Daniel Radcliffe separated himself from Harry Potter before he finished filming.

The 21-year-old actor - who has starred in all previous six instalments of the 'Harry Potter' franchise - admits he prepared his fans for his departure from the series by working on other projects so people knew he wasn't just the boy-wizard.

Discussing his decision to work on stage show 'Equus', he said: "We knew it was important to start the process of separation while the 'Potter' films were going on rather than trying to branch out at the end and expect people to see me as something else."

However, the British star does believe he will always be associated with the character, and is "grateful" to have had the opportunity to play Harry.

He told Total Film magazine: "'Harry Potter' is responsible for every opportunity I'll get for the rest of my life and I'm going to be forever grateful.

"I may occasionally get annoyed by a drunk person in the street shouting, 'Harry!' at me in the street but on the whole it's not an issue. And it's part of my job - it's what I signed up for."

The first half of the final movies in the series, 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1' is released in November.