Daniel
Radcliffe:
on Coming of Age
and December Boys
by Lynn B
 Man
of the hour, 18-year-old Danielle Radcliffe is all over TV and magazine
covers currently. He’s about to start shooting the next “Potter”
movie and is promoting a sweet coming-of-age film he shot at age 16 called
December Boys in which he has his first real love scene. Don’t
worry. We got his comments on that when we spoke with him recently in
Beverly Hills as well as comments on his “real” first kiss.
Yes Dan’s revealed that a fan stole his boxer shorts off the stage
when he was doing the play “Equus” but the young actor gets
to moon someone in December Boys so it all balances out!
Picture the
Harry Heartthrob in all black; jeans, tennies and short-sleeved linen
shirt. Dan entered our interview room carrying his beloved iPod. Hey,
we noticed that this teen guy is real! In the “stars are just like
us” category, we spied a zit on his temple which, of course, does
nothing to mar the blue-eyed beauty of the cute actor. Enough with setting
the scene. Let’s turn it over to Dan!!
AGW: Does
December Boys have a message?
Daniel: If
this film has a message it’s very much that family doesn’t
necessarily mean blood relations and it is who you trust and love. They
make up your family.
AGW: Some
people are surprised that you made this smaller Aussie film. Are you surprised
that they are surprised?
Daniel: I
know what you mean, but I’m not surprised by it. I don’t understand
it, but it is sort of to be expected I suppose. It was like with ‘Equus’.
When I got to [that part in the play] everybody was a bit like, ‘Oh
my God. I can’t believe he’s doing that.’ Now to me
that was ridiculous, but I sort of expected it would happen so it is sort
of the same thing as here. It is only natural that I should go out and
do other things. I don’t know if people are surprised that I’m
doing it. They are just possibly more interested than they would be if
I hadn’t been involved in the Harry Potter franchise.
AGW: Did you
feel like you had to be strategic in picking another project to do? I
mean, were you determined to pick a smaller film to show another side
of your acting?
Daniel: If
the big movie had presented me with loads of challenges and other experiences
then I would have done it. I wasn’t just saying ‘I have to
do an indie movie next because that will show ...
AGW: That
you have street cred?
Daniel: Yeah,
exactly. But it just so happened that this was the best script I read
and it was for an indie movie. If I hadn’t believed in this script,
I wouldn’t have done anything. I really wanted to do something in
between Harry Potter four and five. But, if a script hadn’t come
along, it was very important that I didn’t just do something for
the sake of doing it, you know?
AGW: Some
people see your December Boys character Maps as being rebellious.
Do you?
Daniel: That
is what’s interesting. I don’t see Maps as being rebellious.
I see him as being bored and having nothing else to do. People were saying
‘Who do you think is more rebellious, Harry or Maps?’ I absolutely
think Harry is, because Harry rails against things more where Maps really
has nothing to rail against except his own [boredom].
AGW: What
about you?
Daniel: Maybe
I’m rebelling against what people think I should be doing, but it
is not a conscious thing. I’m making my own choices and if some
people feel that is slightly unorthodox, that’s their issue more
than mine really. It doesn’t bother me.
AGW: So you
are not the guy who would be smoking a cig and stealing a beer [like Maps
does]?
Daniel: I
don’t know. I’ve never been in a situation where I had to
steal a beer [he laughs]. Maybe I would.
AGW: Your
director told us that you listened to certain types of music to try and
get into this character. Can you tell us what bands you chose?
Daniel: Oh
God. I still have it on my iPod on my playlist. I recall there was a lot
of Elliot Smith on there, a lot of William Mason. It was troubled guitar-
wielding men mainly. And a lot of Nirvana, Radiohead, Black Alps and stuff
like that. It was a fairly dark CD, but it helped. Music for me is one
of the most helpful things that can get you into a scene and if I’m
starting from scratch, then music is the main thing I will go to first.
AGW: Is this
the opposite of what you would normally listen to?
Daniel: No,
not at all. I would often listen to stuff like that. Radiohead particularly,
but this CD was exclusively bands like that. I listen to a lot of…um
well, it is all mainly guitar music, but it is not all quite that furious.
AGW: What
attracted you to the character of Maps?
Daniel: I
think everyone can sort of associate with Maps in some way, male or female;
all the heartbreak things, and things like that. And also the thing I
didn’t necessarily connect with so much, but that moved me was his
overwhelming desire to be needed by somebody, which he just doesn’t
have. These boys need him for the first half of the film, but then suddenly
they meet this guy Fearless who is tougher, older and rides a motorbike
and they are suddenly enamored by him. Can you tell me if it is enamored
by someone or enamored with someone?
AGW: I thought
it was enamored of [we laugh].
Daniel: Okay.
So they all leave him and go to Fearless and again Maps is left once more
with no one needing him. I think he feels he needs to be needed.
AGW: Okay,
lets get down to it. First real onscreen love scene in this film [Hey,
don’t get too excited. The film is PG-13]. We hear that you shot
the scene at the end of the film and didn’t finish until early Christmas
morning. Tell us about it. Were you nervous?
Daniel: We
started filming at 11 o’clock in the morning of December 23rd and
we finished at 4:15 a.m. on Christmas Eve. So it was a very long day and
we filmed the scene at about 8 o’clock that night so I wasn’t
too tired yet [he laughs] luckily, but I was nervous. Definitely. Being
the first love scene that I had ever done it was not exactly imposing
but you were aware and thinking ‘Oh God what do I do, what don’t
I do?’ So just stuff like that really but luckily Teresa [Palmer
who plays his love interest in the movie] was very, very good at helping
me to just chill out and just have a laugh.
AGW: In comparison
to the movie, how romantic was your real first kiss?
Daniel: It
was really romantic. I can remember the song that was playing. We were
in this passionate clinch, and this really romantic song was playing.
Then this really hardcore punk song came on. And it totally spoiled the
mood. That's what I remember about my first kiss.
AGW: Was it
her first kiss too?
Daniel: No.
She'd been there a few times before me. God, I hope she doesn't read this
interview!
AGW: Okay.
We’ll change the subject. We don’t really know what happened
with the parents of Maps. He and Harry are both orphans. Did you draw
on that at all?
Daniel: I
totally left Harry out of the equation when I was playing Maps. They are
both orphans, but they are totally different people. If you said that
‘if you can play one orphan you can play another one’ that
would mean that both orphans would have to be the same character and that’s
not the case. It wasn’t about using what I know of Harry to portray
Maps at all. And in terms of what you were saying about Maps background,
I always assumed that his parents were alive and had not wanted him or
at least that is what he’d been told.
AGW: Okay,
the boys moon someone December Boys. Was that a fanny double?
Daniel: [laughs]
No. That’s me, that’s the genuine Radcliffe [backside]. It
certainly is. I’m proud of it.
AGW: Teresa
said she wasn’t really aware of your work but how did you get the
three younger boy actors who were so in awe of you being Harry Potter
to just think of you as Maps?
Daniel: In
terms of the kids they were almost totally unphased by me or, if they
were intimidated, they hid it bloody well. That was never really an issue.
They were a really good bunch of kids and I really, really loved working
with them. They are very cool people. James Frasier who plays Spit is
essentially me at age 12 so I was very fond of James.
 AGW:
What did you think of the final Harry Potter book?
Daniel: In
terms of the ending of the book, I was thrilled. I was very, very pleased
because I basically get the best of both worlds, because I get the scene
of my demise and also I get to live on after that, which is any actors’
dream. You get to die and then you get more screen time, it’s fantastic!
AGW: And also
did you go straight to the epilogue when you read the last Harry Potter
book?
Daniel: Oh,
no, I didn’t go straight to the epilogue. That’s what my grandmother
does. No, no, no.
AGW: Can you
talk about where you were reading the book and what you were experiencing
as you were reading it?
Daniel: Totally.
I’m not going to take this into too pretentious a route though this
next bit, but there’s a quote from Chekov when he wrote to the woman
who was the final love of his life, who he later married and I think was
with him when he died. He says, ‘Hello, the last page of my life.’
Which seemed very appropriate to me reading this book, because he has
been such a part of my life now. I’ve been with him through all
my teen years. I started reading it, it was ‘wow, this is the last
time I will take the journey with this character’, and it was quite
a special moment. Actually, while reading the final chapters I was listening
to Sigur Ros which was very, very appropriate actually, it really, really
was. God I’d love them to do a song for one of the films. They’d
be absolutely fantastic.
AGW: A lot
of people read the book in one or two days. Did you feel you needed to
read it quickly so someone didn’t spoil it for you?
Daniel: Weirdly
I didn’t. I was at a cricket match when it came out, so I didn’t
really start reading it properly. I read the first 30 pages one night,
and then said, ‘Right, I’m not going to pick it up again until
I’ve got proper time to really have a go at this book.’ And
actually no one spoiled the ending for me. I thought they would. I thought
someone was going to shout it out what happened. But the brilliant thing
about it is she sort of made it spoiler proof, because even if someone
does say what state Harry ends up in, you don’t know the half of
it which is pretty impressive. When I finally did get to read it, I did
read it in about a day and a half just because I didn’t put it down.
AGW: Were
you thinking about it as you were reading it, ‘oh my God this book
is amazing, it’s going to be such a good movie’?
Daniel: I
was thinking, ‘how are we going to make it into a movie?’
It’s going to be tough, but that’s why someone cleverer than
me adapts them. I think if we get it right, which I’m confident
we will, it should be amazing.
AGW: I assume
you have read the script for ‘Half-Blood Prince’?
Daniel: Yeah,
yeah, yeah.
AGW: Have
they adapted that book well? They have to cut them down so much.
Daniel: They
have to. Obviously things have been taken out, but everything that drives
the story forward is very much in place.
AGW: Are you
filming the next one now?
Daniel: I
start ‘6’ in 10 days.
AGW: Any special
preparations like a special iTunes list?
Daniel: Not
yet, but I’m sure I will before we start filming.
AGW: Are you
doing a play or film right after you finish ‘Half-Blood Prince’?
Daniel: There’s
a little gap and hopefully if I can find another film to make. That would
be really cool, but if not, yeah I might actually rest.
AGW: You have
My Boy Jack coming up next?
Daniel: Yeah,
I finished that a couple of weeks ago. That is about a family in World
War 1. It's about the Kipling family. Him and his son [who Dan plays],
and how their lives were altered. Yeah, it is a really beautiful script,
and I think that could be a really excellent piece of television. That
will be on in England in November, on ITV. Hopefully, it will be on in
America sometime next year. Please do watch it. I think it will be really
fantastic.
AGW: We’ll
check it out. Did you have a good 18th birthday party?
Daniel: I
had a fabulous 18th birthday party, thank you very much.
AGW: We didn’t
hear anything about it.
Daniel: [grins]
Good. I got to go to Lords (Big cricket stadium in London) for my birthday.
I’m off to do Leno and Ellen now. So, that should be fun.
At this point,
people enter and Dan starts signing autographs. Looking at someone’s
“Potter” CD before signing… “My God, Jason Isaacs’
signature grows every time I see it!” [we laugh].
pictures copyright
Warner Independent Pictures, and Warner Brothers, 2007
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