You’ve played everything from a sentient corpse in Swiss Army Man and a man-turning-devil in Horns to a doctor having imaginary conversations with his older self… Just tell your agent, “Enough weird, me” am i in?” NessaTheConfessor and SarahTitch
Not that wide. They certainly still send me a lot of nonsense, strange things. I don’t see my own sensibilities as so odd. If you can tell a story in a way that is initially kind of crazy, you connect with the audience in a different way. If you sit down and lecture someone about how shame keeps us from loving, that’s pretty dry. But if you turn it into a farting corpse used as a jet, like in Swiss Army Man, it’s a conversation. Guns Akimbo was less symbolic, with guns instead of hands. The scene where I’m trying to go to the bathroom is what I’d like to see as an audience — the same way you only want Spider-Man to land on a building once and go, “Ooh, my leg.” Playing crazy stuff is definitely something I like.
How have your views on acting changed throughout your career? DanielKSpb
When I started I didn’t have any… I was a kid. Working with the older actors on Potter was really important. What I love is watching actors who are dedicated, professional and above all, but who also know that we don’t save lives. Acting is not a life or death process. People like Imelda Staunton, David Thewlis, Gary Oldman… Michael Gambon is the classic who is amazing at acting but doesn’t have time to take it too seriously. It was amazing to watch such people grow.
Do you get nervous when performing on stage? How do you overcome it? feytasiic
Absolutely. I’m currently in rehearsals for Merrily We Roll Along, Stephen Sondheim’s musical, at the New York Theater Workshop with Jonathan Groff and Lindsay Mendes. It’s absolutely terrifying that in three weeks we’ll be doing what we’re doing in the rehearsal room on stage. Luckily, I’ve played a lot of pretty nervous characters, so you can channel that nervous energy. But if we get to the premiere and someone says, “I’m not nervous,” I’ll be like, “You’re going to screw yourself.” You must be nervous.
Radcliffe in Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, with Quinta Brunson as Oprah Winfrey. Photo: Aaron Epstein/© 2022 The Roku Channel
Are your tight curls, bangs, and accordion playing in Weird: The Al Yankovic Story all your own work? Will we get an accordion concert from you? vira_sh and feytasiic
The mustache is entirely my own doing. Curly hair: not so much. I talked to Al at the beginning, who told me how terrible accordion playing in movies looks. I wanted my hands to be in the right place at least. I was lucky; I have a self-taught accordionist friend who lives nearby in New York, so I was able to go over a few nights a week and at least serve myself. I was recently asked: would I be comfortable playing the accordion in front of a camera? I gave the strongest no I could.
You were in the NME in 2004 talking about your favorite bands, that’s how I discovered Razorlight. How do you think Up All Night stands today – and does this formative era of UK indie (for anyone our age anyway) deserve the same recognition as NYC’s Meet Me in the Bathroom scene? Justice for Johnny Borrell! Laurasnaps
I don’t see them as separate scenes. The timelines were so simultaneous that it felt like the Strokes were happening at the same time as the Libertines and Razorlight. I haven’t listened to Up All Night in a while, but I still love Stumble and Fall and Rip It Up. The Libertines were the band from my teenage years that are still going strong. Up the Bracket is still so energizing and unusual, with a sense of urgency that still doesn’t sound like anything else. I remain a die-hard Libertines fan.
What’s the weirdest rumor you’ve read about yourself? TurangaLeela2
I have SAS bodyguards walking my dogs. Another said I was drinking a custom beer brewed by Belgian monks. This was before I got sober; at least they weren’t that dumb. Another was that I have my assistant keep scripts in the mirror so that, to save time, I can read them during hair and makeup. It’s a lot more complicated than me just holding them!
The sofa setting on The Graham Norton Show [everyone in a semi-circle] it doesn’t seem intuitive at all. Which chat show comforts you best with its seating arrangements? 25 abri
I would say the only one that calms me down is Graham Norton. At almost every other one, you come in, talk for five minutes, go out, and the next guest comes. For the seating arrangement, that’s fine. But in terms of the conversation, the pressure is immense. Controlling the dinner conversation is my personal nightmare. Hanging out with a bunch of other people is the most like a real conversation.
“It has antimony, arsenic, aluminum, selenium…”
My most surreal experience was sitting next to Rihanna and Colin Farrell at Graham Norton singing the song Elements. Now I’m humiliated: “You did the nerdiest thing possible to two of the coolest people on the planet. What were you thinking?” But I do that and alphabet aerobics [on Jimmy Fallon] they both got me a job. Elements was one of the first things that brought me to Weird Al’s attention. Sometimes doing something really nerdy on a chat show will work for you years later.
What do you think of Alan Rickman’s comments in his diaries that he thought you would make a great director? Are we any closer to seeing you in person? ApplesofGold and Hedgepig 1978
I think he was very, very nice. I loved reading the excerpts. You can really hear his voice and trace the connection to all of us: “Who are these kids who really need to learn their lines?” I’m extremely flattered that he thought of me as a director. I hope he’s right. I would love to direct, but it’s not something I take lightly, so I wouldn’t try to just squeeze it in between movies. I wrote something that I am trying to do. So hopefully at some point.
Do you go to Harry Potter World on your days off to relax? TopTramp
No. It’s not my idea of a relaxing time, the same way I didn’t go see the play. I just found out that one of the ADR studios in New York that I often record at is next to the Harry Potter store. I’ve seen Harry Potter bags go by and thought, “Maybe I should turn around and find another route?” I love Potter. I love the world. I love what it has given my life. But as a way to spend a day, no, I’m not going to sit and watch all the movies.
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You researched your family history in Who Do You Think You Are?. What was the most surprising detail you discovered about your ancestors? avongirl
All things with my great-grandfather on my mother’s side; how he was paparazzied after he was arrested for this huge heist so there are newspapers with my great grandfather in the front falling into the hands of the police as they drag him away. The mysteries of why my mother’s family changed their name at one point…
What other reality shows would I be on? Almost all don’t, I’m sure. I’ll be at home watching I’m a Celebrity and thinking, ‘I can do that’ until they get to the disgusting foods. I can dance enough choreography but I don’t think I’d be good enough for Strictly. Even The Masked Singer seems too crazy for my crazy taste. My girlfriend of 10 years [actor Erin Darke] is American and the show she most wants us to be on is Bargain Hunt. Ironically, I love Bargain Hunt. But she does not want to go to a celebrity. She just wants us to continue with a normal episode. She can’t understand how in America, on any show, the third place prize for the loser is $1,000, but on Bargain Hunt they say, “You won. Here’s £3.50.” She also thinks she’ll be better than anyone else in it. If I go on Bargain Hunt and do poorly, I’ll never be able to watch Bargain Hunt again, and I don’t want to deprive myself of that pleasure.
Radcliffe in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, 2001. Photo: PA
How do you keep your brows in order? The Tristans
Plucking. I let them get pretty out of control on the theory that I’d soon be facing a make-up artist who would say, “Jesus, we’ve got to do something about this.” They should have been taken out of the first Harry Potter film; I have no qualms about it.
Is Daniel Radcliffe a good cook? vira_sh
Absolutely not. This is why I can’t be on MasterChef. I have about four meals and I won’t admit what they are because two are so uncomfortable they aren’t even meals. There’s no way I’m leaving my ability to cook junk to Guardian forever! I can survive in a house if all else goes wrong, but that’s about it.
Speaking of Weird Al: the three weirdest things you’d take to a deserted island? feytasiic Have you watched this program yourself [on Prime]? They drop people into very isolated parts – mostly Canada in the series I’ve seen – with their own cameras. I would bring flint and steel because that’s all you need to start a fire. My girlfriend and I once took a primitive fire-making course at a hotel that offered this as a service, somewhere in Pennsylvania. The guy had an Alto toy box full of cotton balls covered in petroleum jelly that act as really good fire starters. So, my Alto Toy Box, my Vaseline Cotton Balls, and my Flint and Steel. It’s both practical and quirky.
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