CRISS. Took over Radcliffe’s role on Broadway.
LOS ANGELES—“Attack it with a lot of energy and have fun!” That’s what Daniel Radcliffe told Darren Criss when the latter took over the former’s J. Pierrepont Finch role in the Broadway smash, “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.”
“But Darren really didn’t need any advice,” Daniel added about Darren, who ended his successful three-week run last Jan. 22. The Fil-Am actor, whose limited engagement earned a whopping $4 million-plus in ticket sales, was succeeded by Nick Jonas.
Daniel said of his own experience starring in the revival of the Frank Loesser musical from March last year to last Jan. 1, “It was amazing! I do miss it. I hope to mix stage and film for the rest of my career, if I can.”
In film, his first one since the “Harry Potter” franchise’s final instalment is “The Woman in Black,” a horror-drama. The ghost story was a solid career move for the actor. It performed above expectations at the box office.
Something else is new in Daniel’s post-“Potter” life: Girlfriend Rosanne Coker, whom he calls Rosie. With his hectic schedule, how does he manage to spend time with Rosie, who worked as a production assistant on the last three “Potter” films and “The Woman…”? “It’s a case of making the time when we both have it,” Daniel answered. “There’s no way I’m going to be able to see her in the next two weeks, but I will definitely be making up for lost time after Valentine’s Day. She’s great. She did a huge amount of traveling last year to visit me in New York as much as she could.”
Daniel, who is playing beat poet, Allen Ginsberg, in his next film, said that Rosie is adapting well to his “crazy” life. “Rosie is getting used to it in a way,” he declared. Laughing, he shared, “She’s very understanding and incredibly adaptable, thank God. I do have a crazy life. I know vaguely what I’m doing, but I have no idea when it’s happening. I take it one day at a time.”
The secret is to find humor in everything, according to the actor: “Like, when you arrive at the LA airport, and there are autograph hunters who bought plane tickets so they could get inside the airport! You just have to look at it as crazy. Your friends know who you really are and that you’re actually just very normal. You hang out and chat about rubbish.”
WALMSLEY. Memorably overwhelming win.
Daniel laughed as he was asked, what frightens him more, the woman in black or a woman in white with a veil? “That’s excellently put,” he replied. “I’m going to have to say that woman in black and the idea of that curse (in the movie) is a lot more terrifying. I have no plans for the other (marriage)…not for a long while.”
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Recently, we were able to catch up with Filipino-American Stefanie Walmsley, one of the coproducers of Luke Matheny’s “God of Love,” which won in the Best Live Action Short category in the Academy Awards a year ago. Excerpts of our e-mail interview:
To this day, what still stands out in your memory of that Oscar night last year?
I distinctly remember being on the red carpet, surrounded by more stars than I could’ve imagined. The memory of the energy and the hope of what was to come had stayed with me. And, of course, the moment Jake Gyllenhaal announced that we won will forever be in my memory. What happened after that, however, is still a complete blur!
What projects have you done since then?
I am insanely busy, and I’m so grateful for that! I have a feature film in the works, worked on a reality pilot, and produced a series of commercial videos, including one starring “Sex and the City’s” Mr. Big (Chris Noth).
If I were to return as an Academy nominee someday, I would…
Be jumping up and down and covered in bruises from pinching myself so much! The truth is, I would love to return with a Filipino film nominated for Best Foreign Language Film. Fingers crossed!
E-mail rvnepales_5585@yahoo.com. Follow twitter.com/ nepalesruben.