Skandar Amin Casper Keynes (born 5 September 1991) Keynes was born in London, the son of Zelfa Cecil Hourani and author Randal Keynes. His maternal grandfather, the Lebanese Cecil Fadlo Hourani, is a former advisor to the late Tunisian president Habib Bourguiba, as well as a famous cook; Cecil Hourani is also the brother of Albert Hourani, a major historian of the Middle East. The Hourani family were immigrants to England from Southern Lebanon (Deir Mimas, Lebanon.) On his father's side, Keynes is the great-great-great grandson of the famous biologist Charles Darwin, through whose paternal grandmother Mary Howard he is descended from Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk (uncle to both Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard)and since Anne Boylen is the mother of Queen Elizabeth 1st, he is also distantly related to the famouse monarch Queen Elizabeth the first, and thus from King Edward I. Keynes is also the great-great nephew of the economist John Maynard Keynes and the nephew of the historian and Cambridge professor Simon Keynes. He is also related to the poet Ruth Padel and, through his ancestral connection to the Wedgwood family, to socialist politician Tony Benn. Through his great-grandmother, Hester Adrian, Baroness Adrian – the wife of
Nobel Prize laureate Edgar Adrian, 1st Baron Adrian – he is also related to the Scottish philosopher David Hume. He has an older sister, Soumaya Keynes, (born 1989), who has appeared in various productions for BBC Radio 4. Keynes has stated that he is an atheist. Skandar also quoted on "Chuck the movie Guy show" that he'd like to be a doctor when he gets older.
Keynes attended the Anna Scher Theatre School from 2000 to 2005, having attended Thornhill Primary school from 1996-2002. He currently attends the all-boys City of London School. He sat his GCSEs in May and June 2008 and started Sixth Form and his first year of his A-level studies the following September. He is doing biology, chemistry, maths, further maths and history at A-level. He currently writes as a "film critic" for the review section of The Citizen, the City of London School weekly school newspaper. He is a fan of English football club Arsenal.
In the summer of 2006, Keynes and his grandfather, mother, and sister were forced to flee from Beirut, Lebanon, where the family was holidaying when the 2006 Lebanon War began.
Keynes currently resides in Highbury, London. He studies Tae Kwon Do and plays the cornet, the cello, the tuba, the flute, and the guitar.
He auditioned (successfully) for The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe at the same time as he auditioned (unsuccessfully) for the role of Simon Brown in Nanny McPhee. His voice broke during the filming of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, leaving his sister Soumaya to voice some of his lines.
Daniel Jacob Radcliffe (born 23 July 1989)
Daniel Radcliffe was asked to audition for the role of Harry Potter in 2000 by producer David Heyman, while in attendance at a London production of Stones in His Pockets.[13][14] In August of that year, after several auditions, he was selected to play the role in the big-budget adaptation of the award-winning book series by J.K. Rowling. Rowling herself also approved of this selection: "Having seen Dan Radcliffe's screen test I don't think Chris Columbus could have found a better Harry".[15] Radcliffe made his film debut in 2001 with a supporting role alongside Pierce Brosnan in The Tailor of Panama, and the first Harry Potter film, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was released later that year.
Radcliffe has also starred in the five subsequent Harry Potter film adaptations: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002), Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005), Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007) and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009). He has signed on[16] for the seventh, and eighth films (year seven is being made in two parts); Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I and II, expected in 2010 and 2011. Radcliffe is 'very happy' that the decision has been made to split the last film into two parts, as he doesn't believe that anything should be cut out of the climactic book.[17] The films continue to produce high box office results worldwide.
In 2002, Radcliffe appeared as a guest in the West End production The Play What I Wrote directed by Kenneth Branagh (who appeared with Radcliffe in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets as Professor Lockhart).[12] In 2006, he began to make the transition from child to adult actor, appearing in the television series Extras as a parody of himself, as well as filming the independent Australian drama December Boys. The film, which was filmed in six weeks[18] was released in North America by Warner Bros. on September 14, 2007. Radcliffe worked with a language coach for six months to perfect an Australian accent.[18] He took the role because he wanted to appear in a film in which he played a supporting role rather than the central character.[19] Next, Radcliffe opened on 27 February 2007 in a revival of Peter Shaffer's play Equus as Alan Strang, a stable boy who has an obsession with horses. The role generated significant pre-opening media interest and advance sales topped two million pounds, as Radcliffe appeared nude in one scene in the play.[20] Radcliffe's performance received positive reviews,[21] as critics were impressed by the nuance and depth of his against-type role.[22] Radcliffe's last performance in Equus took place on 9 June 2007. The production then transferred to Broadway in New York City opening on September 25, 2008, where Radcliffe reprised the role of Alan Strang along with Richard Griffiths, who was also in the Equus production in London and played Vernon Dursley in the Harry Potter series.[23][24] Prior to the play's opening he stated that he was nervous about repeating the role on Broadway because he considered American audiences more discerning than those in London.[25]
During the summer of 2007, he filmed the ITV drama My Boy Jack, based upon the true story of Rudyard Kipling's son's death in battle during the First World War, which aired in the UK on Remembrance Day 2007 and premiered in the United States on April 20, 2008.[18][26] In the film, Radcliffe played Jack Kipling, a World War I-era soldier and the son of author Rudyard Kipling.[27][28] About the role, he stated:[29]
For many people my age, the First World War is just a topic in a history book. But I've always been fascinated by the subject and think it's as relevant today as it ever was.
At the age of sixteen, Radcliffe became the youngest non-royal ever to have an individual portrait in Britain's National Portrait Gallery. On 13 April 2006, his portrait, drawn by Stuart Pearson Wright, was unveiled as part of a new exhibition opening at London's Royal National Theatre, then moved to the National Portrait Gallery where it resides.[30] Radcliffe was fourteen at the time of the portrait's creation.
On 9 July 2007, Radcliffe and fellow Harry Potter cast members Rupert Grint and Emma Watson left imprints of their hands, feet and wands in front of Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood.[31]
It was announced in the New York Times on 28 December 2007 that Radcliffe will portray deceased photojournalist Dan Eldon in an upcoming biopic entitled Journey or The Journey is the Destination.[32] Eldon's mother, Kathy, personally chose Radcliffe over other actors such as Heath Ledger, Ryan Phillippe and Joaquin Phoenix, noting Radcliffe's "puckishness, sense of humour and energy" as similar to her son's.[33]
He has become a keen follower of cricket[47] and attended the first England v India test match on his 18th birthday. He queued up for the autographs of Indian batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar and English opening batsman Andrew Strauss at the end of the final day's play.[48] Regarding this, he stated:[49] I was telling people in a recent interview that I had a dream that Andrew Strauss was chasing me with a cricket bat. It was during the West Indies series when Andrew wasn’t doing too well and an Australian who was listening in piped up and said, "I wouldn’t worry about Strauss, if he had a swing at you at the moment he’d probably miss".
