Daniel Radcliffe gave an extensive interview to Movieline in which he kind of scolded young stars for not handling the transition to adult actors well and chastised the public for digging into their private life. I guess I understand what he’s saying, although it’s hard to reconcile the two points he’s making. Kaiser and I were e-mailing about this, since she’s a DanRad loonie, and she thinks that he’s referring to the scrutiny over Emma Watson dropping out of college. As far as his comment about “trainwrecks” goes, I don’t think there are any true trainwrecks at this point who didn’t bring it onto themselves, and I’ll get into that in a moment.

“I’m not anything special”
“Harry Potter was a phenomenon when I was 7, that’s when it came out; it was a phenomenon before I was even remotely attached. The reason I say [that anyone who played him would have become famous], and the thing that made me realize this — I was speaking to the director of the first Twilight film [Catherine Hardwicke]. She said she went to a reading of the books — Stephenie Meyer was giving a reading of the first Twilight book; this was before Robert Pattinson was cast. And she said the name Edward Cullen, and the audience went crazy. At the name. I’m sure if the demographic had been slightly different, the reaction would be the same for Harry Potter at a J.K. Rowling reading. Whoever stepped into that was going to receive a certain amount of attention and — dare I say — adulation. Which is not — in my opinion — justified, because I know me, I’m not anything special or big to fuss about.”

“If I can [transition into an adult actor] no one else has any excuses”
“Here’s the thing,” Radcliffe said about the example he’s setting in his transition from child star to adult actor, “if I can do it — in the biggest film franchise of all-time in terms of grosses — no one else has any excuses. I just want the next generation of child actors to not have to answer all those bloody questions in interviews, ‘So, how long do you expect this to last?’ Essentially, that is what we get asked. A lot. I have had that phrased that way. So I just want the next lot of kids who want to act not to have to deal with those questions.”

“People love a trainwreck”
“There are people that would love — the sad truth is that people love a train wreck. People talk all the time about young people — particularly in Hollywood — who get into trouble,” Radcliffe said about the image problems some young stars face. “First of all, it’s none of your business what they’re going through. Second of all, you have no comprehension about what they’re going through, so don’t pass judgment on it.”

Radcliffe knows that even he has potential to wind up in the celebrity barrel — not that he’d ever let that happen. “I find all that stuff very distressing, but people are interested in it and people would love to see it from me. When I switch on the TV and watch a program I really don’t like where there’s people sitting around chatting and passing judgment on people… I don’t ever want to be the person they’re talking about. It’s sad, but as soon as you are somebody in the public eye who is showing up a lot, you are theirs to debate on every level. I’m not comfortable with that.”

[From Movieline via E! Online]

Here’s the thing – no one manages their business as well as Radcliffe. He went to work on stage and really put an effort in. He never acted the diva or saw himself as anything more than a hard working actor. He hasn’t given any cringe-worthy quotes, he hasn’t been stumbling out of clubs, and he’s generally been a responsible, stand up guy. The Harry Potter stars have all pretty much stayed out of trouble and conducted themselves with grace. We can’t quite say the same for the Twilight kids, although Robert Pattinson is getting there. Some of the lesser players in Twilight are calling the paps on themselves and planting stories in the tabloids. (You know I’m talking about Ashley Greene and Kellan Lutz, who give the rest of them a bad name. We barely hear about the others.) Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart get a lot of gossip press for their relationship, but Rob handles it pretty well. I can’t really say the same for Kristen although at least she stays away from Twitter.

I’m hard pressed to think of any true trainwrecks who didn’t bring the media scrutiny on themselves. There are those that go to rehab and who never really courted the press. We talk about them briefly without harping on it. (Like say, Demi Lovato or Kirsten Dunst.) But I would venture that all the really big trainwrecks (and who is there really at this time except Linnocent?) all bring it on themselves somehow. Paris has been doing well since her cocaine conviction and Britney has reigned it in with the help of a team. So we talk about Lindsay, but she leaks stories to the press all the time and calls the paps on herself.

I get what he’s saying about how we should have empathy for young stars, and I like to think we do when it’s warranted. Look at how nice people have been to Demi Lovato after she got out of rehab and was so open about what she went through. Lindsay pissed away any good will people might have had for her years ago. She’s endangered lives and generally acted like an entitled brat. She deserves all the scrutiny and then some.

Daniel Radcliffe is shown on 5/2/11 and 3/27/11. Credit: WENN.com