Daniel Radcliffe has revealed that he almost didn't play Harry Potter in the long-running series of films.
The actor said that his parents initially turned down the offer to act as the boy wizard in the film adaptations of JK Rowling's novels, due to the length of time he'd be away from home.
The original contract meant that the youngster would have to make six films in Los Angeles. His parents eventually accepted the part after the number of movies were reduced and filming relocated to Britain.
Radcliffe told The Hollywood Reporter that director Chris Columbus first approached him after seeing his performance in David Copperfield.
"Chris Columbus had seen David Copperfield and said, 'I want to audition this boy'," he explained. "They went to my parents, and, at the time, the deal was to sign on for, I think, six films, all to be done in LA, and my mum and dad simply said, 'That's too much disruption to his life. That's not gonna happen'.
"I didn't know any of that had gone on. And then, maybe three, four months down the line, the deal had changed, and it was going be to shoot two films, and they'd both be done in England, and so they said, 'OK, we'll let him audition.' And then it all went from there, really."
Radcliffe added that there were aspects of becoming a celebrity that he has not enjoyed since starring in the Harry Potter films.
"There are, obviously, upsides to it, but I'd say that the upsides, for me, are the upsides that come from my job rather than from the celebrity aspect," he explained.
"I mean, celebrity is horrible - that's the truth, is that it's a ghastly, vile thing."
