Daniel Radcliffe on being 'odd' romantic lead: 'Well, the male population had no problem sexualising Emma Watson immediately'

The former child star said he found it frustrating being told he made a strange romantic lead when the same was never said of Emma Watson

Daisy Wyatt
Sunday 26 October 2014 16:51 GMT
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Daniel Radcliffe says he is bored with people saying it's 'odd' he's a sex symbol
Daniel Radcliffe says he is bored with people saying it's 'odd' he's a sex symbol

It appears Daniel Radcliffe didn't need any convincing to back Emma Watson’s call to ask men to help end gender inequality.

The actor said he was frustrated he was often typecast by the media as an ‘unconventional’ romantic hero having starred in Harry Potter as a child, when the male population “had no problem sexualising Emma Watson immediately”.

In an interview with the Associated Press, he said: “Around the time of rom com What If coming out, a lot of people were saying: ‘You’re really an unconventional romantic lead.' And so eventually I got bored of hearing that and kind of picked someone up on it, so I was like ‘What about me is unconventional, exactly? Like, tell me.’

“And she said, ‘well, I think it’s probably the fact that you know, we associated you with playing Harry, the young boy wizard.’

“My immediate response to that was: ‘Well, the male population had no problem sexualising Emma Watson immediately.’”

Last month, Watson addressed the UN to launch her new “HeForShe” campaign, which aims to enlist the support of as many men as possible to help achieve equality between the sexes.

"Men - I would like to take this opportunity to extend your formal invitation. Gender equality is your issue too," she said.

The actress also outlined her experiences of sexism, including being “sexualised by certain elements of the press” at the age of 14.

Earlier this year, Radcliffe said he was a feminist and called for more roles in top positions in the entertainment industry to be made available to women.

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