Radcliffe's back-breaking training

Daniel Radcliffe has revealed he has to be careful not to damage his back while training for his next stage role.

The Harry Potter star has been cast in the title role in Martin McDonagh's black comedy The Cripple Of Inishmaan, playing a young boy with a degenerative muscle disease.

Daniel told the Daily Mail how he has been working with a consultant to make sure he can convey the back and leg problems on stage every night, without doing himself any permanent harm.

He revealed: "I've been working with a consultant trainer who helps people who have multiple sclerosis, because Billy - the boy I play - is crippled in his legs and his back has gone. I wanted to find a way of conveying his illness in a manner I'd be able to perform every night.

"If you do these things the wrong way, you can end up with serious back or walking problems.

"It's not actually specified what's wrong with Billy. But reading through the play, it seemed that multiple sclerosis might be closest to what he has."

Daniel, 23, gives everything he can to his theatre roles.

He went completely nude for his stage debut in Peter Shaffer's Equus and learned to sing and dance for How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying on Broadway.

The Cripple Of Inishmaan is the third play from director Michael Grandage in his season at the Noel Coward theatre in London's West End.