In his role in the Broadway play “Equus,” Daniel Radcliffe has earned just as much attention for his nudity as for his acting. Okay that’s being nice – the vast majority of the attention is about his nakedness. I don’t think I’ve ever read a thing about the play where that wasn’t at least mentioned. Radcliffe recently discussed the experience of sharing his privates with an audience, and it sounds about as uncomfortably as you’d expect.

The role, which Daniel first played on the London stage, requires him to get naked during a long and crucial scene–something the 19-year-old naturally admits was not easy to get used to. “It’s never going to be the most comfortable thing to be naked in front of people on stage,” Radcliffe told James Lipton on Bravo’s Inside the Actor’s Studio. “Personally, not my thing. For some people it’s great! But not for me.”

To help ease his apprehension, Radcliffe says he trained for 18 months, worked with a vocal coach and made sure his body was in tip-top shape. “I got kind of fit because I knew I’d be appearing naked,” he says, explaining, “The play was there to do. Someone had to do it. If you take the job, you take everything that comes with it.”

And does that “everything” include embarrassing arousals on stage? “A friend asked me once, ‘Are you worried about getting an erection on stage?’” Radcliffe recalls. “I said, ‘no, that would be great!’ Rather the opposite takes place actually.”

[From OK! Magazine]

The way Radcliffe says that last part is really funny. You can see a video clip of the exchange between him and James Lipton here. He also talks about what he calls the “David effect,” referring to Michelangelo’s famous marble statue – and his equally famous genitalia.

The statue is of King David when he decided to battle Goliath – and as Radcliffe notes, it’s a stressful moment, “which is why his parts aren’t looking the best that day – that’s pretty much what happens to me on stage.” I can’t imagine anything more mortifying that being naked on stage – that’s most people’s eternal nightmare. But it sounds like Daniel has a pretty realistic attitude about it, and takes the whole thing in stride. Which is really all you can do.

Here’s Daniel Radcliffe at the opening night after-party for the Broadway revival of ‘Equus’ held at Pier 60 in Manhattan on September 25th. Header is from rehearsals earlier that day. Images thanks to WENN.

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