British actor Daniel Radcliffe hopes to debut on Broadway next year in a reprise of his London role in “Equus,” a performance where he shed not only his clothes but the mantle of Harry Potter.
Radcliffe won rave reviews for his performance as a tortured teenager during an eight-week run of Peter Shaffer’s grueling psychological thriller in London earlier this year, but said the prospect of acting in New York was “terrifying.”
“It will be amazing, but I will be terrified because I was talking to Richard Griffiths about playing New York and he said the most stupid thing you can do is underestimate New York audiences,” said Radcliffe, 18, in an interview with Reuters.
Griffiths, who appeared with Radcliffe in “Equus” in London and played “Uncle Vernon” in the Harry Potter movies, won a Tony Award in New York in 2006 for his role in “The History Boys.”
While promoting his latest movie “December Boys” in New York, Radcliffe — best known for bringing to life author J.K. Rowling’s boy wizard Harry Potter — said “Equus” could open late next year in New York.
“I would be very nervous because I think that (the audiences are) even more discerning than in London,” he said. “But I know we have a good show, it was a good show when we did it in London and hopefully if we do it again it will still be that good. It has to be better.”
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Celebrity Sightings
Media hype over Radcliffe’s nude scene in the play sparked more than $4 million in advance ticket sales in London.
“Equus” was first produced in London in 1973 to much critical acclaim and won a Tony Award for best play in 1975 during a long run on Broadway. It was adapted by Shaffer for a 1977 film starring Richard Burton and Peter Firth, which received three Oscar nominations in 1978.
“December Boys,” Radcliffe’s first movie role outside the Harry Potter films, opens in the United States, Britain and Australia this month. The movie tells the tale of four orphans growing up at a Catholic convent in outback Australia.