At this point it’s safe to say that Daniel Radcliffe’s career has taken off, even after the former child star is no longer playing a certain bespectacled young wizard. Radcliffe has been announced to star in a brand new film. According to Screen Daily, Radcliffe will be portraying Sebastian Coe in Gold, a film directed by James Watkins, according to The Telegraph,  Watkins and Radcliffe previously collaborated on 2012’s The Woman in Black. The screenplay will be penned by Will Davies and Simon Beaufoy, the latter of whom also worked on 2008’s Slumdog Millionaire, for which he won an Oscar.

Daniel Radcliffe, Kill Your Darlings Premiere
Radcliffe's career has taken off since the Harry Potter franchise.

Gold will Gold will be based on The Perfect Distance, an account of the Sebastian Coe-Steve Ovett rivalry written by the journalist, Pat Butcher. It will focus on the period before the 1980 Olympics, which saw Coe win the first of his two gold medals for the 1500m, while Ovett won gold for the 800m. Ovett suffered his very first loss in 3 years and 45 races during that fateful 1,500m race.

After retiring from athletics, Coe began a career in politics. The former runner served five years as a Conservative MP between 1992 and 1997. He chaired London’s 2005 bid to host the Olympics and he currently serves as vice-chairman of the International Association of Athletics Federations.

Daniel Radcliffe, BFI London Film Festival
Radcliffe will star in the new project as former Olympic legend and current political activist Sebastion Coe.