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By the time Daniel Radcliffe met his girlfriend Erin Darke, he was already massively famous thanks to Harry Potter. And perhaps because she was so lesser known than her significant other, fans haven’t been able to find out much about Daniel’s girlfriend. Yet she works in the industry, too; the pair actually met while working on Kill Your Darlings (which came out in 2013). Daniel played the famous poet Allen Ginsberg, and Erin’s role was as a romantic interest.
Though they were both acting when they met, it turns out that Erin helped Daniel’s career in a pretty big way, and the actor wasn’t shy about his praise for his girlfriend during an AMA on Reddit.
Daniel Radcliffe Takes On A Lot Of Unconventional Work
After finishing the Harry Potter films, Daniel Radcliffe purposely took a detour with his career. From his on-stage works (where he appeared entirely nude) to some flopped indie films, Daniel clearly enjoys a bit of variety on his resume.
He also doesn’t need to work for money, meaning he has all the freedom in the world to take on whatever projects he wants.
It’s even been said that Radcliffe was a bit nervous that J.K. Rowling would write more stories featuring Harry Potter—and that he’d be on the hook to portray the wizard once again.
Clearly, Daniel enjoys his freedom, even if it means disappointing HP fans by swearing off Harry for good.
Daniel Credits His Girlfriend With Getting Him An Important Gig
Daniel didn’t directly credit Erin Darke with landing him a job—it’s not like he needs anyone to talk him up to get an acting gig. But what she did do was introduce him to material that later led him to a project—portraying Weird Al Yankovic.
Daniel appeared in a biopic where he portrayed Weird Al, transforming himself with a wig, old-school glasses, and even a mustache. Weird: The Al Yankovic Story wasn’t just a for-fun project, either.
Taking the role meant that Daniel worked closely with Weird Al himself, and the pair did some press, too, including a Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything) together. It was there that Daniel revealed he had his girlfriend to thank for what would eventually lead to him playing Al.
A select few generations will likely recognize Weird Al by name, but his music precedes him.
The parody musician is known for such lyrical gems as ‘Eat It’ (a parody of Michael Jackson’s ‘Beat It’) and recent hits like ‘Perform This Way’ (an interpretation of Lady Gaga’s ‘Born This Way’) and ‘TMZ,’ which he co-wrote with Taylor Swift, even though it’s a parody of ‘You Belong With Me.’
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Yankovic has, of course, been performing since before Taylor was even born, and his music became noteworthy for a second time in the 1990s.
Given when (and where) Daniel Radcliffe grew up, he had never heard of Weird Al—until Erin Darke introduced him to the music.
Daniel Radcliffe, unlike his girlfriend, did not grow up in the United States, so it makes sense that he wouldn’t have heard of Weird Al until later in his career.
As Daniel explained to a fan who asked “What was your entry into Wierd Al’s music?”, it was all thanks to the Darkes.
Signing off as “Dan,” the actor wrote, “My proper entry into Al’s music happened when I started dating my girlfriend a decade ago. Her whole family are huge Al fans and so I got educated very quickly.”
The two began dating around 2012, according to tabloid reports—though they have kept their relationship quite private the entire time. One fan wrote in reply to Radcliffe, “You have a keeper Dan, don’t let that one go!! You can’t buy good taste.”
But it seems that Daniel doesn’t need fans to tell him she’s a keeper; the two announced they were expecting a child together in March 2023.
Fans loved that Daniel’s introduction to Weird Al came through his girlfriend’s family, with one person replying, “I am imagining now the most hilarious dinner with you all while ‘Melanie’ plays in the background.”
Who knows where Daniel would have wound up had he not known about Weird Al’s music, or ever gotten interested in the biopic?
Of course, the fact that Daniel Radcliffe would like Weird Al’s music, or want to portray him in a biopic, might be confusing for fans who have only watched him in Harry Potter. But it seems Radcliffe’s true calling is all the weird and wonderful projects that come from smaller studios with far smaller budgets.
Looking back, it makes sense that his path led out of the spotlight and into the indie scene. As Daniel explained in a recent interview, after he became sober, he realized that he didn’t “do anything interesting enough” to share with the public or make headlines out of.
It seems that his “really nice life” is all Daniel needs. That, and a few Weird Al albums.
