Happy Birthday Daniel Radcliffe: Exploring The Actor's 10 Best Roles Beyond Harry Potter As He Turns 35

Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe turns a year old today. Let's take a look some of his finest roles!

By Marita Pinto

Published on Jul 23, 2024 | 05:55 PM IST | 123K

Image Courtesy: Getty Images

Daniel Radcliffe is among the most talented and extraordinary actors of the modern era. At a very young age, Daniel Radcliffe gained fame worldwide, after his role as Harry Potter, the beloved and popular wizard who vanquished Voldemort. As he's grown older, Radcliffe's career has flourished and he consistently takes on parts that turn out to be incredibly funny, darkly challenging, or crazily unusual.

Although Radcliffe's portrayal of Harry Potter is undoubtedly one of his best, the actor has delivered some of the best performances in films over the years. Today, the actor turns a year older. So, without getting too attached to the Harry Potter series, let's look at some of his best roles!

Daniel Radcliffe's 10 Best Roles Beyond Harry Potter

1. Alfred Matthew Yankovic in Weird: The Al Yankovic Story

Even though Daniel Radcliffe has played several great parts after Harry Potter, his portrayal of the film's title musician in Weird: The Al Yankovic Story is without a doubt the actor's biggest, funniest, and oddest role to date.

The funniest aspect of Weird: The Al Yankovic Story is Daniel Radcliffe's acting, which consistently elevates the movie. The actor was nominated for an Emmy in the Outstanding Lead Actor category, and also won the 2023 Critics Choice Award for Best Actor.

2. Walter Mabry in Now You See Me 2

Walter Mabry, played by Radcliffe, is an eccentric billionaire and self-described sociopath who is searching for a fugitive device that will let him to access every computer on the earth.

The entertaining and lighthearted Now You See Me 2 may require viewers to extend their willing suspension of disbelief a bit too frequently, but the sheer joy Radcliffe is experiencing in this outrageously extravagant character more than makes up for the mental strain.

3. Yossi Ghinsberg in Jungle

One could be tempted to characterize Jungle as a dramatization of the true story of a man who, after becoming lost in the Amazon rainforest in 1981, had a terrifying brush with nature and managed to survive there on his own for three weeks.

The tale of Yossi Ghinsberg's survival many years ago is already incredibly captivating, but Radcliffe's flawless acting heightens the spell. How effortlessly he adjusts to such a demanding part is almost unnerving, as he portrays Yossi's struggle to overcome many obstacles and hold onto his life while maintaining his sincerity.

4. Arthur Kipps in The Woman In Black

The Woman in Black has every Gothic element required to make it a fun film to see. This was Daniel Radcliffe's first major post-Potter picture, and it was an attempt for him to make a name for himself.

It ranged from an unnerving haunted house to an incredibly unsettling ghost, the desire for retribution, and an overall dark mood. Drawing comparisons to Bram Stoker's Dracula, particularly in the opening scenes, the Hammer film succeeds in telling an engrossing tale that will undoubtedly give you chills.

5. Iggy in Horns

The 2013 film Horns featured Daniel Radcliffe in one of his first motion picture performances following the end of his role in the Harry Potter series. In Horns, Radcliffe plays Ignatius "Iggy" Perrish, a man who is coping with the knowledge that everyone in his tiny rural community thinks he killed his lover while also mourning her death. One morning when Iggy wakes up two demonic horns protrude from his forehead.

Daniel Radcliffe can make the audience accept a very ridiculous notion seriously. Thanks to Daniel Radcliffe's portrayal, audiences can see past his ridiculous horns and see him as a character who merely wants to clear his name and exact revenge on his girlfriend's killer.

6. Abigail Fairfax in The Lost City

Normally, Daniel Radcliffe plays heroes, but in The Lost City, the actor plays a villain, which is a sudden shift. The Lost City, directed by Aaron and Adam Nee, features Sandra Bullock as cover model Loretta Sage, who teams up with Channing Tatum as her cover model after being kidnapped by Daniel Radcliffe, a billionaire fan who wants the author to guide him to the ancient treasure from one of her books.

Daniel Radcliffe plays a villain and shows that he can carry off an antagonistic character in a movie. Though he receives some of the best laughs in the movie, Radcliffe's Abigail Fairfax is a villain with a more humorous tone.

7. Nate in Imperium

In Imperium, Radcliffe plays a young FBI agent named Nate, who decides to go undercover to infiltrate a white supremacist group to stop a terrorist attack from happening.

It is a thrilling, heart-pounding thriller—but not in the conventional sense. Daniel Radcliffe showed once more that he has the skills and determination to take on challenging parts. In Imperium, he even successfully adopted an American accent.

8. Tim Jenkin in Escape From Pretoria

The film portrays the narrative of Tim Jenkin (Radcliffe) and Stephen Lee (Daniel Webber), two individuals who were charged in 1979 by the South African government for their roles in organized resistance against the apartheid government. The film is a dramatization of horrifyingly true events.

The movie demonstrates that Radcliffe is capable of taking on very serious roles in biopics. In Pretoria Prison, Radcliffe portrays the despair and resolve of the real-life anti-apartheid activist Tim Jenkin.

9. Manny in Swiss Army Man

Swiss Army Man, which came out in 2016, is among Daniel Radcliffe's most highly regarded movies to date. Swiss Army Man, which is helmed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, In Swiss Army Man, Daniel Radcliffe gives a humorous physical performance that has a pivotal role in the success of the movie. But Daniel Radcliffe also succeeds in bringing the movie's poignant moments to life, which makes Swiss Army Man a critically acclaimed picture.

10. Wallace in What If

In the film What If, Daniel Radcliffe and Zoe Kazan play two young adults named Wallace and Chantry, who happen to meet at a party they weren't planning to attend. Michael Dowse directed this 2013 movie, which starred Adam Driver, Megan Park, Mackenzie Davis, and Rafe Spall among other actors.

Radcliffe spent a lot of his post-Harry Potter career trying to break out from the Harry Potter persona by playing parts in other genres and trying out dramatic roles. However, the most daring of them all may have been to merely portray a typical adult who may be a romantic lead actor.

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