The boy wizard had little difficulty in making things disappear. A shake of the wand here, a polyjuice potion there. Daniel Radcliffe, however, can’t call upon Harry’s cloak of invisibility and has asked The Big Issue to help him say ‘evanesco’.
Radcliffe has attracted a spotlight like no other for more than a decade after first slipping on the Potter round spectacles. Small in stature (and boasting a scruffy long-haired, unshaven look, for which he apologised when he met The Big Issue), yet colossal in name.
The 24-year-old grew up firmly in the public eye and would happily step from under the spotlight if he was allowed to go about his business quietly and with little personal attention.
Selling The Big Issue would undoubtedly be a challenge, especially for me and Rupert
“We’ve lived our lives in a certain bubble, which has changed the way people relate and talk to you,” Radcliffe said of himself and fellow Hogwarts alumnus Rupert Grint, both proving there’s life long beyond Gryffindor when they recently collected a pair of top prizes apiece at the WhatsOnStage Awards.
“As actors we are afforded a certain attitude towards us, and this is a very privileged way to walk through the world. To swap that and get a taste for how a huge amount of people are treated in the world would be a rewarding experience.”
Radcliffe was contemplating what it would be like to swap the stage for the streets to try his hand at selling The Big Issue. Inspired by the exploits of fellow theatre favourites and recent guest Big Issue vendors Alison Steadman and Haydn Gwynne, Radcliffe and Grint are open to the idea.