The new issue of Empire arrives this Thursday, and it carries an interview with the erstwhile-boy-wizard-turned-versatile-character-actor Daniel Radcliffe. The former Mr. Potter chatted to us about his latest project, the fiercely original comic drama Swiss Army Man, in which Radcliffe plays a dead man befriended by a suicidal man. It’s more cheerful than that sounds.
The 27-year-old actor did not, apparently, take much convincing to sign up for the project. “All I knew was that Paul Dano was on board, and the logline,” Radcliffe told us. “Which was something like ‘A suicidal man finds a corpse, and they go on a magical journey together’.”
To say that it is an unusual film is perhaps understating things. In one scene, Radcliffe’s corpse farts its way across water, as if on a jet ski. “Everything about it shouldn't work,” acknowledges Radcliffe. “That’s what’s so exciting. You shouldn’t be able to be this sweet and this gross and this stupid and this clever, all at the same time.
It presented, Radcliffe says, a unique acting challenge. “I’m very proud of my ability to fall over and be still.”
For more on from Daniel Radcliffe – including details of his FBI thriller Imperium – plus another 150-odd pages of film-related goodness, be sure to pick up a copy of Empire, on sale from Thursday. Or you can subscribe to Empire, including an instant digital subscription, right here{
Swiss Army Man, meanwhile, is in cinemas from September 30. You can catch a special early screening at Empire Live.