Daniel Radcliffe
Daniel Radcliffe Reuters

Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe will receive the Hero Award for his contribution to the Trevor Project.

The Trevor Project is an organization for suicide prevention efforts among gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered youth.

The award recognizes an individual who is an inspiration to sexual minority youths and who increases visibility and understanding of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning community.

It's fantastic.The fact that they think of what I've done by promoting awareness of The Trevor Project itself and the issues that it works to promote and help is a great honor, Radcliffe told The Associated Press.

The people that are doing the heroic things are the people answering phones 24 hours a day in the Trevor call centers. I think that out of everything that I've done so far in my career, I think this is absolutely one of the most important, if not the most important, thing that I'm associated with.

The award will be presented by The Trevor Project to Radcliffe in New York in June.

The 21-year-old actor is currently appearing on Broadway as J. Pierrepont Finch in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. He said audience members often recognize his work for The Trevor Project.

I meet people at the stage door every night that thank me for what I'm doing with The Trevor Project, he said.

Radcliffe has appeared in a number of public service announcements and made multiple public statements about the organization ever since he became aware of it in 2008.

Past recipients of the award include Nathan Lane, screenwriter Dustin Lance Black and Ugly Betty actress Vanessa Williams.

The Trevor Project was founded in 1998 by filmmakers James Lecesne, Peggy Rajski and Randy Stone. In 1993 they made a film, Trevor about a 13-year-old boy who attempted suicide after his sexuality was revealed. It won the Academy Award for Film Short.