The Fad is the Rad, Brilliant Lad, Daniel Radcliffe

Brief History

Daniel Jacob Radcliffe was born July.23rd/1989. I used to think that he got the part of Harry Potter because his father was the director, but as it turns out it is just a rumor, one that I helped spread. I think the rumor started because Daniel's mother is a casting agent for the BBC. He got his big break when the producer of Harry Potter saw Daniel at a London production of 'Stones in His Pockets'. After several follow-up auditions he was selected to play 'Harry Potter' the starring role in the adaptation of J.K. Rowling's award-winning book series. On top of the Harry Potter installments he has been in 'December Boys', various television shows, and the Broadway stage show 'Equus'.

Why I Think Daniel Radcliffe is Special

The interesting thing about Daniel Radcliffe is not that he was worth an estimated 17million euros in 2007, that he likes punk rock, or that he is an avid fan of cricket. I adore Danielle Radcliffe because he is open about aspects of his life that have been traditionally rendered 'taboo'.

1) Daniel has revealed is that he suffers from a mild form of the neurological disorder 'Dyspraxia' or 'Developmental dyspraxia', a heterogeneous range of development disorders that affects the initiation, organization and performance of action. I think that this would be a hard thing to admit since the world consists of a lot of ignorant elitists or alternatively, ignorants who would form biased opinions that he is 'stupid' (since they love to have opinions on things they know nothing about).

2) He has exposed that he is not ashamed to be friends with 'gender-benders', a.k.a. 'transvestites', or 'drag queens' because he thinks of the alternate sex as, "amazing, crazy, mad, weird people". In fact, he is so fascinated by the drag scene that he told the October 2008 issue of 'Details Magazine' that he would love to play the role of a drag queen in an upcoming film. Currently he is rumored to be friends with many drag queens but his b.f.f. is a transgender New Yorker named 'Our Lady J'. The pair met during his 'Equus' theatre debut and have become very close since. She performs at various gigs in New York singing covers of 'Alanis Morisette', 'Nine Inch Nails', and 'Dolly Parton'. Since their meeting Radcliffe has been introduced to a New York gay artist named Jim Hodges, who decided on whim to introduce Radcliffe to the world of the New York drag scene. Needless to say, he loves it.

People now wonder if Radcliffe is gay. I don't think he is, but if he was I don't think his entourage makes much of a difference to his professional life.

Daniel is also very supportive of the gay community and in interviews he has stated that he is very flattered when people ask if he is gay. He admits that he has discovered some major perks to his friendships,

"The one piece of advice I would give to any actor is, if you want to go out on the street without being recognized, without even being looked at, go out with a 6' 8" beautiful transsexual. No one gives you a second glance. Especially when you're 5' 5".

Radcliffe's honesty and sincerity with his fans has given me a new found respect for him. It's not everyday a Hollywood man will be ballsy enough to pursue meaningful relationships if raised eyebrows pursue.

Doesn't anyone remember the Eddie Murphy incident in 1997? Murphy was arrested picking up a 20-year-old Somoan born transvestite prostitute. He told 'Entertainment Tonight', "I'm just being a nice guy." Obviously their motives are entirely different but if Eddie really was 'just friends' with her he could have said so. He was ashamed and that's what the media works off of. Radcliffe has remained under the radar with his relationships because the press knows it doesn't bother him, its not a secret, and therefore its not a scandal. It shouldn't be!

I think Hollywood could learn a few things from Radcliffe and I hope to see him in drag on the big screen very soon.