Daniel Radcliffe talks about Harry Potter

Few people in the world can pinpoint exactly when their childhood ended. Daniel Radcliffe is one of them. «The first time I went to Japan to promote Harry Potter I was 11, and I found something like five thousand people waiting for me at the airport», he tells me with his fast gab, sitting in a hotel suite in London. “There were little girls screaming my name, one I touched by mistake and she fainted. For me, so small, it was an incredible, crazy thing. In that precise moment I understood that my life had changed, and what it meant to be famous».

«Being famous» means that we know almost everything about Daniel Radcliffe’s (young) life. His adolescence, between 2001 and 2011, was spent in the spotlight. And on the big screen, from one Harry Potter film to another, we have seen him grow into a man. Not just by magic.

Radcliffe – British actor starring in one of the most profitable film sagas in history, a «busy» and naked turn in 2007 on stage with Equus and a few too many alcoholic pasts – today he is an affable boy, who shows off an almost theatrical self-confidence (the vigorous handshake, the poised voice, the kindness of other times). Every gesture he makes seems to want to suggest to the interlocutor, especially if it’s done daily, «See? I’m no longer the bespectacled boy of Hogwarts »: the result is even more than 26 years old than him.

We meet in London for the promotion of the film Victor – The Secret History of Dr. Frankenstein, yet another adaptation – a little fantasy, a little horror, a little psychological thriller – of Mary Shelley’s novel, which will arrive here in April. James McAvoy is the scientist Victor Frankenstein, while Radcliffe, long hair and sensual gaze, is his assistant Igor. Pretty hot guy, I point out. «If you find a man with long hair sexy…», laughs Daniel, who in the meantime has given a cut to the bob. And that, apart from very bright blue eyes, looks like an English copy of our Giosada. In the exclusive photos we took of him, the resemblance is striking.

What makes this Frankenstein different from the many previous ones?

«It is more focused on the relationship between Victor and Igor, you see less of the monster. At first Igor is an outcast and Victor, seeing intelligence and potential in him, decides to “save” him. This is why it is an unbalanced friendship: Igor feels he owes his life to Victor and doesn’t know to what extent he can oppose him, or criticize him».

Do you ever feel so “dependent” on someone?

«Together with my girlfriend (actress Erin Darke, ed), the people who follow me in my work are the ones I depend on the most, from the bodyguard to the personal assistant. We meet every day, they are “my office”. And above all they are my friends, not just an entourage. Without them I would be lost, I would have no sense of who I am».

And his parents?

«My mother and father have always been there and they give me a sense of stability. You see, earlier I was telling you about that time in Japan: anyone would have come out “traumatized” and instead they, getting into the car, did nothing but laugh and joke, trying to defuse the situation. If they had reacted differently in that circumstance, showing frightened rather than amused, I wouldn’t have had the strength to face everything that happened”.

Do you have such crazy memories of Italy?

«Unfortunately we have never been to Italy to promote Harry Potter. And I apologize for that! In those years I only came to you once, in Venice, but I was on vacation and nobody knew it».

We also met in Venice a couple of years ago during the Mostra del Cinema, for the film Kill Your Darlings on Allen Ginsberg.
“Because of the crowd, I couldn’t even go to the bathroom. Italy, Japan, Mexico: there are no other places in the world where fans show their love for someone or something with such intensity».
Because he was so loved Harry Potter?

“Each film has been better than the last, and the last one has been the best ever. It’s the care with which they were produced that made the difference: the films grossed a lot of money, but just as much was spent on making them. Today many manufacturers of franchisethe moment they discover that a saga works, they think that the public will go to see it anyway, and they don’t invest to improve it ».
Today from Harry Potter they would make a TV series. Do you like them?

“I can’t stay glued to the TV all that time. My girlfriend, on the other hand, looks at all of them, da Mad Men to breaking Bad. But how do you follow seven seasons of ten one-hour episodes? It’s asking someone “would you watch 40 movies with me?”. I’ve also received offers, but I’ve already spent too much time on one project: I prefer to vary»

For three years he has also been involved in a long-distance “sentimental project”.

“Erin lives in New York and I still live in London. But when I’m in America we live together, though sadly not long enough to say ‘we live together’»

On the other hand, they often photograph you while you train: are you so obsessed with physical fitness?
“In fact, since I’ve been with her, I’ve put on some muscle (laughs). The truth is, since we came out (the story remained secret for more than a year, ed), we can’t go shopping or go out for ice cream without finding paparazzi. It’s not that we train so much: it’s just that, when we do it, we are always photographed».

Some will say it’s part of the game.

“It’s his dark side. Some time ago I saw in a newspaper a photo of Jennifer Garner with her daughter, and the headline of her was “Jennifer and her daughter with the same sunglasses.” So? Beyond that they weren’t even identical, because one was black and the other purple, what’s the point? None, except that without a story about nothing this would have been just a picture of a child. It’s the “porn” aspect of my job».

Confess: You never google his name?

“Never. Most people who comment on articles online have nothing to say, but since the Internet allows them, they say it anyway. And I, for my own sanity, prefer not to read what they have to say about me.’

What if Erin asked her to move to New York?

“I would love to live there, and I will one day. But it’s complicated, because of the residence permits».
To make it easier you should get married.
“Oh yeah, I hadn’t thought of that (laughs)”.

I think I have to congratulate her on the title of ‘Best Butt in the UK 2015’. He took it even beating Mister 50 Shades, Jamie Dornan!
«You and the colleague who interviewed me earlier did the same thing: an interview with very intelligent questions and this one last… My fiancée communicated the “victory” to me, who sent me a message on the phone, making fun of me. I just find it a bit strange: this year I never showed my butt! But I’m grateful to those who voted for him, and I’d be flattered if they nominated me again next year.”