(Credit: Warner Brothers)

At just 35, Daniel Radcliffe has already cemented his place as one of Britain’s most cherished actors. While he continues to carve out a distinct path in cinema, Radcliffe will always be remembered as the world’s favourite wizard, Harry Potter, many of those reminders can be found on Netflix right now.

Despite his relatively young age, Radcliffe’s acting career spans over two decades, given that he made his debut at just ten years old in the BBC One television film David Copperfield. Radcliffe’s introduction to the arts quickly escalated when, later that same year, he was cast in the lead role of one of the most successful film franchises in history. Over the next decade, he starred in all eight Harry Potter movies, catapulting him to global fame and establishing him as one of the highest-paid actors in the world.

Alongside Rupert Grint and Emma Watson, Radcliffe would grow as an artist and a person in the gaze of the watching world, maturing from child actor to leading man. “Working hard is important,” he once said. “But there is something that matters even more, believing in yourself.” It is this sentiment that shows just how much of a transformative effect working on such a big project had on the young actor.

“I used to be self-conscious about my height, but then I thought, fuck that, I’m Harry Potter,” he comically added.

Of course, Radcliffe is correct to believe in himself. Very few actors in Hollywood’s history—let alone child stars—have managed to remain relevant and, more importantly, in touch with themselves for such a prolonged period of time. The aforementioned quote about hard work is perhaps the greatest indicator of Radcliffe’s desire to not stand still and to keep pushing himself into new avenues.

While his work away from Harry Potter suggests that Radcliffe is confident in his ability to push artistic boundaries, the actor still finds it difficult to look back on past mistakes without regret. Reflecting on his work in Harry Potter, Radcliffe finds one of the eight movies particularly cringe-inducing. While admitting that he doesn’t like to watch himself on the big screen, the actor revealed that he forces himself to do so in order to learn:

“And that’s why it’s hard to watch a film like Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” Radcliffe said. “Because I’m just not very good in it. I hate it.”

Detailing further, he added: “My acting is very one-note and I can see I got complacent and what I was trying to do just didn’t come across”. Despite his criticisms, Radcliffe did find time to accept some of his finer work: “My best film is the fifth one because I can see a progression,” he added.

Radcliffe’s portrayal of Harry Potter had grown considerably stronger since the early films, but his performance in Half-Blood Prince was criticised in certain moments for lacking depth or emotional nuance, particularly in scenes demanding subtlety or layered intensity. It’s worth noting, though, that Radcliffe’s performance was not universally panned. Plenty of critics and fans appreciated his efforts in large parts of the film, particularly in quieter moments of introspection or when interacting with co-stars.

While Radcliffe had issues with Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the sixth instalment in the franchise, the film was a major commercial and critical success. Nominated for ‘Best Cinematography’ at the 82nd Academy Awards, the movie went on to break the record for the biggest single-day worldwide gross at the box office. Taking $934million in total, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was once the eighth-highest-grossing film of all time – not bad for “very one-note” acting.