Daniel Radcliffe was uninterested in acting before being cast as Harry Potter, recalls film's casting director

Daniel Radcliffe shot into the limelight with the portrayal of Harry Potter, The Boy Who Lived, and remains insanely popular among Potterheads. The actor turns 31 today.

The actor, after the franchise came to an end, has starred in films like What If, Kill Your Darlings (as the poet Allen Ginsburg), The Woman in Black, Victor Frankenstein, and Guns Akimbo. He has also starred in stage plays like Equus and the Broadway musical How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. 

However, Janet Hirshenson, the casting director of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, in a 2015 interview, recalled how Radcliffe was uninterested in continuing a career in acting before he was selected to play the lead character. “He just wasn’t interested. He didn’t want to be an actor anymore,” she said.

Hirshenson told  Huffington Post  that the makers were very specific about who they wanted to play Harry Potter, and Radcliffe fit the bill.

It was only after the producer of the films David Heyman persuaded Radcliffe’s father to send the young actor for the audition, did the miracle happen.

After Radcliffe auditioned, the makers’ options were narrowed down to two, Ultimately, Radcliffe bagged the role because the actor had the “vulnerable” and “powerful” side to him that the role demanded.

Before playing the legendary wizard, Radcliffe had essayed the role of young David Copperfield in 1999’s David Copperfield. He had also landed a role in the movie  The Tailor of Panama  that came out in 2001.

This was followed by successful screen tests of Emma Watson for Hermoine Granger and Ruper Grint for Ron Weasley, Harry’s best friends.