When it comes to your British leading men these days, in among all the stiff upper lipped hard men and charmingly spoken heartthrobs Daniel Radcliffe stands apart, having managed to carve himself a unique niche as a nuanced and multi-faceted actor, breaking away from his iconic role as ‘the-boy-who-lived’ – aka Harry Potter.
That might not sound hard – jumping from a multi-million dollar franchise into a successful career – but let’s face it the people who have done it are few and far between. For every Harrison Ford, there is a Mark Hamill after all.
One part of what has led Radcliffe to find such success is his often unusual and unexpected choice of roles, especially helpful when trying to avoid being typecast as Harry Potter clones. And with one of his latest efforts Victor Frankenstein out now on digital and coming May 25 to DVD and Blu-Ray, we thought why not celebrate his versatility by listing some of our favorite of his more out there roles in… Daniel Radcliffe’s 6 Craziest Non-Harry Potter Roles.
Victor Frankenstein
Playing Igor the hunchback in this updated version of Mary Shelley’s classic horror novel, Radcliffe starts out enslaved to a circus only to be saved by a young Victor “not-yet-a-doctor” Frankenstein who the cures him of the hunch. Radcliffe going straight from hunch to hunk, and playing opposite James McAvoy as the titular doctor Frankenstein, it’s a veritable British boy babe-fest in this film.
Following the young doctor’s early experiments with creating life from death, the film is told from Igor’s perspective with Radcliffe doing a great job giving depth to the character, who is torn between his loyalty to the man who rescued him from slavery and-and his moral horror at his savior’s experiments. An inventive take on the source material with themes of morality and friendship at its core, Radcliffe shines as the emotional center of the film which showcases his versatility and subtle sense of character.
Victor Frankenstein is out now on digital and due May 25 on DVD and Blu-Ray.
Swiss Army Man
Of all of Rad-dog’s crazy post-Potter roles, Swiss Army Man has to take the cake. Playing a bloated corpse, the film open with Radcliffe washing up on a deserted island inhabited by an unhinged Hank (Paul Dano), who on the verge of suicide forms a surreal friendship with the body, naming it Manny. Manny turns out to have the power to speak and other miraculous feats becoming the Swiss Army Man of the title as Hank variously uses him to do everything from ride across the ocean powered by his farts to chopping wood and launching grappling hooks.
Setting out together on a journey back to civilization, it’s kind of like a morbid and surreal Milo & Otis for millennials. Not yet in cinemas, I haven’t actually seen the movie, but I have seen the trailer and from that alone it’s safe to say that this will probably be the craziest role Rad-dawg ever plays full stop. I mean how do you top playing a talking, farting,grappling hook launching corpse?
Swiss Army Man is dues for release on June 24th, 2016.
Horns
If Swiss Army Man is his craziest role, Horns comes in a close second with his Potter-ness playing Ig, a boy wrongfully accused of raping and murdering his girlfriend who then sprouts demonic horns from his forehead which compel people to tell the truth which he then uses to track down the real killer (among other things, see the clip below). Because what else would you do in that situation. Things then begin to escalate wildly, with D-Rad developing more and demonic powers including the ability to control snakes, survive immolation and drowning and transform into a full blown fiery demon monster all against a story full of some super heavy handed vengeance, betrayal, and intrigue.
Based on the award-winning novel by Joe Hill and starring Juno Temple as Ig’s girlfriend Merrin, that teamed with Radcliffe’s profile from the Potter films are the only explanations behind this utterly ridiculous film getting made. Still I’m not complaining.Where else would I get the chance to see a ‘horny’ Harry Potter compel two cops to blow each other while snakes crawl all over him?
Horns is out now on DVD, Blu-Ray, and digital.
Kill Your Darlings
Going from leading a children franchise to playing a young Allen Ginsberg, one of the most well-known queer activists and counter-culture figures is not a jump most actors could or would make. Daniel Radcliffe isn’t most actors, though, and he isn’t afraid of stepping where lesser thespians fear to tread laughing in the face of fear and convention . Clock that up to spending his formative years defeating Voldermort on a fairly regular basis. Probably did a lot for his confidence.
Based on Ginsberg’s friendship with Lucien Carr while both were studying at Columbia University in New York, the story is full of ambiguous sexuality, outright homosexuality and mutually exploitative relationship between and older and younger man. With Dane DeHaan playing Carr, and with character cameos from Ginsberg’s fellow beat generation luminaries Jack Kerouac and William S. Burroughs Radcliffe shines as the young poet who would go on to launch the beat movement with the publication of his iconic poem Howl, painting a rich portrait of the young artist finding his voice. Plus there is a totes hot guy on guy pash scene between Rad-dawg and DeHaan (drool).
Kill Your Darlings is out now on DVD, Blu-Ray, and digital.
Equus
Better known as that play that a then 17-year old D-Rad controversially got nude in, and where he played a young man religiously and sexually attracted to horses, the role of Alan Strang is certainly up there with the young actor’s craziest. Not technically a post-Potter role as the franchise was ongoing when he decided to take on the play, there was no way we weren’t going to mention it in the article.
As if his character being a violent and sexually confused young man undergoing psychiatric evaluation after blinding several horses wasn’t enough, the role of the psychiatrist Martin Dysart was played by Richard Griffiths who plays Harry’s mean uncle Vernon Dursley in the Harry Potter franchise. This means that if you went to see this play you could have seen Uncle Vernon hypnotize Harry Potter onstage and force him to relive his romantic encounters of the equestrian kind. Talk about versatility right?
Equus ran in London and then Broadway from February 2007 until February 2009.
Extras
Not really a role as much as an extended cameo, Radcliffe’s turn on the Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant created series Extras was one of the most entertaining of the series, the young actor portraying himself as a sexual obsessed, yet inexperienced little perv,which is kind of a running theme through a lot of his roles I’ve just realised. Anyway, I’m just going to let this one speak for itself other than to say I wish we got to see Radcliffe flex his comedic muscles a little more often as he is clearly talented when it comes to playing the clown.
Season 1 and Season 2 of Extras is available now on DVD, Blu-Ray, and digital.
