By the age of 22 Daniel Radcliffe’s films had already grossed over $7.7 billion at the box office, all of which was down to his role as Harry Potter in the beloved franchise.
But ever since “The Deathly Hallows – Part 2” brought an end to the series back in 2011 Radcliffe has focused on more eclectic roles and films. None of these efforts have come close to matching a fraction of Harry Potter’s financial success, but were met with more critical acclaim instead.
I recently had the opportunity to talk to Daniel Radcliffe over the phone about his latest role as Yossi Ghinsberg in “Jungle,” the real-life story of how the Israeli survived being stranded in the heart of the Amazon rainforest for weeks. During our conversation I asked Radcliffe how he now judges a film’s success, especially since Hollywood studios seemingly only use money as a barometer.
“Honestly, the way I judge how a film has been successful for me is: What was the experience I had on set? Was it good? Did I have a good time? Was I happy? And, am I happy with the final film? I have no control on what people see and what people go and see at the box office. There’s a huge disposition on people judging a film by its opening weekend and whatever. There’s a place for that and that is important.”
Radcliffe then went on to explain how, because of streaming websites like Netflix and Hulu, viewers now stumble upon his films months, sometimes even years, after they have been released. But he’s just happy that they’re able to find an audience at all, even if it takes time.
“I did ‘Imperium’ a couple of years ago. It came out and did well critically, but it didn’t do huge business, and nor did I expect it to. Then earlier this year I was doing a play, and suddenly everybody was talking to me about ‘Imperium.’ And I was like, ‘What the hell? How has everybody just watched it?’ And I guess it had just come out on Netflix or iTunes.”
“As long as it finds an audience eventually that doesn’t really matter to me. As long as you do good work and make good movies, that for me is its own reward. I’m in a position at the moment where I don’t have to worry about the box office. And I can’t control that so I shouldn’t worry about it. I used to stress about it a lot more but I have moved away from that.”
Be sure to check out Daniel Radcliffe’s latest acting venture in “Jungle,” which is now in theaters and On Demand/Digital HD.
