Follow Us
Join UsHollywood star Daniel Radcliffe talks about his latest  film, The Woman In Black, about life after Harry Potter and about his Bollywood connection:
Arthur is an interesting role to play, what was your attraction to him?
It’s so complex but there’s a real stillness to him as well. (Director) James (Watkins) has been encouraging me in that. Everything has that sort of Victorian English withheld quality. Arthur is somebody who has been so completely destroyed by his wife’s death, that he has found it almost impossible to live in the human world for the last four years. He loves his son, but he’s not there for him as he should have been. And also he’s struggling to hold down his job.
When we meet him at the beginning, he really is a man on the edge. There is that moment, which Jane wrote into the script, where the first time you see him he’s got a cutthroat razor to his throat. It happens that he’s shaving, but I always thought that he had definitely stood there before, considering it.
Did you look at anything particular to try and understand where his grief comes from?
Arthur’s grief comes out in a sort of numbness and exhaustion. That’s what people don’t often talk about in terms of grief, but I did read a couple of books about it and the point they made was just the tiredness and exhaustion. Because it’s linked to depression and depression is described as being the most exhausting feeling. I think it’s a struggle for Arthur to get out of bed in the mornings and I think it has been for some years. That was definitely something that I focussed on – that sense of exhaustion and numbness.
Do you believe in ghosts?
I am an atheist and that means I look for logic and not just blindly believe in things that I see happening around me. So believing just is Gods and ghosts is not enough an explanation.
There must be something you fear in life…
Yeah The Woman In Black spelled out to me what Rosie Coker, my girlfriend, told me. She says I have a deadline of two years to be like a fully-functioning human being around the house. I think it means I have to be able to cook for myself better than I can at the moment, and it means I can’t leave the house in a state the way I do. My talent as an actor has far outweighed my ability to function in the kitchen.
Describe the experience of working on a film with your godson, Mischa.
I love children specially after being associated with Harry Potter for so many years I got closer to them and they like me too. nd as far as my role in the movie is concerned I have cheated a bit on that. I got my godson to audition to play my son… and he was very good and got the part! I’ve known him since he was a baby and there’s already chemistry there; there’s a lot of love between us. I got very lucky on that.
How long do you feel it will take you to successfully break out of the Harry Potter mould and be remembered for other roles too? Does it prove a burden to carry such a huge tag?
I have lived as Harry Potter for years now and it has sank into me, its effects will remain for some more years now keeping in mind the success of the movie. The tag of Harry Potter can never be a burden; it will rather favor me and help me bag assignments in future for some time.
Have you seen any Bollywood movies? What do you think of them?
To be honest I haven’t really seen a (Bollywood) movie. But yes I have heard of the Indian movie called Chak De. A song from the movie is often played in the cricket matches. I love Sachin Tendulkar from India.
Would you want to work in Bollywood? Have you received any offers yet?
No, I haven’t received any offer yet, but would love to explore opportunities in India. As a preparation for the movie I was reading a lot of books and in Google about ghosts. Those were the days when I was reading about the most haunted places in the world and I came across this place in India called Bhangarh. I wish I could personally visit the place and live my role of Arthur Kipps in real by protecting the deceased people around that area.
