Daniel Radcliffe Gets to Do Something Rare in Broadway’s “Every Brilliant Thing” — and He Calls It ‘Freeing’“ ”(Exclusive)

NEED TO KNOW

• Daniel Radcliffe tells PEOPLE about how interacting with audiences in Every Brilliant Thing has helped him feel more open and connected

• The Broadway production relies on audience participation with Radcliffe personally engaging theatergoers before the show

• Radcliffe’s final performance is May 24 with Mariska Hargitay and Tracee Ellis Ross set to take over the role

For Daniel Radcliffe, one of the most unexpected parts of starring inEvery Brilliant Thinghas nothing to do with memorizing lines or carrying a solo show. It’s getting to stop hiding.

The Tony Award-winning actor — who received a 2026 Tony nomination for Best Leading Actor in a Play — tells PEOPLE that the audience interaction built into the emotional Broadway production has given him a rare kind of freedom, especially as someone who has been famous since he was 11 years old and normally keeps a low profile in public.

“There’s something really liberating about just running around and being like, ‘Hey, I’m Dan. Nice to meet you,’ ” Radcliffe, 36, says.

“Most of the time, if I’m in a room full of 1,000 people, I am hat on, mask on, trying to lay low,” he continues. “There’s something really freeing and fun about just being able to run around and recruit people for the show.”

The production — written by Duncan Macmillan with Jonny Donahoe and directed by Jeremy Herrin and Macmillan — relies heavily on audience participation, with theatergoers helping shape the performance each night.

Before the show even begins, Radcliffe can often be found weaving through the crowd at the Hudson Theatre, chatting with audience members to see who might want to join in on the fun.

“I think people hear ‘audience participation’ and think, ‘Oh no, I’m going to be dragged up on stage or picked on.’ But that’s not at all how this works,’ ” Radcliffe says. “Everyone gets a say on just how much they want to do.”

There are two tiers of audience participation. For most attendees, it simply involves shouting words from cards when prompted during the performance. But a handful of theatergoers are selected for more involved roles throughout the night.

“I’m basically doing vibe checks on people when we’re out there talking to them. And if the energy is right, I’ll say, ‘Hey, do you want to participate further?’ ” Radcliffe says.

And if they decline? “We’ll go and find someone else and move on immediately,” he says. “It’s really not a problem.”

Radcliffe stresses that the goal is only to make people feel included. “I am only in the business of making people feel good on stage,” he says. “The point of this is not to make anyone feel awkward or embarrassed.”

That spirit of openness and connection has become central to the experience for the actor. And while it may appear to be exhausting, having to cast an entire play before acting in one, Radcliffe says it’s been anything but.

“I think it says a lot about how much I enjoy the show that I don’t find that part exhausting,” Radcliffe says. “Because it’s really just fun. And I know I will never get to do something like this again. So I really just feel thankful because I’ll forever be grateful for it.”

Of course, even in a show where Radcliffe is trying to meet audiences simply as “Dan,” his most famous role still occasionally follows him into the theater.

One moment in Every Brilliant Thing involves audience members handing Radcliffe books to use during a scene. And over the course of the run, theatergoers have gotten increasingly creative with their selections.

“People bring joke books all the time because they want to make me laugh,” he says. “And a lot of people try to bring Harry Potter books.”

Radcliffe says he typically avoids using them during the performance, though. “I’m doing the show hoping that people are forgetting what else they know about me, and it’s hard to somehow remind people halfway through of the thing they know you for most.”

Still, some fans have found clever workarounds.

“Somebody the other day brought not a Harry Potter book, but Tom Felton’s autobiography,” Radcliffe recalls, of his longtime on-screen costar and friend. “And they wrapped it up in black cloth so I couldn’t see what it was. But I grabbed it and immediately thought, ‘Well, I’m suspicious because you’ve covered it up with something.’ So I opened it and saw it was Tom’s book.”

“Obviously I didn’t use it,” he laughs. “But I give them credit for trying.”

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Radcliffe’s last performance in Every Brilliant Thing is on Sunday, May 24. Mariska Hargitay is set to take over the role beginning May 26 and Tracee Ellis Ross on July 7.

Tickets to Every Brilliant Thing are now on sale. The 2026 Tony Awards will take place at Radio City Music Hall on Sunday, June 7. The show will be broadcast live to both coasts on CBS beginning at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT, and will stream on Paramount+.

Read the original article on People