Daniel Radcliffe Talks “Imperium”, Alan Rickman, “Game of Thrones”, and More

With both Imperium and Swiss Army Man coming to UK cinemas this month, Daniel Radcliffe has been making the press rounds lately. Among the best tidbits from his recent interviews, Dan talks about his new films, white supremacism, his favorite memory of Alan Rickman, and whether he’d like to join Game of Thrones.

In the new thriller Imperium, Dan stars as an FBI agent who goes undercover to infiltrate a white supremacist group that is planning a bombing.

Dan told BBC that when the film was being made, he couldn’t have imagined white supremacist views being expressed in the mainstream, but in the current political climate, the film’s topic has more relevance than ever.

Something’s happened with Brexit and with Trump. People can now hear these views on TV and believe it’s a legitimate way to think about people.

He even hopes neo-Nazis will watch Imperium:

I don’t care if they do it as some kind of hate activity because I am Jewish. I feel that this is the kind of film they might watch because, while we don’t have an open mind about their ideas, we do have an open mind about white supremacists as people. If you watch the film, not everyone in there is a skinhead; they are not portrayed as monsters.

On The Chris Evans Breakfast Show, Dan spoke about both Imperium and Swiss Army Man. He learned from Imperium that going undercover is “a horrifying life,” and he says he would never do it.

Meanwhile, he gave an amusing summary of Swiss Army Man, calling it “the weirdest, most beautiful, strangest thing that I’ve ever done.”

Of course, questions about Harry Potter follow Dan wherever he goes. Is he done with Harry Potter? Does he want to distance himself? Speaking to the Independent, Dan said,

I don’t want people to forget about ‘Harry Potter’; I’m incredibly proud of those films… I think I get an undeserved amount of credit for picking diverse [roles] because people saw me playing one role for a long time.

In an interview with Metro, Dan shared his favorite memory of Alan Rickman:

My favorite night I ever spent with Alan was a night after ‘Equus’ in London. I went out with Alan and Rima [Horton], Richard Griffiths and Heather [Gibson], which is now a very bizarre thing because both men have passed away.

I’d always been quite intimidated by Alan, who I loved and who was always very generous with me, but I was still kind of scared of him. Suddenly I was out to dinner with him, and I was watching him be funny, self-deprecating and vulnerable. It was lovely.

I like to talk about those moments of Alan as a human being because everyone knows what a great actor he was. They don’t need me to tell them. Alan was a great deal more fun than the scary people he’s known for [playing].

Digital Spy asked Dan if he would ever consider being on the hit show Game of Thrones (which has already featured a few Harry Potter actors among its cast). Dan says he’s generally hesitant to sign on to TV pilot scripts because of the potentially lengthy commitment, but as for Game of Thrones…

I would love to! If they want to just bring me in and f***ing kill me, I would be so happy to do that.

If you need even more of a DanRad fix, you can see him on The Graham Norton Show when it returns to BBC1 this Friday, September 30. Joining him will be Anna Kendrick, Justin Timberlake, and Robbie Williams – sounds sure to be a great episode!

Imperium opened in UK theaters on September 23, and Swiss Army Man opens on September 30. Both films are already available in the US.