What makes a good celebrity?
Perhaps someone who is comfortable with the spotlight, but doesn’t court it too much. Can talk to people intelligently, with a sense of humor, but knows when to shut up. Is self-deprecating, so they beat people to any insult or slight. And is not so much of a party person that they end their career in a gutter or on a tabloid page.
That’s the kind of celebrity that I would want to be…the kind of celebrity that Daniel Radcliffe is.
Daniel aka Harry Potter appeared last night at the 92Y on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. He was interviewed by Jordan Roth, President of Jujamcyn Theaters, whose current productions include How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, The Book of Mormon, and The House of Blue Leaves.
So they are both having a really good year.
Like all Brits, Daniel is more articulate than most of us. His answers to Jordan’s questions were thoughtful, a bit rambling, and very funny. For someone who has been involved in the most successful movie franchise of all time, he is surprisingly grounded and humble about his role in it.
I’ve seen How to Succeed twice on Broadway, and he was as charming last night as Daniel as he was on stage as J. Pierrepont Finch. Only Daniel could get a crowd filled with kids, teens, parents and grandparents to cheer the fact that he is an atheist. The real gasps of horror came when he slipped and said he had a girlfriend back in London (which he tried to treat as a joke).
Jordan covered everything from Daniel’s career, politics, religion, the economy, poetry and cricket. Daniel didn’t shy away from any question, or from audience member’s occasional outbursts.
He was, as he put it, ‘just a 5’5″ nerdy guy who likes to watch History Channel International.”
Well, then…that’s who I want to be when I grow up.
In the spotlight
What makes a good celebrity?
Perhaps someone who is comfortable with the spotlight, but doesn’t court it too much. Can talk to people intelligently, with a sense of humor, but knows when to shut up. Is self-deprecating, so they beat people to any insult or slight. And is not so much of a party person that they end their career in a gutter or on a tabloid page.
That’s the kind of celebrity that I would want to be…the kind of celebrity that Daniel Radcliffe is.
So they are both having a really good year.
Like all Brits, Daniel is more articulate than most of us. His answers to Jordan’s questions were thoughtful, a bit rambling, and very funny. For someone who has been involved in the most successful movie franchise of all time, he is surprisingly grounded and humble about his role in it.
I’ve seen How to Succeed twice on Broadway, and he was as charming last night as Daniel as he was on stage as J. Pierrepont Finch. Only Daniel could get a crowd filled with kids, teens, parents and grandparents to cheer the fact that he is an atheist. The real gasps of horror came when he slipped and said he had a girlfriend back in London (which he tried to treat as a joke).
Jordan covered everything from Daniel’s career, politics, religion, the economy, poetry and cricket. Daniel didn’t shy away from any question, or from audience member’s occasional outbursts.
He was, as he put it, ‘just a 5’5″ nerdy guy who likes to watch History Channel International.”
Well, then…that’s who I want to be when I grow up.
→ 1 Comment
Posted in Broadway, Celebrities, Commentary, Entertainment, Family, Humor, Life, Movies, Travel
Tagged 92Y, Broadway, celebrities, commentary, Daniel Radcliffe, entertainment, fame, family, Harry Potter, History Channel International, How to Succeed Without Really Trying, Humor, J. Pierrepont Finch, Jordan Roth, Jujamcyn Theaters, life, Manhattan, movie franchise, Movies, New York City, party person, self-deprecating, sense of humor, tabloid, The Book of Mormon, The House of Blue Leaves, Upper East Side