New Poster of Daniel Radcliffe in “Imperium”, Plus Q&A!
Daniel Radcliffe’s latest role is a little different to ones that have come previously – something we’ve come to expect from Daniel over the years. Since leaving Harry Potter behind, Daniel has played a wide range of roles, from the lead role in rom-com What If to Igor in Victor Frankenstein and the bad guy in Now You See Me 2.
For his upcoming film release, Daniel shaved his head and explored a darker world, playing an undercover FBI agent. In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Daniel spoke about the role in Imperium, alongside writer-director Daniel Ragussis. Daniel talked about why he fell for the script.
I immediately responded to the script. I like films that explore worlds authentically, and this did that on two levels. First, the undercover world: there are so many assumptions I’ve made about going undercover that turned out to be completely wrong. Like, the fact that it is actually really shit for your FBI career. You think, ‘You’re doing something really freaking brave; surely, that gets you brownie points.’ No. If you want to advance quickly through the FBI, you just stay in the office. Also, the white supremacy stuff that’s explored was so horrifyingly fascinating, or fascinatingly horrifying. The breadth of how many different kinds of beliefs there are — it’s an umbrella term that we use; it actually describes a ton of different kinds of people.
He also spoke about the importance of humanizing the characters in the film and how he hopes to make viewers think.
I think some might go to hate-watch it and actually would be surprised by the very human portrayal of them that is given by all the actors and in Dan’s writing. But also, if it makes one of them think critically about the things they’re doing, it’s entirely worth it. That’s why I make films. We have to believe that minds can still be changed.
Daniel touched on how tough it was to film some of the scenes, in particular a big rally scene.
Saying [racial slurs] was much harder than wearing [them on clothes]; you forget that you’ve got it on after a while. And we’re out in a real city; this stuff doesn’t exist in a vacuum. I really am in a [parking lot], shouting those words at a Hispanic man. Everyone understands that it’s acting, but it still feels horrible to do it, and I definitely did a lot of checking in with the people I was working with.
You can read the full interview here.
In the lead up to the release of the film, a new poster has also been released. You can see it in full below.
Imperium is released in theaters September 23. Will you be going to see the film? Let us know in the comments below.
