The Rumors Were True: Radcliffe Starring in Equus

The question remains as to whether or not it'll be true nudity (it is the London stage, and it is Equus, so that's what I'd guess) or a super cheesy nudity suit (I'd only guess this one due to the fact that the boy is two days younger than me which makes him 17... can he legally partake of psuedo-bestial acts nude on stage? However hot he may be?) Dan? In one of my favorite plays? Confusing and awesome, someone buy me a ticket to Glasgow please!

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Mr. Tom Cruise looks like one of my fav. soap stars."Lucus' in "Day's of our lives. he is a fine actor, but needs to keep his personal comments to himself!

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Wow, this is news to me. I really enjoyed the Lumet film... and Radcliffe to play Strang? Yah, I doubt that he'll actually be nude for it... especially at this age... and especially if he wants to stick with Harry Potter.

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Gasp! Gasp!... Gasp!!! Did I really just read right? Well whatever I do not see plays and unless Hermonie or Jessica Alba will be nude aside him I think I will pass on this play too. LOL But it is always smart to establish yourself as just some kiddie actor so more power to him.

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What is it with young actors? They think that they have to do stupid things while they are young to get noticed, then when they are a lot older they say what was I thinking. I believe that all people have an obligation to be a role model. No mater if you are the highest paid CEO, or the bag lady on the street. No matter who you are people are looking at you all the time. Even more when you have a public that has MADE YOU WHAT YOU ARE. You should be responsible enough to say "I can't do this because people are watching me and looking to me as a role model. I must be the best I can even when I would rather not"

Fame is the not the real fortune, It is to be Loved and well liked.

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WOW! Daniel Radcliffe in a play i would go even if there wasnt the chance of him being nude....i am probably about his biggest fan ever. what i wouldnt give to meet the rad, good lookin guy. especially since he is like my age!

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Joseph, has you read the play? how can you say this is stupid? it'a brilliant play, many actors would like to play that role. What's wrong with it? it just the media that is talking about that nude scene, which is not what this play is about.
I think you should inform yourself better before judging like that. It's brave and mature decisions, like this one, which actually differentiates Daniel of other young actors. He is deciding to do a serious role, and not a stupid cheesy Hollywood movie, that would gave him more fame, you know, and more money. It's obvious that's not what he is searching, he wants to grow, to learn, and this is a great way.

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everyone's so concerned about Harry Potter going full-monty that they forget an even more pressing issue here:

Daniel Radcliffe can't act

it's not his schlong that's going to embarrass him

it's his performance

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When i read this i was very very very.. confused. I don't see how a young and filthy rich actor should take off his clothes and act as if he's doing it with a horse. Either daniel hit his head somewhere ( on the set of harry potter perhaps) or he's just doing it because he wants some kind of an award or he enjoys being naked and having a sexual appetite for horses!

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jess.... and for a second i liked him and his movies!
why can't he be like a decent teenage celebrity and respect his "kids" fan base. He's not so normal and from the looks of him without a shirt in "goblet of fire", i don't think that's what the gals are gonna wanna go see!

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W.A Wilson.

Thank You! Someone finally agrees with me. Radcliffe just does not have the acting chops to pull this off. I think all those press people telling him he's actually good at playing HP has finally gone to his head.

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This is not right! He was doing such a great job with his acting career and now he just going to take off his clothes!?! He's not even 18! He has some many young fans, too!

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I think he is very brave to be willing to bare all (and I am not just referring to his possible lack of clothing) to do this very challenging role. He is not doing this for his young fans, who probably would not be allowed to see this, nor for money, as he has an estimated 20 million pounds in the bank already. He is challenging himself as an actor, wanting to get better and grow. Give him a break, he is not yet 18. Most other actors have years and decades before they get any acclaim as well. As for being a role model, that should not be based on a role he does (I would not believe that an actor playing a villain actually IS a villain!) but how he portrays himself in real life, which is something a lot of people are already watching for. He isn't (so far) acting like Lindsey Lohan, partying all night and doing drugs. He has done things for charity and I highly doubt this would stop just because he is portrays a mentally disturbed teen in a play, which will require a lot of discipline and stamina. I wish the best of luck to young Master Radcliffe. I for one, hope to see this play, whether he bares it all or not!

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First, the writer (who is one of the more brilliant writers in the world) saw Daniel playing this role, and he thinks Dan can perfectly do it. So if the writer thinks so, who are some of you to doubt he can do it?
Plus, the writer said he wouldn't sell the rights to the prodducers if they didn't find someone who really could play Alan. This means he really thinks Dan can do the role justice.

Second, what has this to do with HP and the kids? The kids won't go to see this play, so he is not being disrespectful with them.
He is not forcing people to see it. If you don't like the play, don't go to see it.
I love the play, it's one of the greatest plays I've read. It won a Tony awards, and the movie: 3 Oscars nominations.

And he wil still be a "decent teenage celebrity". How can some of you have a mind so closed? Dan has being helping charities all his life, he answers all his fans letters, he has stayed in the rain during hours signing autographs. He has always being nice and down to earth. You can not say he is not a decent person.
He works every day (since he was 10) during 11 months to make the HP movies possible.

And how ignorant are some of you? have you read this play? you should read it before write such ignorants comments. This play is not about nudity. There is a scene where Alan is naked, but that doesn't mean that the audience will see all his body, there are more things and people in the stage.

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Some of you are so ignorant. How can you judge a performance before seeing it? a performance that a briliand writer, the author of this play, who knows it better than anyone, likes very much. How can you judge a person you have not met? how do you believe all the things and lies the press write? how can you judge anything or anyone when all you are showing is ignorance and a bad heart.

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To Bernie, I couldn't have said it better myself!!! I personally think Daniel Radcliffe is a very good actor, keeping his age in mind, and I think he has the skills now to pull off a role such as this one. I think if he does it successfully, it will only be a boost to his career potential because it will clearly extablish he is more than just a teenage wizard. As for the nudity (and more particularly, if the scene is anything like some descriptions I've read), I find it rather hard to believe his parents would allow it at his age and I find it hard to believe he'd be willing, at his age, to do it live, onstage with probably sold-out audiences night after night after night. Most teenage boys wouldn't have the guts for something like that. But if he can get past the embarrassment, that will be a further testament to his maturity, and I have to say that he has impressed me as being mature beyond his years in many of his interviews that I've watched. I live in the US, so I probably won't get to see the play, but if I were in London, I can assure you I would go...not to see Daniel Radcliffe naked (although that would likely be a plus, because I have to admit I find him quite sexy, even though I'm rather much older than he is), but to see him performing live, which I think is a very rare treat in deed with famous actors (think of it like going to see the Beetles or Elvis performing live, in-person compared to seeing them in a music video...it's just an opportunity you shouldn't pass up).

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WA Wilson (post #7) -- you have a very painful point. It is the thing that bothers me, and it does not do the kid any favors to cast him so far above his capacity just because he will draw a huge audience. Also, I don't think it's especially good casting to have such a pretty boy because the character is odd and a loner and actually pretty repellant - but good directing could work around that.

If you read the play, the boy is not "doing it with a horse" -- he becomes aroused while riding it (nude). So do a whole lot of other people, riding bareback, nude or not, if I'm not letting out any earth-shattering secrets. That's not his main problem.

It is a brilliant play, it is an incredible opportunity for any young actor, and it's got nothing to do with "being so rich he doesn't have to." (Honestly . . . .) I genuinely have seen nothing in his acting so far to indicate that he's up to it. But you know? If he does come up to it somehow, we might yet see some power in his Harry Potter role, and I'm for that.

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As an actress myself, I know it is every actor's goal to find that role that will truly define them as an a true actor. This role could do it for young Mr Radcliffe. It doesn't appear that any of the comments made so far mention that this is his chance to break into the theatre which is a whole different method of acting than what he has done on screen as Harry Potter. It is a chance for him to play an impromtu role where he will do the show from beginning to end each night, not one scene at a time with several takes involved. No one will be there to feed him his lines and he will have to learn to improvise. He will not be surrounded by special effects and other distractions. He will have to play the same role with the same lines night after night and make it believable each time. This play has a simple set and it will be important for him to stay in character at all times even when not speaking. The play is not about nudity, but rather about a young man's journey into madness. In other words-an actor's role of a lifetime. I believe the brief moment of nudity is a sacrifice any true actor would be willing to make for his craft. I'm sure like a true actor he sees it as Alan Strang being naked and not Daniel Radcliffe.
My daughter has had a crush on this young man since the first Harry Potter movie so I have kind of watched him grow up and I find he has remained level headed, weel adjusted and charming despite his world wide fame which only tells me he takes seriously what he does and isn't caught up in all the notority that playing Harry Potter has brought him. I have no doubt he will work very hard on this role whether he is required to do the nude scene or not. I do believe to be real to the part, he will do whatever it takes to make his role believable and memorable. Go for it-Daniel. I for one would be delighted to see this show as would my daughter, I'm sure.

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I agree with several people who have commented on Daniel Radcliffe's role in the play. I am not judging the play as I'm sure it has good qualities. I am just very disappointed that Daniel would take this role. I thought that this young actor would be different. I didn't think that he would fall to the pressures of fame and fortune. I just wish that he would realize he can break out of the Harry Potter mold without taking his clothes off.

I hardly ever judge anyone before I see where their actions take them. Personally I love the Harry Potter movies and think they could not have cast a better actor to play the leading role. I just wish that the whole nude thing wasn't part of his role. I often use the saying "Leave something to the imagination." If Daniel bares it all, I feel something is lost in his Harry Potter character. As for me, the movies will never be the same for me. He has such a large fan base that includes young adults and children. For them to hear that their hero, Harry Potter, has ridden a horse in the nude, could break some of their hearts. I know it has broken mine.

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I am only leaving this comment because I think the point needs to be made. A lot of people keep referring to DR's age (17). I am not sure this is an issue in England. I would also like to add that Europeans have a very different view of nudity than Americans; I think many people are being a little ethnocentric.

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