Daniel Radcliffe has an amazing career, and it all began when he was just a kid, scoring a dream role in the biggest film series in the world! There’s a lot more to him than just Potter though – keep reading to learn all about his theatre career, his favourite music, and why he broke so many wands on set! Then have a go at our Daniel Radcliffe quiz, learn all about Tom Felton aka Draco Malfoy, or check out these fun facts about everyone’s favourite gentle giant, Hagrid!

1. He acted before Harry Potter!

Harry Potter shot Daniel to international fame, but his first role came in the BBC’s adaptation of Charles Dickens’ classic novel David Copperfield! He played the title character as a young boy. The film also starred Maggie Smith, Imelda Staunton and Zoe Wanamaker – that’s Professor McGonagall, Umbridge and Madam Hooch!

2. He has dyspraxia

Daniel has dyspraxia, which is a neurological disorder that makes some physical tasks difficult – for example, Daniel says he sometimes has trouble writing or tying his shoelaces.

3. He can rap!

Daniel is a huge fan of rap and hip-hop, and rapped the song “Alphabet Aerobics” by Blackalicious on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. That is NOT an easy song to do!

4. He’s also a total nerd

Daniel’s fondness for fast lyrics also gets pretty dorky – he can sing the notoriously tricky “Element Song” by American musical comedian Tom Lehrer, which is the entire periodic table set to a very fast beat.

5. He found out he was Harry Potter in an unusual place

11-year-old Daniel was in the bath when his dad came in and told him he’d gotten the part of Harry Potter! He says it’s still one of the best moments of his life.

6. He’s very charitable

Daniel supports a LOT of charities. One of his favourites is Demelza Hospice Care for Children, a charity that helps terminally ill children and their families. He designed a bed for Habitat, with the proceeds going to Demelza, and also encourages his fans to donate to them. He’s also contributed to AIDS charities, and organisations supporting troubled youth.

7. He got “Sirius” about acting

Daniel says that he was mostly having fun making the first two Harry Potter films, which makes total sense as he was a kid! He started to get really serious about his performance in the Harry Potter films after working with Gary Oldman (Sirius Black) in The Prisoner of Azkaban. You can definitely see it in the films! Daniel described the Potter films as his acting lessons.

8. He’s not just a film actor

Daniel first appeared on stage at the age of thirteen, as a celebrity guest in The Play What I Wrote, which was directed by Kenneth Branagh (aka Gilderoy Lockhart)! He’s gone on to have a VERY rich career in theatre, including a starring roles in Broadway musical How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead at the Old Vic in London!

9. He’s musical!

Daniel broke over 80 prop wands while making the Potter films, because he kept using them as drumsticks! He also played the bass guitar in his teens (hopefully he broke fewer of them)!

10. He likes to mess with the paparazzi

Like most celebs, Daniel’s not a big fan of being papped when he’s out and about. He found a clever way around it when he starred in a play – he wore the same clothes leaving the theatre every night, which made most of the photos useless (no one wants lots of photos from the same night)! He’s also admitted to wearing reflective clothing, which ruins the photograph.

11. Fans want him as a superhero

Lots of X-Men fans think Dan would be a PERFECT fit for a reboot of the franchise, playing Wolverine! Daniel reckons it’s because Wolverine is kind of short in the comics, and Daniel is 5ft 5. It’s still a compliment!

12. He loves to get weird

Since finishing Harry Potter, Daniel’s spent most of his career doing indie movies playing strange characters. Most recently he played legendary comedy musician “Weird” Al Yankovic in a parody biopic – and he learned to play the accordion for the part!

13. He’s a poet

Daniel is a great writer, and has published several poems under his pen name Jacob Gershon (Jacob is his middle name, and Gershon is the Herbew version of his mother’s maiden name).

14. He’s an LGBT+ ally

Daniel has supported LGBT+ charity The Trevor Project, an Amerian charity that helps LGBT+ youth, for more than a decade. Recently he moderated a discussion with trans youth for the charity, and has also written in support of trans and non-binary people!

15. His favourite Potter film is Order of the Phoenix

Daniel says his favourite of the Potter films is number five, The Order of the Phoenix, because of the relationship between Harry and Sirius. Which one is YOUR fave?