December 20, 2005
Daniel Radcliffe as ritual abuser!
There's not been a lot of really interesting news round of late, but this story really has caught my attention. The Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe is rumoured to be in talks to star in a West End play directed by Kenneth Branagh as a boy who blinds six horses in a ritual act!
From The Guardian comes the mouth watering news.
According to the Daily Mail, Radcliffe could appear in Equus, Peter Shaffer's highly-regarded play about a young stablehand who ritually blinds six horses. If the story is confirmed, it would be an interesting change of role for the man most associated with the boy-wizard: the plot involves the hero reaching the height of sexual ecstasy while riding a horse.
Wow, that really would break him from type and the franchise of Potter, and to be quite frank it would be a superb move, controversial roles never hurt an actor keen to change direction. Not only would it create an entirely different career for him on stage, but if he pulls off the role then he could really show what worth he has as an actor without the franchise vehicle he's currently on. I love to see this kind of switch of roles for an actor, no matter who or what age. Surely this has to have fans excited?
Posted by at December 20, 2005 11:19 AM
Comments
Posted by: nilblogette at December 20, 2005 01:16 PM
Yuck.
Posted by: Alfredo at December 20, 2005 08:08 PM
I remember this some years ago. It will be interesting to see if he pulls it off. And it would be good to change directions. Maybe this will get him out of the child actor into more adult rolls.
Donna A.
Posted by: Donna A. at December 20, 2005 08:24 PM
This will be the greatest breakout role since Elizabeth Berkley stared in Showgirls!! No wait that not good...
Posted by: frankwolftown at December 21, 2005 01:34 AM
Daniel is but a boy. giving him roles other than that would show what skills he has(good or otherwise)
would be interesting to see him in any other role than the potter.
Posted by: pablo at December 21, 2005 02:38 AM
Equus is a heck of a play, and the '77 Lumet version has one of the best performances Richard Burton ever gave. He plays the boy's shrink who's going through the mother of all existential crises. It's a role that (I think) Anthony Hopkins originated on stage.
The guy who played the kid, Peter Firth, went on to do absolutely nothing in filmland. I guess playing a sub-mental religious nut who blinds horses doesn't attract the chicks the way you'd think it would.
And yeah, there's lots of man-wang in it. It also has a nekkid Jenny Agutter, but name me one seventies film that doesn't.
Posted by: Brian at December 21, 2005 03:38 PM
I hope he's watching Lumet's version before committing to this. I love the Potter, but I don't know if he has the acting chops to pull it off, and I can see him losing his gig as Harry if he does it. The original had a whole lot of nudity and was pretty disturbing.