Daniel Radcliffe is reflecting on his first Tony win. The actor, best known for playing Harry Potter in the much-loved franchise, got emotional while accepting the award in the Best Performance in a Featured Role in a Musical category for Merrily We Roll Along. The actor also spoke about the point in his career when he had difficulty breaking out of the Harry Potter image and moving his career in a new direction. (Also Read: Tony Awards 2024: Daniel Radcliffe, Jeremy Strong win big; see full list of winners)
What did Daniel say?
After winning, Daniel took the stage to thank his parents, the cast and the play’s team for giving him the experience of a lifetime. “Thank you so much to our cast, everyone on stage, it’s such an honor to be on that stage with you every night. I’m going to miss it so much… Speaking of things I’ll miss.” — Jonathan [Groff]Lindsay [Mendez]I’m going to miss you so much. I don’t really have to act on this show, I just have to look at you and feel everything I want to feel. I’ll never feel this good again.”
‘Playing the same character for a long time increases anxiety’
Later in the press room, Daniel told reporters what it felt like to play Harry Potter for so long. “When I finished playing this character [‘Harry Potter’] I didn’t know what my career was going to be. I had already started doing some work on stage, but I didn’t know what the future held. Working on Weird Al and Merrily We Roll Along last year was great. Playing the same character for too long creates an anxiety, like, do as much work as possible. So yeah, that’s what I’m doing right now.”
The revival of Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s musical play Merrily We Roll Along, directed by Maria Friedman, won big at the Tony Awards. In addition to Daniel, the play also won the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical, while Jonathan Groff won the Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical category.
