One thing he shares with his character though is his rise to fame and becoming a target. "I find it very easy playing Harry when he's dealing with the attention he gets. I can relate to that, more than I can to death or being an orphan, because I have no experience of either of those. Though I've played an orphan three times now " (in December Boys, Equus and Harry Potter).

Radcliffe, who dropped out of high school a year early to appear on stage in Equus, says he has no need of a university education.

"I didn't want to go, it's as simple as that. I think most people go to establish their identity and what they want to do career-wise. I know what I want to do, more or less. Other people go to meet people from different backgrounds and that happens naturally on a film set. That's not to say I'm going to stop learning. I read a lot. I still have English lessons once a week, without the pressure of exams or essays. I have my own teacher and we basically chat about books and poems. In an ideal world that should be the way everyone learns. I don't fancy university in truth. I know exactly what I want to do - touch wood anyway."

LOWDOWN

Who: Daniel Radcliffe
Born: July 23, 1989, London
What: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
When: At cinemas from July 9

By Helen Barlow