Daniel Radcliffe – After Harry

January 2010 By Philip Berk

  By Philip Berk

When we visited the set of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in April we couldn’t believe our misfortune.

Daniel Radcliffe for the first time in all all the years he had worked on the Harry Potter series had called in sick.

We had traveled 12,000 miles for that!

But a few months later we were rewarded with a special press conference in LA.

And there he was looking chipper and eager to please, although strangely small, obviously the tradeoff for being able to play the school boy over a period of ten years .

But of course you don’t talk about those things.

Instead you concentrate on the filming of the final chapter of the most successful series in publishing history. 

Q: Each of the previous films  posed a challenge. What were the challenges on this one.

A: Before I answer that I should make one thing clear:  the reason acting is such a fantastic job is that the harder it gets the more fun it becomes, which not everybody can say about their job;  so I’m very lucky in that respect. The seventh film, however, was a stamina challenge because we shot for 16 months to do both movies. For me, the most challenging scenes are always the ones you build up in your head beforehand; so the walk through the forest, the scene where I see my parents again and Sirius and Lupin all come back as ghosts, that was  the most challenging scene in the film because I’d build it up so much in my head. It’s a scene of such great importance to the film but also to me.  I’d always found it the most moving part of the book;  so I really wanted to get it right, and I think with the pressure that I put on myself, it was quite a frustrating day because I was just never going to be happy with whatever I did that day. I’m never satisfied, which is a good thing, I think. But I had (director) David Yates there to help me, I had Gary Oldman and David Thewlis and all those guys, so you feel very safe.”

Q: Talk about the physical challenge of the wirework?

A: Physical challenge on this film? What would that have been? (he jokes) I mean, okay, there was one. The one great one was in the room of requirement scene where we’re looking for the lost diadem of Ravenclaw. I have to scale this huge pile of furniture which was great fun, but I was doing it from 10:00 in the morning ‘til 5:00 in the afternoon. By the end of the day I was just kind of bruised and battered because I have very little regard for my own personal safety, and I just started jumping around on it and even between takes I was like climbing the thing and having a great time. That was maybe the hardest physical challenge. There was also quite a bit of getting beaten up by Ralph Fiennes. There’s a physical challenge! (he laughs). Yeah, that was quite hard. I mean, he missed the padding a couple of times, completely by accident, I hasten to add, in case you’re thinking that he might have been getting a little bit in character but that Voldemort fight scene, what’s great about it is there are parts at the end of the film where Harry is frustrating Voldemort in his refusal to die, and so Voldemort’s anger carries him away to the point where it stops being about magic and it just becomes about  the physical threat of violence. That was a very intense scene. I think people will enjoy that. Anyone who doesn’t like me, come and see me get beaten up (Laughter).

Q: Talk about that other challenge, life after Harry Potter. You’ve  met that challenge in the theatre, but other film roles seem more elusive. Rather than take just anything would you consider going to university?

Without a beat he answers, “I think that boat has sailed (Laughing).

Q: Completely?

A: I don’t know. I mean, you can never, never say never, and what’s wonderful is that if when I’m 30 and I don’t want to do this anymore, and I want to go back to university and do that, that’s certainly an option that will remain open to me. But it’s not one I see myself pursuing in the immediate future or in any future, to be honest,  because I love acting and I love being on films. Maybe it won’t work out, but I don’t think anybody’s career works out exactly as they plan it. The good thing is, I started doing other stuff while I was still on Potter. If I’d got to the end of the series and then gone, ‘Right, now I’m going to try and establish myself as an actor and go off and do other stuff,’ then it would have been a lot harder for people to accept me, but because I’ve been doing things in between, it’s like a comfort zone, not just for me but for people watching me. People are very comfortable and used to seeing me as Harry Potter. The fact that I started doing stuff like Equus, and then going back to Potter, and then The Woman in Black and back to Potter, I think that has eased people into the sort of the transition and, yeah, I mean, next year what’s great is I’m doing How to Succeed in Business Without Trying on Broadway. And what’s wonderful about that is, unlike Equus, the whole family can come and see it, which is wonderful for all those kids that have grown up watching me as Harry Potter; they will now be able to come and see me doing something different, which is very, very exciting for me. I just want to keep working and doing other films. I love being on film sets so I will keep working.

Q: Harry Potter has consumed most of  your life. You were ten when you began the journey and now you’re 21. Looking back what are your thoughts?

A: We wrapped the film  about two weeks ago, and I was devastated. I was really, really so upset.  I cried  – we all did. I’ve never seen Rupert Grint cry in my life  (Laughter) . It was a very emotional day not because I was thinking, ‘Oh, God, what am I going to do now?’ It was about…  For the last 10 years my day to day life has been going into work and seeing all those people and seeing those rooms; suddenly to contemplate what my day to day life would be like without Potter. So I am quite apprehensive but also very excited. I think in this situation it’s a choice. You either choose to be scared or excited and so I’m choosing to be excited.

Q: On which film in the series did you feel confident that this was what you wanted to do the rest of your life?

A: I’d say that it was on the third film that I suddenly started to think, ‘Okay, this is what I want to do. The first two films I was there I was having a great time,  it was fantastic but on the third one for the first time I thought this is what I Iove this. I want to make a career for myself doing this but I would never say that I was in my comfort zone on Potter because in terms of the performance, in terms of the actual work  it changes every year and each year presented new challenges but  when I say comfort zone, I mean the crew, I know all those guys. It’s not like when you walk onto another set and it’s very much like the first day of school and you don’t know anyone and you look around and you’re desperate to see somebody you might have worked with before. I didn’t have that but because I’ve known them all for so long; in that sense it’s a very, very comfortable place for me to be.

Q: What can you say about Robert Pattinson, did you give him advise, and do you keep in touch?

A: I haven’t – I think the last time I saw Rob was at an art gallery  four years ago before the Twilight thing even – I haven’t seen him since he’s done Twilight. He’s kind of busy I think (laughter.) But no, I mean, he’s done amazingly well. It was fantastic. It was weird because I had never heard of the Twilight books. I was living under my Harry Potter rock; so I hadn’t really been exposed to it, and then I was driving down the the West Side Highway – I arrived in New York to do Equus, and I just saw this huge poster of Rob and I went, “I’ve worked with you” (laughter) and it was amazing. So he’s done brilliantly well. I wish him all the luck in the world. It’s fantastic to see somebody that you’ve worked with before succeed. It’s just wonderful but no, we don’t compare franchise notes. As I’ve always said I would never deign to give anybody advice – if he wanted some then of course I would, but  I’m sure he’s coping with it absolutely fine.

Q: You attended the opening of the Harry Potter World in Florida. What do you say when people ask what in the world is Hogsworth doing in Orlando? 

A: The answer is, how do you justify opening a theme park in a country where we get like 250 days of rain a year. I mean, okay, so the snow on the rooftops of all the castles looks a little bit incongruous in Florida. But I think it was Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London. who was saying,” (and he takes a stab at imitating him) “They should have brought it here.’ ”

(When no one recognizes the voice he gamely continues.) 

“But if anyone’s had the power to bring it to London surely it would have been the Mayor; so it’s slightly odd for him to make that point. Of course, on a personal note, yes, I would love to see an equivalent park in  England. It would be absolutely fantastic. but for now we’re just sort of lucky that one exists, and one that’s done so perfectly.”

Q: The Deathly Hallows will be two movies. In what way are the two different? 

A: One’s a road movie and the other a battle movie; that’s how I’d put it in very simplistic terms. You can sort of split them in two. In the first part, me, Rupert and Emma  are hunting  – we’ve been given the information  that Voldemort can be killed. Voldemort’s split his soul in seven pieces.  And based on all the information from the 6th movie now we are on the hunt but we have no idea where we’re going, no idea where we should be looking. But Harry has got his friends into this and now he must face  two tests of faith. The whole film’s about Harry’s faith in Dumbledore, how far can it be tested, how far can it be pushed. In that sense it’s like the test of Job in the Bible; that’s what it reminds me of  – but then it’s also about Ron and Hermione’s faith in Harry and how that affects the relationship because halfway through the movie Ron wakes up to the fact that Harry is clueless, Harry has no idea where he’s going, and he’s kind of leading them on not just a wild goose chase but he’s trying to be proactive with absolutely no information. So as Harry’s friends lose faith in him, he more and more loses faith in Dumbledore and  what’s interesting is that just every so often in the film something will occur that means Harry can’t quite let go of the belief that Dumbledore is either still alive or somehow helping him  from the afterlife, but there’s loads more stuff that happens in that as well  David Yates and I both saw Harry as kind of a Roman Emperor type gradually getting more and more paranoid as he loses the support of his followers.”

Turning 21, is that a milestone for him?

“I don’t know how different it will be turning 21. I mean, to be honest, 21 in England is a birthday that we kind of make a big deal of but I never really understood why because it’s not the legal age for anything. It’s not the legal age for adulthood or anything like that, even though it used to be; I guess it’s just a big excuse for a big party basically so I’m entitled yeah…

Q: Are still living at home and how will your mom prepare for the empty nest?

A: Yeah, I was trying to shake off my ankle when I was leaving the house.  No.  No, not at all.  My mother is okay with it. I mean, I do live alone now. I  moved out actually a couple of years ago and I love living alone.  I’m still learning to function like a human being and cook and tidy up after myself and all that kind of stuff.  Getting gradually better at that. I only live about like 10, 15 minutes away from my parents so I still see them quite a lot; so it’s not like I’ve gone off to university or anything.  My mum’s not the type to be too overprotective.  She’s the type to go, ‘Get on with it.

Q: You’ll have to use an American accent in How to Succeed. Can you see yourself living here (in Los Angeles) permanently?

A: I can do the American accent, my American accent is good, but I don’t think I can ever live here. I mean, it’s beautiful and the way the sun is shining, but I’m missing home too much. I’m English. Hey, this is the comment that could totally come back and bite me one day, but I love living in London.  I love my life there.  I love all my friends  there and I don’t think I can see myself moving out here or anything.

 Q: But you wouldn’t mind working in Hollywood?  

A: I would love to work over here, I’d love to make a movie out here in LA, that would be amazing but no, I don’t think I can ever see myself living here on a permanent basis.

Q: What roles would you like to play?

A: That’s a very hard question to answer because until I am presented with an actual example, it’s hard to know whether I would like to do it or not. But in terms of future plans, obviously there is a musical next year. I’d love to do another film this year before that happens, and there are a couple of things which are possibilities. I’ve just become attached to All Quiet on the Western Front, a new version of that, to play Paul Bäumer, so that’s potentially very, very exciting as well.

Q: Have you kept things from the Harry Potter films?

A: What have I got? I’ve got my face from when I was 12. They did a prosthetic cast of that, so I’ve still got that. I’ve got the arm they used when my arm went floppy in the second film. And all the bonesmen outfits. I’ve got that. I’ve also got a couple of little boxes and things from Postman’s classrooms, which I stole for intended purposes. I did not ask anybody for them. The cloaks have big pockets, so they fit quite a lot of gear,” he jokes.) “But the one thing I am getting when I go back in my two days is the glasses. That’s all I want. I don’t want the wand, just the glasses. This is what I want more than anything else. And the lenseless ones, because very often we don’t have lenses in the glasses because the cameras flashes the lights. And the lenseless ones are the ones we used more and they are the ones I associate more with Harry Potter than anything else.”

Q: How do you psych yourself up for those intense scenes?

A: I’ve always relied on music a lot for those moments but to be honest I pace a lot and I sort of internally work myself up into a little bit of a frenzy. And by just kind of winding myself up mentally to aggravate myself, that’s kind of what it comes down to. I just take myself away to a corner of the set and work myself up into a bit of a frenzy.

Q: What kind of music do you listen to?

A: I’ve always listened to lots of Radiohead, and for Harry, a band called Hope of the States. 

Q: Any thing you can tell us about J.K. Rowling on a personal level?

A: Not really. The reason Joanne’s always been so wonderful is that she’s left us to it. She’s not been one of these authors that are constantly on the set and saying, ‘Oh, you can’t change that or you can’t do this.’ She was always very, very supportive and lovely about the films and she was fantastic with all of us. But what I do have, which is a very different experience, I did an interview with Joanne Rowling for the DVD, and we actually interview each other on this thing, and so I was talking to her about the books and the films, and the most interesting thing was finding out what her relationship to the films was and I was very flattered because one of the first things I asked her, ‘Honestly, you can tell me, what do you think of me, Rupert and Emma in terms of how you imagined the characters,’ and she said, ‘To be honest, you are all far too good looking.’ which was a great compliment. She always viewed Harry and Ron as really geeky looking kids, and Hermione as bucktoothed and Medea-headed.  It was just a great interview, something, I think, people will really respond to. I asked her a couple of questions that haven’t been asked before (laughing).

Guess they’re closer than he admits.

Joanne!

I thought she was J.K.