Before Harry Potter, Daniel Radcliffe Starred In A Forgotten Spy Movie With Pierce Brosnan

Daniel Radcliffe will forever be known as Harry Potter, even now HBO has cast Dominic McLaughlin to play Harry in the new TV series based on the "Harry Potter" book series. Before he was cast in the Warner Bros. movie franchise, though, Radcliffe made his movie debut with a bit part in an early 2000s spy film. Indeed, not only did Radcliffe appear in a spy flick, but he also got to appear alongside cinematic spy royalty in the form of Pierce Brosnan (who is, of course, best known for playing cinema's most iconic spy, James Bond aka Agent 007).

That said, Radcliffe didn't share the screen with Brosnan in a Bond movie. Rather, he co-starred in 2001's "The Tailor of Panama," a spy thriller that saw Brosnan playing a different womanizing, morally dubious MI6 agent. Along with Brosnan and Radcliffe, the movie also starred the Oscar-winning Geoffrey Rush, who's best known for his roles in films like "The King's Speech" and the "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies, and "Halloween" legend and fellow Oscar-winner Jamie Lee Curtis.

Rush played the titular tailor, Harry Pendel, whose proximity to Panama's elite creates a career opportunity for Brosnan's self-serving spy, Andy Osnard. Pendel, as it were, is married to Curtis' Louisa, and they have two children, with Radcliffe appearing fleetingly throughout the film as their son, Mark. And while Radcliffe's role in "The Tailor of Panama" was a minor one, it notably gave him his first feature acting credit. On top of that, the movie's cast included Brendan Gleeson, who would go on to join Radcliffe in the "Harry Potter" films as Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody.

While Harry Potter is the role that made Daniel Radcliffe a household name, the actor has since gone on to enjoy success in a variety of more daring, experimental, and irreverent projects. Case in point: Shortly after ending his tenure as a boy wizard, he moved from children's fantasy into adult horror with 2012's chilling "The Woman in Black" adaptation.

Infamously, Radcliffe later appeared in A24's surrealist "Swiss Army Man," playing a flatulent corpse opposite Paul Dano. In a similarly unconventional role, Radcliffe starred in "Guns Akimbo," which saw him playing a computer programmer forced to partake in a death match while having guns nailed to his hands.

And in case it wasn't clear enough that Radcliffe enjoys starring in weird movies, he also played the lead role in 2022's "Weird: The Al Yankovic Story." A send-up of your average musician biopic, the film saw Radcliffe portraying a fictionalized version of the legendary parody singer-songwriter "Weird" Al Yankovic. Suffice it to say, "Weird" takes some ... hmm, generous liberties with the artist's real-life story.