“The weird pleasure of growing up on screen”: A Conversation with Daniel Radcliffe
For someone who’s part of the millennial generation, and therefore grew up reading and watching the Harry Potter series, meeting Daniel Radcliffe is kind of like speaking to Jesus. He’s not just an actor – he’s an icon of our generation. So going to a press conference for his latest film, a smart, sassy rom com called What If, was a pretty big deal. The location was a luxury hotel in Soho, so exclusive that I got stuck in a lift with an actor from Sons of Anarchy and a mermaid from the fourth Pirates of the Caribbean movie. The press conference itself took place in one of the screening rooms downstairs, all squishy leather sofas and starry lighting.
“Didn’t want to hover awkwardly in the doorway,” says Radcliffe, who arrives without fanfare and quickly bounces over to his seat. He is dressed casually with his shirt sleeves rolled, and cheerily greets the press as he sits. Despite the nervous energy which seems to radiate naturally from him, Radcliffe knows how to handle himself at press conferences. It’s unsurprising, he’s been doing them for much longer than most actors his age.
The appeal of What If for Radcliffe was the dialogue. “It was funny, not contrived-funny, but it felt like how people actually speak. I found the ending very moving without the film trying too hard – it was just a very simple, sweet story which is quite emotionally affecting.” He regards a lot of rom coms as disposable, but hopes that “this is the kind of film that will stick with people for longer than the ninety minutes it runs for.”
Despite the nervous energy which seems to radiate naturally from him, Radcliffe knows how to handle himself at press conferences. It’s unsurprising, he’s been doing them for much longer than most actors his age.
“I initially learnt the part North American,” reveals Radcliffe. “But two days before filming the production company said I had to do it English. They said that I wasn’t marketable not in my own accent. “I certainly wasn’t going to go ‘screw you guys, I’m going to put two hundred people out of work for the sake of an accent.’” Radcliffe credits his stage work with helping him handle What If’s fast-paced dialogue. “The musical I did on Broadway, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, was very faced-paced –that was in an American accent by the way,” he points out wryly. “And the show did fine.” “But a lot of it was just me – that’s just my natural pace. I’m not saying that I’m quick-thinking. I’m slow-thinking and fast talking which is a terrible combination,” he jokes. Radcliffe and the other cast members were encouraged to improvise a lot on set. “I think a lot of my own personality does come out through the character.”
Radcliffe and What If co-star Zoe Kazan
Radcliffe dismisses the idea that he was actively looking for a rom om to work on when he came across the script for What If. “Actors only talk about genre when we’re promoting the film. I don’t think it’s something that really factors into my thought process when I’m picking a role. There isn’t any process to choosing a script beyond reading it and enjoying it, or not enjoying it. I just like screenplays with good dialogue and fully realised characters and if it’s original or has some kind of fresh take then that’s great too.”
“People think the romantic comedy is a genre that’s had a bad time recently, but I don’t think it’s nearly as bad as the action movie. There is never a character you care about involved in any of those films, it’s just the same people thrown in different cities with different cars.” When asked whether he used a double for What If’s nude scenes, Radcliffe smiles. “I’ve obviously not been someone who shirked nudity throughout my career so that was definitely me. My previous nude scenes have generally been about losing your virginity or blinding horses so, as they go, this was a really nice one.”
“I don’t think doing What If changed my views on romance particularly. I think I was mildly romantic before and I think I’m probably the same now.” He is vague about the details of his own love life. “I don’t think I’ve ever used a chat-up line on a girl – they sound terrible. I have had a couple of fairly cheesy Harry Potter ones used on me, but I’ve always been quite impressed because it takes some balls to say of those things.”
Can a guy and a girl actually just be friends? Radcliffe answers with an affirmative yes. “I’m sure plenty of you have friends of the opposite gender, and you have not slept with all of them. We have the proof.
In the film, Radcliffe and Kazan’s characters initially bond over fridge magnet poems, but Radcliffe dismisses the idea that he has had real life romantic experiences using them. “Fridge magnets tend to descend very quickly into how you can write the filthiest thing with the cleanest words.”
When asked about his chemistry with co-star Zoe Kazan, Radcliffe explains that they had met about a year before shooting the film. “We knew enough from that first meeting to know we would enjoy making the film together. A lot of the ‘chemistry’ thing is just being interested and being open and generous. In between takes we’d tell each other embarrassing stories about our childhoods, or terrible exes and dates. You try and match the collective memory your characters have together.”
“It’s very hard to show or explain why it is that two people connect and fall in love. This movie is about finding out why they’re love each other as they do. In a normal Rom Com it would be much less of a dilemma – the girl’s boyfriend would normally be a tool, and it’s inevitable that she will end up with the nice guy rather than the horrible one. What If is trying to be much more true-to-life and authentic. Chantry has a great relationship, she just happens to be falling in love with someone else.”
Radcliffe and the other cast members were encouraged to improvise a lot on set. “I think a lot of my own personality does come out through the character.”
Radcliffe is adamant that if he had been Wallace, he would have kissed Chantry sooner. “I wouldn’t have just kissed her unannounced,” he adds quickly. “That might have been a bit much. But I would definitely have had to have the conversation sooner. Even if you don’t get the answer you want then you can move on with your life. I don’t live in uncertainty.”
Can a guy and a girl actually just be friends? Radcliffe answers with an affirmative yes. “I’m sure plenty of you have friends of the opposite gender, and you have not slept with all of them. We have the proof.”Radcliffe denies that this is what the film is really about. Instead, the film explores, “How silly it is to live in denial about your own feelings. Love is complicated and not clean and easy a lot of the time, but that doesn’t make it less valid or less true.”
What about Radcliffe’s favourite romantic comedies? “I’d never seen It Happened One Night until we did this film, but it’s honestly one of the most charming romantic comedies I’ve ever seen. I remember watching When Harry Met Sally… and being stunned by how funny and clever the dialogue was without trying too hard to be either. A really stupid one which I loved from my teenage years is Get Over It. It’s the reason that I was in love with Kirsten Dunst for most of my teenage years.”
“I was perfectly happy with the way things ended,” Radcliffe states, when asked about JK Rowling’s recent speculation that Harry, rather than Ron, would have been a better match for Hermione. “Harry and Hermione would have been a bit predictable. But it’s her characters, so she’s entitled to change her mind.”
Whilst discussing the “weird pleasures of growing up on screen”, Radcliffe’s recent appearance at Comic Con is inevitably brought up (the actor went dressed in a Spider Man suit to avoid being recognised). But Radcliffe dismisses the idea that he’s frustrated by his fame. “I’m very accepting of what my life is. One of the limitations of my life definitely is that were I to walk on the Comic Con floor without anything, there would be a reaction to it. Most people’s reactions to meeting someone famous is to be very friendly, but it’s nice to experience life without it for an hour, even if you are wearing a Spider Man suit.”
What If is released in UK cinemas on 20th August
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