It helps that Radcliffe is quite a charmer. Seated on the 92Y stage in a sharp pair of brown corduroys, sneakers and grey sport coat, the Boy Who Lived handled a wide range of questions from host Jordan Roth with easy aplomb. Everything from politics to religion to what bands Radcliffe is currently listening to on his iPod (Slow Club, if you're interested) was discussed, as was his life in the Harry Potter spotlight and what he's planning to do next. Here are some highlights.
Don't think Daniel Radcliffe is upset about not getting a Tony Award nomination.
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying received eight Tony Award nominations last week, but none for its star. "It's such a competitive year, particularly in that category -- in male leading," said Radcliffe about the perception that he was snubbed. "There's so many of us this year. The fact that I'm even being talked about in the same circles of some of the people who have been nominated -- particularly Tony Shelton (Priscilla Queen of the Desert) -- is amazing to me. To be talked about on that level, and people say, 'Well he belongs in that company;' that's incredible for me."
If only everyone felt the same way. "The thing that shocked me was everybody else's reaction to me, and how they started treating me -- because it was like I lost a relative," Radcliffe said. "It was so -- in my opinion -- sweet, but over the top [...] I said Tammy Blanchard -- who is brilliant in our show and nominated for best featured actress -- I said to her, 'Tammy, you know I'm all right, right?' And then I saw that same comment in print, in an interview she'd done, and it looked like I was going 'You know I'm OK?' I'm glad you are all here -- it's impossible for you to hear that story through print and not go, "Oh, God he sounds a bit... y'know.' It's so strange."
Not that he would even care all that much about any acting nomination in the first place.
"The reason that we do this job -- while it's lovely, and getting recognized by your peers is always lovely, it's not the reason that we do it," said Radcliffe about awards fever in general. "People who do this job in order to get awards and recognition are kind of worshiping at the wrong altar, and I'm not really quite sure if I want to know those people. It's a very strange way -- I think -- to live, is to being obsessed with getting recognition. Because what happens when you get it? You're going to give up?"
A young Radcliffe wasn't all that aware about how much his life would change with Harry Potter.
"I had no idea how big it was," he said about his big break. "I hadn't read it. No, I had read the first two; but I was not a part of the Harry Potter phenomenon up until I became Harry Potter."
Though he's certain anyone who played Harry would have become a worldwide star.
"Harry Potter was a phenomenon when I was 7, that's when it came out; it was a phenomenon before I was even remotely attached," he said. "The reason I say [that anyone who played him would have become famous], and the thing that made me realize this -- I was speaking to the director of the first Twilight film [Catherine Hardwicke]. She said she went to a reading of the books -- Stephenie Meyer was giving a reading of the first Twilight book; this was before Robert Pattinson was cast. And she said the name Edward Cullen, and the audience went crazy. At the name. I'm sure if the demographic had been slightly different, the reaction would be the same for Harry Potter at a J.K. Rowling reading. Whoever stepped into that was going to receive a certain amount of attention and -- dare I say -- adulation. Which is not -- in my opinion -- justified, because I know me," Radcliffe said with his signature modesty. "I'm not anything special or big to fuss about."
The screaming girls holding handmade signs expressing their love for Radcliffe wholeheartedly disagreed with this notion.
Radcliffe might be more like Harry Potter than his fans even know.
"My family started getting convinced [that] as the books kept coming out, Harry was getting more similar to me," he said with a laugh. "Or I was getting more similar to Harry. I've always been a brat in arguments. Harry is very like me in all the arguments; he becomes very defensive and very sort of snide and a bit smart-alecky. That's kind of how I am in an argument. So when we read it, we were like, 'How did she know?'"
The best preparation for the rest of Radcliffe's film career occurred on the set of Harry Potter.
"I love being on a film set. I know my way around it. Once you spend ten years on a film set like Potter, which is always chaotic and mad -- whenever I go off and do an independent film they always go, 'Oh, it's not like this on Potter.' It's worse! It's always mad, chaotic, crazy, wonderful. But there is very little that ever happens on any film set I could go on to now that I wouldn't know how to react to. That's why it's a place of real comfort to me."
Still, he feels like film is not his strongest performance medium.
"At the moment I think I'm better on stage than I am in film. I think on film -- I was talking to a friend about this today actually -- on film you have to go in and out a bit; whereas on stage you're just there for the whole two and a half hours. In a sense you're going in and out of character -- go back into the dressing room and play Words with Friends for two minutes..."
The crowd, apparently big Words with Friends fans, roared at this mention.
What Radcliffe really wants to do is direct.
"Films would be my first love I think, just because I grew up there. I would love to one day definitely get behind the camera and direct. I think that's maybe where I end up," he said to approval from the talkative crowd. "I'd certainly like to do something in that direction."
What would he direct? "It wouldn't be an epic fantasy," Radcliffe laughed. "I'd like to make small films, I think."
No pressure for future child stars, but Daniel Radcliffe has put them on notice.
"Here's the thing," Radcliffe said about the example he's setting in his transition from child star to adult actor, "if I can do it -- in the biggest film franchise of all-time in terms of grosses -- no one else has any excuses. I just want the next generation of child actors to not have to answer all those bloody questions in interviews, 'So, how long do you expect this to last?' Essentially, that is what we get asked. A lot. I have had that phrased that way. So I just want the next lot of kids who want to act not to have to deal with those questions."
If child stars do face those questions, however, it will be best if they don't find themselves plastered on gossip sites very often.
"There are people that would love -- the sad truth is that people love a train wreck. People talk all the time about young people -- particularly in Hollywood -- who get into trouble," Radcliffe said about the image problems some young stars face. "First of all, it's none of your business what they're going through. Second of all, you have no comprehension about what they're going through, so don't pass judgment on it."
Radcliffe knows that even he has potential to wind up in the celebrity barrel -- not that he'd ever let that happen. "I find all that stuff very distressing, but people are interested in it and people would love to see it from me. When I switch on the TV and watch a program I really don't like where there's people sitting around chatting and passing judgment on people... I don't ever want to be the person they're talking about. It's sad, but as soon as you are somebody in the public eye who is showing up a lot, you are theirs to debate on every level. I'm not comfortable with that."
[Photo: Getty Images]