they are really paying attention to what he has 
accomplished.

At age 11 he starred in, really was, the second highest grossing 
picture ever, at 12 he repeated the feat with the third highest 
gross. Yet he appears as your normal kid next door. There seems to 
be no feeling of importance, no looking down on other actors, no 
spoiled demands. 

He has taken on the leadership roll as if it is a perfectly natural 
thing for a kid to do. He gives interviews like an adult, yet can 
still be nervous on a TV show. He always seems to be happy.
Doesn't 
he ever get mad, scream and shout? Does he go home and kick the cat 
and yell and scream at his parents? I think not.

How do his parents cope with his fame? He is arguably the most 
famous person on the planet! They must have many emotions about Dan. 
Extremely proud, hopes that he can keep it all together and have at 
least a semi-normal life, and in this day and age, fears about his 
safety. Do you tell this kid to take out the garbage? Pick up his 
room? He and his parents must have a really stable relationship.

He works hard to improve his acting. He is willing to listen to 
others on how to improve, something which is very hard for a young 
teen to do. He reminds me a lot of Ron Howard who worked hard at his 
craft and knew where he wanted to go in the film business. And Dan 
reminds me of another teenager, Ryan White the boy from Indiana that 
contacted AIDS. Ryan was a kid that stepped up to the challenges 
that were thrust upon him, and made some important changes in how 
the world viewed AIDs victims. And for a time Ryan was at least the 
most famous kid on the planet. And while Ryan was a true hero, as 
his life was threatened because of his stand, and Dan hopefully is 
not, they both had/have the courage to take on whatever is presented 
to them. And do it very very well.


Watching HPCS for the fifth time I suddenly realized that if you 
take a picture of Dan as Harry Potter and compare it to a picture of 
Dan Radcliffe as Dan they don't really look alike. Dan changes as 
the cameras begin to roll. Not many actors seem to have this ability 
to mold themselves to the roll. The only current actor I can think 
of off the top of my head is Tom Hanks although there are others.

After the release of HPSS Dave Hayman commented in an interview that 
Dan was an old soul. And I and not sure exactly what that means, but 
you can see it in Dan's eyes, his thoughtful answers to
questions, 
and his all around good cheer.


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