Daniel Radcliffe stars in Weird: The Al Yankovic Story that begins steaming next week. It’s been well received so far. I didn’t know Evan Rachel Wood plays the “villain” in the film: Madonna – Ha! She and Daniel spoke to Newsweek to promote the project and veered into a discussion on being child stars. Evan started acting at age seven, earning a Golden Globe nomination at the age of 13. Daniel’s career, of course, went meteoric in the Harry Potter franchise at the age of 10. Daniel told Newsweek that if and when he has kids, he hopes they stay out of the spotlight. He’d be thrilled if they find another career in film, but he hopes fame passes them by.
Radcliffe started acting professionally at the age of ten before going on to international stardom when he was cast as Harry Potter. While he wouldn’t recommend young actors take the same path to stardom as he did, there were some perks to his upbringing.
“I want my kids, if and when they exist…I would love them to be around film sets,” he told Newsweek. “A dream would be for them to come onto a film set and be like ‘God, you know, I’d love to be in the art department. I’d love to be something in the crew.’ Some part of this, but not from that.”
“And also I think we’re saying this as people who have alright,” Radcliffe continued, referring to himself and Wood sat beside him, “and we’re still acting so clearly, we enjoyed it. But still, I wouldn’t want fame for my kid.”
[From Newsweek]
This isn’t exactly shocking coming from Daniel. We know that he struggled as a child actor. His experiences of feeling isolated within his fame sound bleak. I can understand not wanting to see his kids navigate that. Plenty of celebrity parents have said similar for their kids and they didn’t hit it big until they were at least legally adults. It’s nice, though, to see Daniel say he hopes his hypothetical children find appreciation for filmmaking. He still loves his job, he just doesn’t think it’s a place for kids.
Evan agreed with everything Daniel said. She went on to say that while she felt acting teaches kids empathy, how to be present and how to express themselves, she didn’t think “children should have ‘careers.’” I’ve had a job since I was 10 years-old by choice. If I had to go back and do it again, I would. But they were jobs, like cleaning, retail, waitressing until I got my ‘career’ jobs in my 20s. I think the distinction Daniel and Evan are making is important. A kid can pursue interests and even make some money, but they shouldn’t have to start managing their whole future with all its obstacles and pressures at such a young age.
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