Daniel Radcliffe Gets Chatty!

On Tuesday in N.Y.C. a couple hundred of Daniel Radcliffe's fans were treated to an up close and personal look into the life of the young actor, when the The New York Times hosted its most recent "Times Talk." Daniel was interviewed by NYT culture reporter Julie Bosman before the floor was opened up to questions from the audience. Here are some of the highlights:

On what his parents think about his acting:

" 'No, absolutely not,' is what they said when I was younger, but they’re pleased now. I got where I am by dumb luck. You only deserve what you have if you work hard. I know most actors hoped for a job, and then found themselves between jobs. For me, it was a great job at 11."

Why he chose to do theater: "In the eyes of lots of people in the acting world, theater legitimizes you. Also I wanted to prove it to myself that I could do it. My parents said, 'You have to really love to do it, it’s a lot of work.' I trained for 18 months in London. I worked with my vocal coach in London."

Broadway vs London theater: "I just went to the Tonys and it was amazing and lovely. There’s a genuine sense of excitement. It’s great to work with actors – I’ve never worked with American actors – I worked with Kim Cattrall – and I get a sense of history with Broadway. My mom and dad are actors, so I’ve grown up with show tunes playing the whole time on car rides."

How Equus has changed his life: "Actors see me differently now. They think I’m taken more seriously now. The perception is that theater people are taken seriously. Also, it’s given me a lot of confidence. I’m scared of failing because I have an image of myself that 'I can do this,' but opening night, I was extremely negative. After the London play, everyone stood up – here, everyone stands up, even several nights ago at Gypsy. In England, we stick to our national stereotype of being more reserved. I could not stop smiling. It was fantastic."

What's next: "Harry Potter 7 goes ahead as planned – those release dates are not affected. I’m going to do another play – I’m not going to just do it to say I did it. After 7, I might take a few days off."

What we should know about Daniel as a person: "I’m a person who got lucky very young. I was brought up with a work ethic – show up on time, work hard and do your lines. I love literature massively. I have an interest in film, and I’m incredibly lucky to be doing it."

The one part he'd never play: "God."