New interview with Daniel Radcliffe explores his transition from screen to stage

Daniel Radcliffe‘s transition from a star of the screen to a star of the stage is explored in a new interview piece from the Guardian. The interview is conducted by Melvyn Bragg, the host of The South Bank Show, which Daniel will be appearing on, as we previously posted.

Bragg describes Radcliffe as a “serious contender on stage now, already one of the best of his generation.” His accomplishments are even more impressive when you consider the fact that Radcliffe has attended neither drama school nor college. Bragg says of Radcliffe’s performance in The Cripple of Inishmaan,

He shines out across the proscenium arch as brightly and commandingly as ever he did as the young wizard of Hogwarts.

On winning the role of Harry Potter at the age of eleven, Radcliffe said that he “cried,” and at the first Potter press conference, he said,

 I have read the least Harry Potter of anybody in my class.

He famously worked with Gary Oldman (Sirius Black) in the films and tells Bragg how he admired Oldman and David Thewlis (Remus Lupin) and in Equus, Richard Griffiths (Vernon Dursley), bombarding them for advice. He also admits to cross-questioning Oldman about how he should behave on his first date. For the Potter films, he had singing and action lessons but not a single drama lesson. Radcliffe said,

I could have done with one, especially when I look at those first films.

He also admits in the interview that when he goes into a bookshop, he always purchases the books that he never might come across again. He currently lives in the West Side of New York and is making a determined attempt to lead a normal life – watching lots of television, especially drama and films. He recounts taking up rock climbing when around a year ago he realized that he had no work to do for three or four weeks and no hobby. When discussing the Harry Potter films, Radcliffe talks fondly of the crew, explaining that the best thing was getting to know them.

He also talks about how listening to music helps him prepare for a part:

I know the song I want to play if I want to get angry… I create a playlist for every part.

He says that the main song he plays for Cripple Billy, his character in The Cripple of Inishmaan, is “Wasting My Young Years” by London Grammar. He also explains,

When people talk to me in the street now, they usually call me Daniel rather than Harry Potter.

He admits to have been very nervous after the Potter films came to an end, after numerous friends told him that it would be the end of his career. He proved them all wrong and reached back to the age of ten when he played David Copperfield in a BBC adaptation and first worked alongside actors and started to try to act again.

And I loved it! I loved it more than anyone I have ever seen love it.

Daniel’s episode of The South Bank Show will air Thursday, June 26 on Sky Arts.