Chris Columbus recalled seeing a “haunted quality” in Daniel Radcliffe that convinced him the boy would be a perfect Harry Potter.
While talking to GQ about his most iconic films, Columbus remembered that all eyes were on them as they looked for the perfect Harry Potter. The director thought he spotted something when he saw Radcliffe in an adaptation of “David Copperfield.”
“I remember calling David Heyman and I said, ‘This kid, Daniel Radcliffe, I want to see him,’” Columbus said. “And David said his family is not interested in him being in the movie, so there was that process. But eventually, Daniel agreed to screen test.”
He continued: “A lot of people were not interested in Daniel, and I thought Daniel had this haunted quality about him that none of the other kids had. Harry Potter had a haunted quality, both of his parents had been killed so he was walking around carrying this tragedy.”
Radcliffe got the gig and starred as The Boy Who Lived for the next decade across eight films, adapting the seven books by JK Rowling. The actor is keenly aware of Columbus’ impact on his career. In his own discussion with GQ about his iconic roles, he explained that the director is responsible for all the career that followed.
“I don’t think anyone could have started the series in the way that Chris did,” he said. “I don’t think anyone else could have wrangled 30 kids and kept us all focused and happy in the way that he did.”
Radcliffe added: “”I’m incredibly lucky to have worked with all of them, but honestly the person that I think had the greatest influence on me out of all of those [directors] is Chris Columbus.”
