Daniel Radcliffe on ‘Horns,’ Dark Projects, and Disguising Himself as Spider-Man

Daniel Radcliffe Horns Interview
Daniel Radcliffe in Horns (Photo Courtesy of RADiUS-TWC)

Daniel Radcliffe never made it to the San Diego Comic-Con anytime over the course of the eight Harry Potter films, but he did show up at the sold-out event for Horns, a dark comedy/horror fantasy coming to theaters on October 31, 2014. Radcliffe took his cue from other famous Comic-Con visitors and hit the floor dressed in a complete Spider-Man costume. He was able to walk around the San Diego Convention Center without getting trampled and he even posed in front of the Sharknado 2 poster.

Radcliffe said being able to snap a picture with the Sharknado 2 poster was “awesome” and he couldn’t wait to watch the sequel. Proclaiming his love for the first Sharknado during a press conference at Comic-Con, Radcliffe said, “I loved it! That’s why I’m so excited about Sharknado 2. I can say that un-ironically. I really, really enjoyed it. It was fantastic!”

But back to Horns… The big screen adaptation of Joe Hill’s novel finds Radcliffe playing Ig, a guy who gets blamed for the murder of his girlfriend. No one believes he’s innocent and to make matters even worse, a pair of horns start growing out of his head. He also discovers that with the horns comes supernatural powers which he uses to find the real killer.

Daniel Radcliffe Horns Interview

What was the appeal of starring in Horns?

Daniel Radcliffe: “It’s an amazing book and the adaptation of the book into a script was fantastic. I like things that take an idea that everyone can relate to, in some way – and not necessarily being accused of murdering your girlfriend – but the idea of being an outsider and experiencing loneliness and coping with loss, and finding a really original, crazy way to deal with that topic.

People talk about this film as being fantasy or horror, but I’ve always seen it as being magical realism in the sense that most of the world is very, very grounded in reality, apart from this one fantastical thing that is happening in the middle of it.”

Did you have any reservations about taking on such a dark story?

Daniel Radcliffe: “I definitely didn’t have any reservations in terms of the darkness of the movie. Even Harry Potter had quite a lot of darkness in it. Doing things like Equus and The Cripple of Inishmaan and Kill Your Darlings, I like getting involved in that kind of stuff.”

Are you attracted to supernatural movies?

Daniel Radcliffe: “Yeah, I do like the genre because anything can happen in it. As long as you play by your own rules, you can do whatever you’d like. It’s not an intentional thing that I’m picking all of this really dark work, but I guess I enjoy it. People do talk about Horns, The Woman in Black, and Frankenstein as being things that are all of one genre, but they actually aren’t.

The Woman in Black is the most traditional horror film you can get and Horns is the least. And with a film like Frankenstein, it more falls into the adventure category than anything else. I hope it’s going to be a great film. So, I can’t explain my attraction to dark material but I don’t think it’s going to end soon.”

Were there any specific challenges in preparing for this film?

Daniel Radcliffe: “It’s a challenging part and there’s a lot to mine, in terms of what he has gone through prior to the beginning of the film and as he’s going through it. I broke down the script, the way that I would approach anything. And then you have the more superficial but fun challenges of the prosthetics, which is mainly a challenge of staying still, for me.”

You’ve said before that you use music to get into the right headspace for your roles. What music did you listen to for Horns?

Daniel Radcliffe Horns Interview
Daniel Radcliffe in Horns (Photo Courtesy of RADiUS-TWC)

Daniel Radcliffe: “I made a playlist, and I do always make playlists for characters. There was a song that actually ended up in the movie by a band called The Shivers called ‘Lonely Road,’ and there was a lot of Metallica and Megadeth. There was some Radiohead and Hope of the States. There was a lot. It stretched onto two discs by the end of it. And I still make discs.”

How did you handle the balance between Ig’s demonic persona and his attempt to prove his innocence?

Daniel Radcliffe: “There is always something more interesting about a part that is multifaceted and has a dark side and is more true to life, even in this very heightened world that we’re in in the film. He’s a true anti-hero. He is absolutely good and you should root for him and be with him all the way, but that’s not to say that he doesn’t do some questionable things. But, even he questions them. It’s not without consequence. He learns from that so that he can be, in some sense, redeemed by the end.”

What kind of director is Alexandre Aja?

Daniel Radcliffe: “I really cannot say enough nice things about Alex, but I’m going to. The story I’ll tell you exemplifies why he is so brilliant. At the end of the film, after we finished the last shot, myself, the script supervisor, some of the grips and some of the camera guys all stood around for an hour, talking about what a pleasure it had been to work for him. You might hear that from actors, but that is very rare to happen across the crew.

Some directors walk onto the set with the attitude that they are the only person with the creative impulse and they are the only artist on that set. Immediately, a crew feels that because a film crew is a group of incredibly talented, technically skilled people with many different roles. If they know they’re being listened to and collaborated with, rather than just being told what to do, it inspires me and them. It made it a pleasure to come to work every day. You knew that he was going to create one of those awesome moments, and it was a pleasure to be a part of his vision every day. It really was.”

Did you connect to the symbolism in this film?

Daniel Radcliffe: “I’m not a religious person, but I have always been fascinated by the mythology and imagery in all religions, particularly Christianity, which has got some fantastic stuff in there. Weirdly, when we first met we had a discussion and I was worried that I came off a little bit creepy with my obsession with the devil as a character in literature. He is traditionally this very, very charismatic character, so I was very excited to play him. And the snakes were awesome. I had a six-foot long python wrapped around me for the last half of the film, which is the best prop any actor can ever have. There’s no acting required when you’re wearing a snake.

A lot of symbolism got built into the movie. One of my favorite things is that all of the driver’s registration plates in the movie are Bible verses, which relate very specifically towards the characters. There are many things for people to discover on the second watching of this.”

You’re 25 now, do you have an idea of what you want to be doing and where you’ll be over the next 25 years?

Daniel Radcliffe: “Not specifically. I hope that, in 25 years time, I will have a family. I would like to have directed by then, as well. That’s something I really want to do, down the line. But I just want to keep working, really. I just want to keep acting. Playing one part for a very long time builds up in you a desire to play as many different things as you can, so I’m really enjoying that at the moment. So, I don’t know what it will hold but I’m really looking forward to it.”