Clearly, Alan Rickman respected and liked Daniel Radcliffe, but he wasn’t completely sure that the young boy would grow up and become a great actor. According to excerpts from his diaries released in The Guardian, he believed Radcliffe might be better suited to a career based in another part of the industry.
“[Radcliffe]’s so concentrated now,” Rickman wrote in his diary. “Serious and focused – but with a sense of fun. I still don’t think he’s really an actor but he will undoubtedly direct/produce.” Radcliffe reacted to the comments during a 2022 appearance on Bravo’s late night show “Watch What Happens Live” with Andy Cohen, telling the host he’d love to direct rather than produce. “Producing seems like all the hard parts of the industry without any of the fun,” he stated, “so I don’t really have an interest in doing that, but yeah, I would love to [direct].”
With all due respect to the late Rickman, he couldn’t have been more wrong; Radcliffe has spent his post-“Potter” years seeking out weird, inventive, and fascinating projects on both stage and screen, pulling them off handily. From his quirky villain role in “The Lost City,” to his many roles on “Miracle Workers,” to the time he played Weird Al Yankovic in a truly “Weird” biopic, Radcliffe has a lot of fun as an actor, and he’s constantly growing and evolving. That trend continues with his role in “Merrily We Roll Along,” so it’s safe to say Rickman would be quite proud of where his co-star has gone.
