Daniel Radcliffe Talks Transition From Screen To Stage

The 'Harry Potter' star faced 'a lot of challenges' preparing for the Broadway musical 'How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.'
By Terri Schwartz, with reporting by Josh Horowitz

Daniel Radcliffe
Photo: MTV News

Daniel Radcliffe has had an impressive debut on Broadway with his lead role in the musical "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying," but the transition from film to stage did not come easy for the "Harry Potter" star.

When Radcliffe sat down for an interview with MTV News on Thursday, he said that even after the play's glowing reviews and the praise heaped on his performance, he still didn't feel completely at ease with his abilities in the role.

"No, not at all. Not in the slightest. I kind of still don't," Radcliffe said in response to whether he felt comfortable as a Broadway star. "But I am doing it and it was just a matter of, a lot of other people had faith in me."

There were two people in particular — the production's choreographer and its director, Rob Ashford — whose faith in Radcliffe inspired the actor to suffer through the difficult training process. Radcliffe, who has never had to sing or dance for a role in his life, noted that "there were a lot of challenges" he faced during his transition period onto the stage, but he did admit that everything he achieved for the musical he did with hard work.

"With the dance, particularly, there were some days when I was just so tired halfway through," Radcliffe explained. "There was one time when I was in my dance class and we were like two-and-a-quarter hours in and I just have 45 minutes left, and I was like, 'How am I going to get through the last 45 minutes of this lesson?' And I actually went to the toilet, sat down on the toilet with the lid down, [set] my phone alarm for five minutes and just went to sleep for like five minutes and I just woke up thinking, 'Jesus, I'm not sure I'm going to be able to hack it if I can't even get through a lesson.' "

But Radcliffe has been able to "hack it," and has surpassed many expectations to deliver a solid Broadway performance. It's why he started training for the role a year in advance, and why he made sure he had ample time off from the "Harry Potter" set to be ready for the part.

"You do have to get your levels of ability up to standard, but also your levels of fitness and stamina," said Radcliffe of his training process. "It's been kind of beneficial to me in every area of my personal health and life, as well as just kind of being able to keep in step with Broadway."

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Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1662123/daniel-radcliffe-screen-to-stage.jhtml

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