Young actor Daniel Radcliffe has admitted that he wanted to eradicate his fabled "Harry Potter" image by tackling a very different role in his upcoming film, "The Woman in Black." As he discusses his latest movie, the 22-year-old British actor opened up that starring in the horror film was a good first step to break away from the wizard boy persona that has made him famous.

"I think this is a very good first step," Radcliffe said. "I was under no illusions that people would see this film and go, 'Christ! He's not Harry Potter anymore, he's completely transformed!' I didn't ever think that was going to happen," the actor added."But I think it's a good first step in that I look very different, I'm playing a man rather than a boy, it's a different type of film to be in, and all that stuff is very useful at this point for an audience to see that I'm going to try and do different stuff," the London-born Radcliffe continued on.

Radcliffe confessed that he has been looking for a more challenging role that is totally different from the one he played in the famous "Hogwarts School" film franchise. "People ask us, the cast of Harry Potter, those questions a lot. 'Why are you searching to be so different?' or 'Is it intentional that you want to be so diverse?' and the answer is, yes, it is," the actor explained.

"But I don't think that's something specific for someone coming out of a franchise. I think any actor worth their salt wants to show as much versatility as they possibly can. Over the next couple of years it's going to be about doing as much work as possible and making it as varied as possible," he further added.

Though taking a starring role in the horror movie, Radcliffe admitted that he was actually not a big fan of the genre when he was a kid. "I was terrified of them," said the actor. Radcliffe also discussed how he prepared himself in portraying male lead character, Arthur Kipps, in "Woman in Black". In the film, Radcliffe portrays widowed London lawyer Arthur Kipps, whose grief has put his career in jeopardy. The young man is sent to a remote village to sort out the affairs of recently deceased eccentric. However, upon his arrival, it soon becomes clear that everyone in the town is keeping a deadly secret.

"I have this very excitable energy about me, and Arthur should not, and it would be completely wrong for the character. One of the things director James Watkins was keen on was trying, as he put it, was to 'take the fizz out of the bottle, to let it go flat'," Radcliffe shared. "About stripping away my natural zeal, the attack I have with everything, and actually showing somebody who has been devastated by their loss to the point where they're in a state of emotional paralysis," he went on explaining.

The supernatural horror movie is due to open in the United States theaters on February 3 and in the United Kingdom on February 10.

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