Filed at 9:16 a.m. ET
NEW YORK (AP) -- By now, Daniel
Radcliffe has his role in ''Equus'' down cold. But he still had a case of
the jitters before taking the stage for the play's Broadway opening.
''It was funny because tonight I didn't expect to be nervous because we've
done all the previews, we've had all the critics here,'' Radcliffe said after
Thursday's performance. ''I thought, `Oh, we'll do it tonight, it won't be so
bad.' But I was terrified before we went out. I was like, `Omigod, this is
it.'''
The ''Harry
Potter'' star said there's an advantage to being nervous.
''The jitters should be there 'til the last night of performing -- because
the jitters are what get you on stage,'' he said. ''It's the nerves that make it
exciting and vital and make every show different.''
Radcliffe earned rave reviews for his performance in the London production of
the Tony-winning play. His portrayal of a disturbed teenager who blinds six
horses requires him to appear naked onstage -- a departure from his G-rated
image as the boy wizard in the big-screen adaptations of J.K.
Rowling's best-selling fantasy novels.
Radcliffe stars opposite Tony
winner Richard Griffiths, who portrays his character's psychiatrist at
Broadway's Broadhurst Theatre -- as he did in London.
''I don't read reviews -- ever,'' he said. ''Good or bad. They affect the
performance, so I tend to stay clear as much as I can.''
Radcliffe -- wearing a blue suit that enhanced the color of his icy blue eyes
-- posed for photographs with Griffiths and other ''Equus'' cast members before
the company headed into the opening night celebration, held at a large party
room inside a Chelsea Piers building on Manhattan's west side.
More than 400 people attended the event, where partygoers sat at round tables
while feasting on roast beef, salmon, potatoes, salad and onion rings. Griffiths
-- in a white suit jacket and black bow tie -- chatted amiably with guests.
''He's growing up so fast -- you couldn't shake a stick at it,'' the Tony
Award winner said of Radcliffe. ''And the quality of his acting is such that
it's taken big strides. And it's terrific to see. He's not a kid anymore. He's a
young man and he deserves whatever breaks that brings.''
Much fuss has been made over Radcliffe's nude scene in the play. The media
attention made no sense to the celebrity crowd who saw the show Thursday
night.
''If it's in the play, if it's in the story, if it's necessary, then it's
right,'' said Kathleen
Turner, who once briefly doffed her clothes as Mrs. Robinson in the stage
version of ''The Graduate.''
As for Radcliffe, ''The fact that he's willing to learn and risk is all to
his credit,'' Turner said.
Actress Lili
Taylor said she was excited to see Radcliffe and Griffiths in the play, and
doesn't consider the nudity to be any more shocking than it was it was when
''Equus'' debuted on Broadway in 1974.
''If it is, I think we have to grow up a little bit,'' she said.
Other famous theatergoers included Dominic
Cooper, Judith Light, Glenn
Close, Haley
Joel Osment and James Lipton, host of Bravo's ''Inside the Actor's
Studio.''
Cooper, now co-starring with Keira
Knightley in the film ''The Duchess,'' appeared with Griffiths in the
Tony-winning play ''The History Boys'' and its film adaptation.
''I dropped by (the theater) today and wrote some ridiculous scrappy little
message to Richard in desperation for a ticket,'' Cooper said.
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