Daniel Radcliffe Biography: From the Boy Who Lived to Broadway Star

Q: What is Daniel Radcliffe doing now?

In 2026 he starred in the Broadway solo play Every Brilliant Thing at the Hudson Theatre and in the NBC sitcom The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins opposite Tracy Morgan, which was renewed for a second season. He is also set to film Trust the Man.

November 7, 2026

Daniel Reed

Daniel Radcliffe is an English actor best known for playing Harry Potter in all eight films of the Harry Potter series from 2001 to 2011. Born in London on 23 July 1989, he grew from child star into one of the most respected stage actors of his generation, winning a Tony Award in 2024 for Merrily We Roll Along and returning to Broadway in 2026 with the solo play Every Brilliant Thing.

Quick facts

Full name: Daniel Jacob Radcliffe
Born: 23 July 1989, Hammersmith, London, England
Nationality: English
Occupation: Actor (film, television, stage)
Known for: Harry Potter in the Harry Potter film series
Partner: Erin Darke (since 2012)
Children: One son, born April 2023
Major award: Tony Award, Best Featured Actor in a Musical (2024)

Daniel Radcliffe at San Diego Comic-Con, 2014. Photo: Gage Skidmore via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0).

Early life and background

Daniel Jacob Radcliffe was born on 23 July 1989 at Queen Charlotte’s and Chelsea Hospital in Hammersmith, London, the only child of literary agent Alan George Radcliffe and casting agent Marcia Jeannine Gresham. He grew up in Fulham, West London, and was acting before his tenth birthday: his first screen role was the young David Copperfield in the BBC’s 1999 adaptation of the Dickens novel, followed by his film debut in The Tailor of Panama (2001).

Radcliffe was eleven when he was cast as Harry Potter, after a search that auditioned thousands of boys. Producer David Heyman had spotted him in David Copperfield, and author J.K. Rowling approved the choice.

The Harry Potter years

Between 2001 and 2011, Radcliffe played Harry Potter in all eight films, from Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2. The series grossed $7.7 billion worldwide, making it one of the highest-grossing film franchises in history. He grew up on set alongside co-stars Emma Watson and Rupert Grint, and by the final films he was one of the best-paid young actors in the world, with reported total base salaries across the series of around $109 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth. He has said publicly that he has “hardly touched” his Potter earnings, leaving them invested while he built a career on his own terms.

Breaking away: film after Potter

Radcliffe’s first post-Potter lead was the gothic horror The Woman in Black (2012), which grossed $128.9 million worldwide on a $17 million budget and proved he could carry a film without the wizard’s robes. He followed it with a deliberately eclectic run: beat poet Allen Ginsberg in Kill Your Darlings (2013), a flatulent corpse in the surreal Swiss Army Man (2016), a villain in Now You See Me 2 (2016), and a kidnapper in the adventure hit The Lost City (2022). His turn as “Weird Al” Yankovic in Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (2022) earned him an Emmy nomination, and on television he led the anthology comedy Miracle Workers (2019–2023).

Stage career and the Tony Award

Theatre has been the backbone of Radcliffe’s adult career. He made his West End debut as Alan Strang in Equus (2007), a daring role he reprised on Broadway in 2008–09, then returned to Broadway in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (2011) and The Cripple of Inishmaan (2014). Like fellow stage-and-screen star Hugh Jackman, he has built a Broadway second act to rival his film fame.

His biggest stage triumph came with the 2023 Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along at the Hudson Theatre, where he played Charley Kringas opposite Jonathan Groff and Lindsay Mendez. The production ran through July 2024 and earned Radcliffe his first Tony Award, for Best Featured Actor in a Musical, in June 2024. He thanked his partner Erin Darke and their young son in his acceptance speech, calling them “the best thing that has ever happened to me.”

2026: Broadway return and a new sitcom

In 2026 Radcliffe returned to Broadway in Every Brilliant Thing, Duncan Macmillan and Jonny Donahoe’s one-man play about a man who copes with his mother’s suicide attempts by listing everything that makes life worth living. It opened at the Hudson Theatre on 12 March 2026 after previews from 21 February, running through 24 May, and earned him a Tony nomination for Best Leading Actor in a Play and an Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Solo Performance.

At the same time he starred opposite Tracy Morgan in the NBC mockumentary sitcom The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins, playing Arthur Tobin, a disgraced filmmaker hired to rehabilitate a scandal-tarnished football star. The series premiered on 18 January 2026 and was renewed for a second season in May 2026. He is also set to film Trust the Man, written by Will Graham, in the summer of 2026.

The year has also kept Radcliffe in the Potter conversation. HBO’s new Harry Potter series premieres on Christmas Day 2026, with Dominic McLaughlin taking over the role Radcliffe played for a decade. Radcliffe wrote McLaughlin a supportive letter, telling him he hoped he would have “the best time, and an even better time than I did.”

Personal life

Radcliffe has been in a relationship with American actress Erin Darke since 2012, after the pair met on the set of Kill Your Darlings. The couple, who live in New York, welcomed their first child, a son, in April 2023; they have not shared his name publicly. Radcliffe keeps his private life deliberately low-key and supports LGBTQ+ youth charities including The Trevor Project.

Net worth snapshot

Daniel Radcliffe’s net worth is estimated at $120 million as of 2026, according to Celebrity Net Worth, with other estimates in the $110–120 million range. The fortune rests on more than $100 million earned from the Harry Potter films and on investments managed through his family company, Gilmore Jacobs Ltd. Read the full breakdown in Daniel Radcliffe’s net worth.

Frequently asked questions

How old is Daniel Radcliffe?

Daniel Radcliffe was born on 23 July 1989, making him 37 years old in November 2026.

What is Daniel Radcliffe doing now?

In 2026 he starred in the Broadway solo play Every Brilliant Thing at the Hudson Theatre and in the NBC sitcom The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins opposite Tracy Morgan, which was renewed for a second season. He is also set to film Trust the Man.

Is Daniel Radcliffe playing Voldemort in the HBO Harry Potter series?

No. Reports that Radcliffe was close to a deal to play adult Lord Voldemort originated with Culture Cave, a parody account, and were debunked by fact-checkers in September 2026. Radcliffe is not part of the HBO series; he wrote a supportive letter to his successor, Dominic McLaughlin.

Did Daniel Radcliffe win a Tony Award?

Yes. He won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical in June 2024 for his performance as Charley Kringas in the Broadway revival of Merrily We Roll Along. He was nominated for a second Tony in 2026 for Every Brilliant Thing.

Who is Daniel Radcliffe’s partner?

Radcliffe has been in a relationship with American actress Erin Darke since 2012. They met on the set of Kill Your Darlings and have a son, born in April 2023.