Early on a Monday morning in late May, in a posh London hotel suite, Radcliffe bolts down several consecutive diet colas to jump-start himself for an interview. Tonight, while most kids his age enjoy a long holiday weekend, he'll be on stage in Equus, in the first of eight draining shows for the week. When the play opened in February, Radcliffe earned good to glowing notices from hard-nosed British critics — not to mention an avalanche of publicity for a series of nearly nude promotional photos. (The play ended its run on June 9, but there's talk Radcliffe will bring it to Broadway next year, once again teaming with Potter costar Richard Griffiths, better known as Uncle Vernon Dursley.)
With all those shows to perform, Radcliffe hasn't had much time to dwell on Order of the Phoenix. A few days ago, however, he got to see a finished cut. ''I was worried,'' he says, grasping his elbows in his hands and pulling his arms in tightly at his sides — a study in British emotional reserve. ''Not because I had anything but complete faith in David Yates. But having done Equus, I thought I would go back and look at Potter and think, Oh, God, I would have done this so much differently now, because I've learned so much.'' So what did he think of his latest work? ''I actually didn't mind watching myself, for sort of the first time in five films,'' he says earnestly, rubbing his ever-so-slightly stubbly chin. ''I have got better. Thank God! I still see a lot of room for improvement, obviously. But I've started to see Harry rather than myself.''
Radcliffe has two more chances to further sharpen his game. He's officially signed on for the final Potter films: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, due in November 2008, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which should reach theaters in 2010. Yates will return to direct Half-Blood Prince, and he promises a ''playful, very witty'' movie that will let Radcliffe ''stretch himself as a comic actor. He's a very funny young man.'' As for Hallows, there's no word yet on who will direct. And there's no word, of course, on whether Harry will even survive. Radcliffe has no idea and hasn't yet read the final novel in the series, which goes on sale July 21. He'll discover his fate when the rest of the world does.
Clearly, Radcliffe wants to do more than just run out the clock at Hogwarts and retire a wealthy young man. He wants a sustained career on stage and screen. And like many movie-franchise stars before him, he's in a potentially tough spot. ''There probably will be some people that never quite separate me from Harry,'' he says. ''I'm just going to get on with it.''
NEXT: No more classes for Radcliffe, but he might school 'em all
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