Alan Rickman Saw Daniel Radcliffe in “Every Piece of Stage Work” He Ever Did
Daniel Radcliffe joined Josh Horowitz on a recent episode of his Happy Sad Confused podcast, where they discussed Daniel’s role in the Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along and his fond memories of his late Harry Potter costar Alan Rickman, who passed away in 2016 at age 69.
While discussing his work on Merrily We Roll Along, in which Radcliffe plays one of the three leading roles alongside Jonathan Groff and Lindsay Mendez, Horowitz played Daniel a clip of Alan Rickman from ten years ago, in which he was talking about Radcliffe’s work on stage.
It’s only in recent years that, for example, I’ve managed to sit down in a cafe in New York with Daniel. At one point, he was down the road in one theater, and I was up the road in another. Huge pride to go and see him in the musical [‘How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying’]. And you say, ‘How dare he be dancing as well as the New York dancers.’
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Daniel thanked Horowitz for showing him the clip, which he had not seen before.
Having appeared in all eight Harry Potter films with Rickman, Radcliffe then admitted that at first, he was just as wary of Rickman as Harry was of Severus Snape.
I was so intimidated by Alan Rickman, ’cause how could you not be by that voice? Even hearing that voice, you forget quite how low that voice was until it echoes through you. I was so intimidated by him for the first three movies. I was terrified of him, and I was like, ‘This guy hates me.’
Alan Rickman and Daniel Radcliffe in “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.”
Alan Rickman even “cut short a vacation in Canada” to watch Daniel in the Broadway production of Equus, in which he started alongside another Potter costar, the late Richard Griffiths (Vernon Dursley), from 2008 to 2009. Daniel continued,
He saw every piece of stage work I ever did while he was alive. He would take me out afterwards. We would talk about it. He was one of the first people to say, ‘Hey, you should look at voice coaching, Alexander technique, and all this stuff’…
I’m so, so lucky to hear him say that. That’s really lovely. Thank you for showing me that.
Daniel is currently starring in Broadway’s Merrily We Roll Along at the Hudson Theatre in New York.
