Radcliffe first expressed a desire to act at the age of five , and in December 1999 , aged 10 , he made his acting debut in BBC One 's televised two @-@ part adaptation of the Charles Dickens novel David Copperfield , portraying the title character as a young boy . He was educated at two independent schools for boys : Sussex House School , a day school in Chelsea 's Cadogan Square , and the City of London School , a day school on the North Bank of the River Thames in London 's financial district ( known as the City of London ) . Attending school became difficult for Radcliffe after the release of the first Harry Potter film , with some fellow pupils becoming hostile , though he says it was people just trying to " have a crack at the kid that plays Harry Potter " rather than jealousy .