Daniel Radcliffe could all the time be identified greatest for his star-making function as “Harry Potter,” however now he is additionally a Tony-nominated actor. Radcliffe stars alongside Jonathan Groff and Lindsay Mendez within the revival of “Merrily We Roll Along.”
The Stephen Sondheim musical tells the story of friendship between a songwriting duo and a theater critic pal and its unraveling in reverse. While the musical was Sondheim’s favourite, it flopped in its preliminary run, lasting solely 16 performances.
The revival of “Merrily We Roll Along” is now up for seven Tony awards, together with appearing nominations for all three stars.
On being a Tony-nominated actor
Radcliffe mentioned he’s thrilled in regards to the nominations. Coming out of the Harry Potter collection, he had no concept what would occur subsequent – and definitely did not count on to turn into a Tony-nominated actor.
“I do not suppose I’d’ve dared to imagine you,” Radcliffe mentioned.
“Merrily We Roll Along” opened on Broadway in October 2023 after a profitable off-Broadway run. Radcliffe mentioned his friendship with Groff and Mendez has solely grown all through the run and so have their lives.
But Radcliffe is not letting the Tony Awards distract him. While “ambivalent” about the opportunity of his personal win, it is a totally different story relating to Groff.
“I’ll burn the constructing to the bottom if Jonathan Groff would not win. Everyone else within the class is superb. That is true, however I’m very biased right here,” he mentioned with fun.
Juggling his Broadway profession and his private life has had its challenges, particularly as a brand new dad.
Radcliffe and his longtime girlfriend Erin Darke whom he met on the set of “Kill Your Darlings” welcomed their first son in 2023. As a brand new father, Radcliffe’s present schedule has allowed him to spend time throughout the day together with his son, however matinees complicate issues.
“Two-show days are significantly arduous and unhappy as a result of I go away within the morning after which he is very clearly asleep by the point I get again,” Radcliffe mentioned. “I do really feel like I see him the following morning, and I’m like, ‘Oh, you are a distinct human being. You have grown up a lot in these final 24 hours.'”
Taking on difficult roles
Since “Harry Potter,” Radcliffe has taken a slew of edgy roles on stage and in movie, together with enjoying a flatulent corpse in “Swiss Army Man,” an evil billionaire in “Lost City,” and Weird Al within the 2022 biopic. Radcliffe mentioned he has the distinctive and enviable privilege of being selective together with his roles, and he would not thoughts taking large swings.
“I’ve essentially the most enjoyable and I’m at my greatest when I’m somewhat bit scared that it is all going to go horribly mistaken any minute,” he mentioned.
That proves to be very true in theater. While it hasn’t usually gone mistaken for Radcliffe throughout the run of “Merrily We Roll Along,” it did not too long ago throughout his showstopping tune, “Franklin Shepard Inc.” when he mentioned he jumped a full two minutes of the tune.
In that second, Radcliffe felt like he “would possibly disappear down a gap however Groff and Mendez saved him going.
Radcliffe mentioned a second like that may in the end assist him keep sharp.
With his fifth Broadway present underneath his belt, Radcliffe is one thing of a veteran on the scene. Radcliffe made his Broadway debut in 2008 in “Equus,” a play that follows a toddler psychiatrist treating a younger man with an obsession with horses. This function got here after “Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince,” the franchise’s sixth film. He mentioned that he felt welcomed in New York after his “Harry Potter” days.
“Equus” was thought-about a daring alternative because it offers with non secular and sacrificial themes and required Radcliffe to seem on stage nude. But Radcliffe mentioned he knew that if he pursued stage appearing he could not select a simple function. He wanted to tackle one thing difficult sufficient to show that he was really pushing himself.
“At a time when the remainder of the world was being like, ‘You are all the time going to be Harry Potter,’ it was Broadway that form of went, Let’s see what else you are able to do,” Radcliffe mentioned.
Radcliffe would problem himself once more in 2011 when he took his first function in a musical “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying,” which he discovered “intimidating” at first.
When he met with director Rob Ashford, Radcliffe was assured he may act and sing the half, however he was adamant dancing was out of the query. With 18 months of follow earlier than the present opened, Radcliffe exceeded his expectations and mentioned performing “Brotherhood of Man” for the play was “one of many proudest issues” he has ever executed.
The 77th annual Tony Awards will air at 8 p.m. EDT on Sunday, June 16, on CBS and Paramount+.
