Daniel Radcliffe, better known for sporting round glasses in the “Harry Potter” franchise, is the star of the new film, “Kill Your Darlings,” which just showed at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah. But his on-screen magical acting was not the key factor that helped him land the role of playing the American Jewish Poet Allen Ginsberg, but rather the Jewy-ness of his family jewels.
In an interview with Out Magazine, the film’s director, John Krokidas said he was worried Radcliffe wasn’t Jewish when he first cast him for the role.
“Before I sent out the script, I said, ‘Oh shit, Daniel’s not Jewish,’ ” Krokidas said. “And my boyfriend said, ‘Of course he’s Jewish — everyone in the world knows that. Didn’t you see the shots from Equus? He’s only British from the waist up.’ ”
Krokidas was referring to the 1979 play about a psychiatrist who treats a young man suffering from an obsessive fascination with horses that resurfaced in London 2007. Radcliffe played the role of the patient, and appeared nude on stage for all of England to get confirmation that he was, indeed, circumcised. So Radcliffe might owe his mohel a phone call….
