Daniel Radcliffe Discusses “Swiss Army Man” and His Penchant for Strange Roles

In a recent interview with the Independent, Daniel Radcliffe talks about the hardships that come with pretending to be a corpse, his liking for odd roles, and the common misconceptions about big-budget films.

It’s common knowledge that Daniel Radcliffe has taken up some acutely diverse, but nonetheless strange, roles since the Harry Potter chapter in his career came to an end. His latest work, Swiss Army Man, is the story of a man in the wilderness befriending a corpse, played by Daniel Radcliffe. The independent feature has received an amalgamation of mixed reactions. Some publications claim that Dan’s flatulent corpse caused viewers to walk out at Sundance Film Festival, while others claim that it harbors the makings of a cult classic.

Either way, Dan certainly has no regrets regarding the film, despite the challenges he faced while playing a corpse.

It was a massive challenge physically. I mean, he’s dead [-] rigor mortis is setting in [-] so everything has to be said with the eyes. It was weirdly emotional, playing a corpse, but I’m really pleased about just how dead I look in the film.

The former Potter star admits that he’s known in the industry for liking “weird stuff” and describes his experience of pretending to be a corpse as “joyous.”

[I’m known] for liking to do weird stuff, which is why the script was sent to me, I guess […] I think the movie is a divisive one. You’ll either love it or hate it – and that’s fine because I just found it a joyous experience.

He also talks about how it’s a common misconception that blockbuster films aren’t as challenging for an actor as independent films are.

I don’t know where people get this idea from that big movies can’t be as much of a challenge as an independent film. They can be really hard work. Harry Potter just got better and better as a franchise, and I am still so proud of it. I would definitely do big-budget films again, just give me one worth doing.

Lastly, the 26-year-old talks about Alan Rickman with reverence, saying,

Alan was extremely kind, generous, self-deprecating and funny […] I just feel that it needed to be said. He was just such an important man to me, not just as an actor. He came to see everything I ever did; he was an incredible man and friend. It’s just a huge loss to all of us.

You can read the full interview here. What do you guys think of Daniel Radcliffe in Swiss Army Man? Let us know in the comments!