The 'Craziest' Harry Potter Stunt Daniel Radcliffe Ever Did
For many people who grew up in the 1990s, the "Harry Potter" books and subsequent films were seminal milestones. They made scores of youngsters believe that one day they would receive a letter via owl to inform them they were about to hitch a train ride to Hogwarts, too. The franchise continues to live on, and for a generation of moviegoers, Daniel Radcliffe will always hold a special place in their hearts.
The actor has taken on a bevy of eclectic roles over the years since his time in the wizarding world came to an end. Right now, you can look forward to him appearing in Season 3 of "Miracle Workers" on TBS, but no matter what he has to promote, there's a 100% chance the conversation will eventually lead toward the Boy Who Lived.
2021 marks the 20th anniversary of "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" debuting in theaters. In a recent interview with Entertainment Tonight, the accomplished thespian discusses the odds of a cast reunion occurring. He serves as the bearer of bad news by stating, "I'm sure there will be some sort of celebration, but I don't know if we will be getting together or anything. I'm sorry if that's a bit of a disappointment to anyone." He goes on to mention his time filming the influential movies, and he offers this tidbit of the one insane stunt the director actually allowed him to do.
Daniel Radcliffe talks about the '40 foot fall' he did for Goblet of Fire
Stunt doubles have crucial roles on movie sets. They perform certain scenes so that a main actor doesn't go in harm's way. After all, if the lead suffers an injury, then there's a possibility production would have to suspend indefinitely, putting many people's jobs at risk. But sometimes, actors get a chance to show what they're capable of and perform stunts on their own.
For the ET piece, Radcliffe discusses one of the times he performed a dangerous stunt for "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire." He talks about being set up on a wire while he was in a 40-foot free fall. He was partly scared to do it, but he recalls the conversation he had about it beforehand: "I worked a lot with the stunt department by then, and they were like, 'You can do this. Do you want to try it?' And I said yes. But then I got up there and was absolutely terrified."
It may have been frightening in the moment, but in hindsight, the actor looks back on being able to do such an impressive stunt himself fondly. He goes on to say, "I've realized since that that was very special circumstances in that set, and I will never be allowed to do something like that again." It sounds like Radcliffe probably won't take the Tom Cruise approach to filming action movies any time soon, but as long as he continues selecting strange roles that continue to surprise, no one will complain.