As part of his Canadian promotion for The Woman in Black, Dan sat down for a lengthy interview on the George Stroumboulopoulos show, where they discussed of course his work in the film, the horror genre, Harry Potter, and aspects of Dan's personal life. Dan commented on whether or not he would have the guts to take on a role in Equus now, and how his cameo role in Extras was the only he said 'yes' to without having read the script.
Are you into [horror films]?
Daniel Radcliffe: Not the more modern, slightly gratuitous horror. I think [i]The Shining[/] is one of the scariest movies ever made. The original Straw Dogs. I haven’t seen the new one, but I did think it looks very good. Stuff like that; not so much Scream or any of the Saw movies. I couldn’t watch them. That would terrify me. You can’t show people those graphic images and not expect them to be anything but upset and disturbed, that seems a little obvious.
Because in those movies there’s no real reason for hope. You mentioned The Shining. Kubrick had this great line about ghost stories. The idea of ghost stories is that it means there’s an afterlife.
Daniel: They’re all “inherently consoling.” That was one of the things we first talked about, James [Watkins, director] and I when we met to discuss The Woman in Black. My first question to him was, “Okay, so Arthur goes to this house. The moment you open the door you know he should leave. It is a haunted house – from the moment you get there you can tell that.” So I said to James, “Why does he stay?” And what James said was brilliant. Here’s a man who lost his wife. He finds himself in this houses where he starts seeing what he thinks is the ghost of a dead woman. Curiosity would keep him there because if he can confirm that this is a ghost that he’s seeing, then there is an afterlife and he will one day be with his wife again.
It is a scary film and you will jump and you will scream. It does all that very well. But it’s also a film about what happens to us if we fail to move on from a loss. Arthur, my character, has not moved on from his wife’s death and so has just become completely detached from the world and entered a state of emotional paralysis. He’s not a participant in his own life.
How are you with dealing with loss?
Daniel: Touch wood. I haven’t had to deal with a huge amount of it. I lost my grandmother a couple of years ago, which was obviously sad, but I was mainly sad for my dad. It’s a very bizarre thing seeing your parent lost one of theirs. It’s very, very strange.
We’re you well insulated [as a child star]?
Daniel: I’ve had great people around me. I’ve had my mum and dad.
And they’re both pros. They’ve worked in this business.
Daniel: Yeah, my mum was a casting director and my dad was a literary agent. She never cast anything I was in. I feel I have to say that. (laughs) My dad was a literary agent, as I said, which is amazing because now we’ve got these scripts coming in and I’ve got my dad who was famous when he was an agent for being really great with new writing. I’ve got him as free script development. That’s awesome. So yeah, I had good people around me. I think possibly because I was on set every day – I was the only one who was on set every day out of the cast on Potter – and the only other people who are there every day are the crew, so they were the people I became very close with. And I think that gives you a healthy amount of humility because you see how the crew talk about actors that they don’t like, and you go, “I don’t want to be talked about like that.” (laughs)
I think it started with Equus. That was something I wanted to do. Looking back, I don’t think I knew how important it was at the time, but that’s been incredibly important to me and my career. It comes of making people sit up and go, “Oh, he’s not content to rest on his laurels. He wants to do something else. He wants to take risks and challenge himself.” Because that’s what I’m all about. If I don’t have a certain amount of fear going into a project, then I probably won’t be very good. I need to feel that there is a genuine risk of failure for me. It’s a motivator for me.
Does that apply in your life as well?
Daniel: I don’t know. It’s very hard for me to draw a distinction between those two things, having worked for so long. In my life I’m actually, despite the appearance of hyperactivity and exciteableness that I have – I’m actually the most laid back person. Nothing really affects me. I don’t get particularly worried or angry really. In my personal life, I’m very chilled. Professionally I worry.
In a bar hanging with your friends, some guy yells out, “Potter,” that you don’t know. You don’t get angry then?
Daniel: No, you don’t get angry. The only time it becomes relatively irritating are when people are drunk and obnoxious and think they’re really funny. But it’s not the fact that they think they’re funny, ‘cause that’s fine. They are funny to their friends, that’s fine. But they can’t expect me to laugh. That’s the thing. They look at me like I am – something rude – for not laughing at their joke. And it’s like, “Dude I’ve been hearing those jokes for 10 years. I can’t fake laughing for you. I wouldn’t do that with my friends. I’m certainly not going to do it for you, drunk stranger.”
Extras. That’s one of the greatest comedy series of all time.
Daniel: I still get people coming up to me now, it’s like five years later, going, “Loved you in Extras.” It was amazing. It’s the only job I’ve ever said yes to without reading the script. Ricky got in contact with me and said, “I want you to play a warped version of what people think you are.” That, for me, was incredibly appealing because – particularly at that age – whenever I walked into a room I assumed people were expecting me to be very unpleasant. So to constantly feel that you’re coming up against that perception and then to have somebody offer you the chance to send that up completely, was awesome.
Did you have anxiety and fear going in to that comedic situation?
Daniel: No, not at all. Actually I didn’t, no. Maybe I should have. But I look back at Equus – I did that when I was 17. I don’t know how I did that. Looking back I think, “Christ, that does take guts.” I don’t know if I could do it now, my god. Always in my life, baptism by fire has been a good way of doing stuff for me. Equus, in terms of a first play, is quite a tough first play. And there’s a lot to learn as you’re going along. I don’t know, in working with Ricky Gervais you can’t ask for anybody better in the world of comedy.
The Woman in Black is not easy, too, because horror is a lot like comedy in that the timing needs to be really bang on. Are you very secure about your ability to perform in any of these situations?
Daniel: Yes, I don’t really think of it by genre. You just take it by character and by the part, and that becomes an easier way to start. What’s interesting is that in comedy, the timing is more down to the actors whereas in horror, it’s more down to the director and the editor and the music, and all that. I think the timing of things is less my responsibility in this film.
It was very poetic at times, and I know poetry is a big part of your story, too.
Daniel: Yes. People seem to be coming aware of that very recently. As an actor you are creative in the way that you are responsible for creating a character and embodying that character, but you can’t create a world. And I love the challenge of poetry. I love rhyme and meter and form, and all those things. There’s a mental exercise that I really enjoy, but at the same time it’s allowing me to get stuff out. I haven’t actually written a good poem in about a year or so, but I’ll get back to it.
You wrote one when your grandmother passed, right?
Daniel: I did. How did you know that? I’ve obviously said that at some point. You’re like the Woodward and Bernstein of Canadian television.
But that’s a very personal subject to write about.
Daniel: I write on all kinds of things. Relationships, stuff I found funny throughout the day, space … anything. Space I find fascinating.
What is it about space that fascinates you?
Daniel: Oh god, just the endlessness of it and the fact that every atom in our body was made in a dying star. That’s pretty cool.
Growing up, did another performer mentor you?
Daniel: Gary Oldman. I always looked up to Gary a huge amount and viewed him as totally fearless, and everything I aspire to be. And who wouldn’t? Alan Rickman would guide me and took me out to dinner a couple of times in New York after the show and talked to me about things. He’s always been very supportive. Luckily, all the older actors we had on the films were really generous with the kids, and always were talking to us and including us in their process.
A few years ago you were supporting Clegg’s Liberal Democrats. How would you counsel young performers to find their political voice?
Daniel: I’m not a member of the Liberty Democrats. I’m free swinging in that sense. But, I think you have to be very careful. If you are going to voice an opinion, I certainly don’t think that you should think that your opinion is in any way more valid because you’re an actor. It’s not. I am no more informed that anybody else that watches a lot of news and is interested in current affairs. But I think when actors start to annoy people is when they start preaching. So never do that. One thing I’ve learned over the last year and a half is that the smaller the difference between the public perception of you and your actual self, the better. Because that means I can come and do an interview like this and not feel like I’m hiding stuff, not feel I have to be aware of stuff, and I can be as natural as is possible.
Are you comfortable talking about the fact that you play Fantasy Football?
Daniel: Yes! I’m extremely comfortable talking about that.
Are you one of the crazy fantasy football guys in the draft?
Daniel: You know, we didn’t do a draft this year because it was my first year, but we’re going to do one next year. I’m very excited about it.
But your movie opens on Super Bowl weekend.
Daniel: I know. (hangs head) And my favorite team is in the Super Bowl. The Giants. So I’m very excited for them. I will be watching them. I love Eli Manning, Victor Cruz. Victor Cruz this year was on my fantasy team, so I did very, very well with him. I didn’t do so well overall with league, but he did brilliantly for me. So yeah, I’m a huge football fan now.
Have you ever had the opportunity to sneak in to one of your films and just watch it [with an audience]?
Daniel: I don’t know that I have. One of my favorite things to do, always, at a premiere is to pick someone and watch them. Particularly if I know there’s a jump coming up or whatever. That’s quite fun to do. I don’t like watching myself at the best of times, so I certainly wouldn’t if I didn’t have to. It’s no fun watching yourself.
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