Harry Potter might have bear the glasses , but the truth is it ’s Daniel Radcliffe who ’s a scrap of a dweeb . A ego - professed history buff , lover ( and sometimes writer ) of poetry , collector of book , and trivia enthusiast who have quiz for playfulness , Radcliffe is our kind of guy cable . We sat down with the superstar — whose young film , Horns , is out on Halloween — to find out what linguistic process he ’s learning , the book he consider everyone should scan , and which historical figure he ’d play onDrunk History . Plus , scroll down to see the awe-inspiring special variant cover that ’s pass only to reader ( clickhereto get it ! ) .
You once aver that school was hard for you but you learned to be intimate learning on theHarry Potterset . What do you feed your intellect these days?I used to understand a draw of fiction and now I read a lot of non - fiction . And I discovered a few blogs on Kinja that I care that just talk about interesting thing — Deadspin is the one I got into it from , but [ Kinja has ] a blog for anything that you could possibly be interested in .
I also consume endless actual goggle box programs . I have it in my head that if I go to bed watching something like [ the Smithsonian Channel ] , I ’ll retain it , and if I do it enough , then I ’ll keep back quite a lot , finally . I was learning about Hittites last Nox . I commemorate guess “ That ’s full that the Hittites have had a show , ” because you do n’t hear about them . All of the previous civilizations take their thunder out , but they were one of the first civilization ! They merit a mention !
What do you consume , culture - wise?I get a mess of my news show off of Deadspin . I watch out a lot of tidings on TV . Ishouldread a newsprint , but I do n’t , really . I think that ’s mainly because it becomes muddle — I would forget to throw it out and I ’d die under a bundle of newspapers . But culturally I ’m quite like lowly - brow in term of the stuff I care to watch — faintly educational TV where I ’m getting something out of it , or it ’s The Food web , or just the bad sort of world TV , likeMillionaire Matchmaker . I see an almost total series ofTop Chefthe other day just because it was on . So I suppose culturally I ’m not very cultured.[Laughs]That ’s the matter — I’m mainly just interested in gathering data . I palpate like half the hooey I learn doing quizzes and crosswords and remember solvent . Here ’s a good question for you : Who was the first President of all 50 United States ?
I ’m going to flunk this . Hawaii was n’t a state until the ‘ L . Who came after Truman ? [ Long pause ] I give up . Eisenhower ! I like it because I finger like that ’s a good saloon quiz interrogation . I also enjoy making quizzes for the great unwashed — we part doing that a tidy sum onCripple of Inishmaan[on the West End ] last summer . We would pair off into squad and we would have the squad who succeed the quiz compose the next quiz , and I just wrote ahorriblequiz . They hate me ! It wasreallygood . It was base around the idea of things that you should know , but do n’t . Like , what was the name of the third humans that went to the moonshine ? Michael Collins . I always feel like he gets forgotten , because he was in the command capsule . One of the most beautiful fact I ’ve ever heard is that when he went around the gloomy side of the moon , he was the furthest away from any other human being than any human being has ever been . I always think there was something queerly adorable about that . And I always think that must have sucked to not get the recognition that [ Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong ] got . I was a large lover of Michael Collins .
Would you ever go to space ? I wouldn’t — too much space junk . Oh , really ? Would you not go to space if you had the chance ? I would let a few people go first — I would desire commercial-grade passenger blank space travel to become more vulgar before I do it — but I would emphatically go up there . I would like to do the emetic comet , actually , and the centrifuge and all that .
Today I take that “ fadoodling ” was a 17th century jargon term for have got sex . What ’s a really dependable fact you learned recently?I learned the other day that prostitutes in England used to be called “ Winchester Geese , ” which is so eldritch to me . Winchester is a nice cathedral town in the south of England and that it was ever a adage for pruriency is kind of amazing .
Where did you watch that?My friend post me a picture of just a plaque outside an one-time cemetery saying “ This is where prostitutes , or ‘ Winchester Geese , ’ used to be forget . ’ ” It was my birthday card , which made it weird . I also get a line not long ago that earwig have two penises , one in sheath the other one breaks off — which it often does , apparently , during earwig sex .
Do you have a favorite British lingo word that you think Americans should commence using?We’ve got loads ! nut is apparently a groovy word to give notice something . We ’re not a in particular red-hot res publica , but we have a lot of very colorful idiomatic expression for sweating . My favorite is one my friend used to say—“sweating like a glass electric fan ’s asshole , ” which is a delightful English phrase , very vivid.[Laughs]I sleep with the set phrase is good is when my girlfriend starts say it , and one of those is “ in force call . ” If someone has a good estimation or something , it ’s “ expert shout”—I suppose it ’s like saying “ good call . ”
I ’d like to improve my British stress . What are some mistakes that people who are trying to do a British emphasis make?People tend to pronounce everything very , very specifically . Like the Book " little"—people in America say " li - tull . " And nobody in England ever says it like that — we get lazy with the metric ton speech sound . We do n’t make it with the crown of the knife behind the ridgepole of the teeth ; it ’s almost like a lateral S audio . The thing that ’s hardest for Americans is they have an range of us all being sort of just very , very classy , and a peck of Americans can do a really posh British dialect , but how people speak day - to - day is much harder to do .
I like I could give more tips ! I would just slack the sounds a bit more . And whatever you do , however proficient your accent catch , never remember that a group of English masses will require to find out it , because we never will . We happen it more unenviable than shady .
speak in person , my American accent I desire is unspoilt , but most English people can not do an American accent to save their life , if that makes you feel any good . Everyone pass away kind of Southern . If you ask people to do an impression of an American , they go cryptical Southimmediately .
Did you work with someone to avail you with your American accent?I did — I process with an accent coach . But I had also done an American emphasis for a farseeing time , just because when I was play as a tiddler , I would give my activity figures American accent . We ’re just infused with American TV show in England , and that ’s mostly what I watched . I guess I learned my accent fromThe Simpsons , because that was my first interaction with America .
If you could pick any time to go back and visit , which would it be?I would like to see the moment when Neanderthals andHomo erectusinteracted — thatfar back . That ’s the kind of chronicle that I find most fascinating , because those are the moments when you see things develop that are recognizably and uniquely human . If you go back to any other time , sure , the apparel are nice , but there ’s typhoid and Asiatic cholera ! A brutal , short Neanderthalian lifespan to the eld of 35 was probably what we were designed for .
Let ’s say ghost are real . Which historic design would you want to haunt you?Napoleon , or some other historic figure with a huge ego . Because you do n’t desire a mopey ghost . I ’d quite like to meet John Keats , but I get the estimation that his ghost would in all probability be very sad . Whereas , I conceive of Napoleon ’s would just be still raging and angry .
If you could purchase any piece of graphics — no limits — what would you pick?There ’s a house painting by Jackson Pollock calledThe Deep , which is not particularly like his other things . It ’s almost like you ’re look through into a disruption between two cloud into this kind of abyss , but it ’s strangely beautiful .
Are you a wind - through - the - bookstore sort of guy wire or a buy - al-Qur’an - online form of guy?A cast - through - the - bookstore variety of hombre , definitely . I went to the bookstall to bribe my papa some stuff and nonsense for his birthday the other day , and he pay back his books , but I got a circle more . I have this stupefied rule that ’s really an excuse to bite money , which is : if I ever see a playscript which I consider that I might never see again , or if I ’m suddenly interested in it , and I think “ Oh well , I might never ever see this book again and be concerned in it at the same clock time , ” I just have to buy it then and there in the hope that one day I will get around to it or find something useful about it . I have bought a lot of books that I will never understand that way .
Is there a playscript you cerebrate that everyone should read?The Master and Margarita , unquestionably , by Mikhail Bulgakov . It ’s imaginative , and hilarious , and wizardly in adequate turns .
What are you reading right now?Right now , I ’m read — I ca n’t trust I never learn it before now — Slaughterhouse Five . Any variety of news report where the author thinks , “ Well , I can do whatever I like because I ’m writing a book ; I do n’t have to be totally realistic ; I can portion out with this in as unbalanced a way as possible”—I enjoy that .
What ’s the weird book on your bookshelf?I had a Christian Bible bought for me calledThe Cows , because my fibre in [ The Cripple of Inishmaan ] , Billy , people talked about him gaze at cows a lot . And there was this volume written by a MacArthur Fellow [ Lydia Davis]—obviously a serious writer , a really amazing writer . But she just wrote this very long prose verse form about three cattle outside her windowpane . I wo n’t lie , I belike wo n’t register it cover to cover .
Do you have any uncommon books?I’ve got a couple of first edition of poetry . I make a book of Rupert Brooke poems — he write the noted , “ If I should buy the farm think only this of me ; That there ’s some corner of a alien field but it ’s perpetually England . ” I ’ve grow an honest-to-god collection of Yeats as well . It ’s not a first edition , but it ’s just old and courteous looking . There is something about — I know everyone talks about it , but that would be one of my most pleasant smells in the existence , the odor of old book .
That was my next question ! Old book spirit : Awesome or gross?Awesome , dead awful . Do you roll in the hay what causes that smell ?
It ’s explosive organic compounds — I think there are 15 or so of them that combine to ensure-enough book odor . I ca n’t say any of them . Because it is , it ’s delightful .
It ’s the dandy . What character from literature are you dying to play?I would like to do the representative or motion capture of Behemoth the cat fromThe Master and Margarita .
What about a historical figure?I joked about Napoleon ’s ghost earlier , but I am vertically idealistic for Napoleon , so … I would like to do theDrunk Historyof Napoleon . I was watchingDrunk Historyagain the other night and I was like , that ’s the setting in which I would like to play him .
One historical anatomy that I ’m desperate to play is Lee Atwater — it ’s modern account — in a film calledCollege Republicans , which I hope will happen at some point .
We ’re pizza pie - obsessed atmental_floss , so I ’ve pay off to ask . What ’s your gross pizza?Probably , like , pepperoni and chicken with a little spot of gorgonzola .
Apium graveolens dulce : yes or no?No . Absolutely not . Although you will find that result with almost every veg with me . I did a cooking show not long ago — they were cooking around me , and I was just peach about the film — but at one point I had to include that to a elbow room full of kid . I was like , “ I know I ’m maybe a role model for you at this leg , which is not something I ever set out to be , and you should entirely all eat on your vegetables , but I do not . ”
What ’s a childhood secret plan you love , or biz you ’re just really good at?Table lawn tennis I love , and am good at . And it ’s the only sort of hired man - eye - coordination - involving thing that I am actually serious at , so I will say it barefacedly . But a childhood game ? Jenga was good . Scrabble was really big in my house — my grandmother was always amazing at it . She baffle us for years and years and years , and I call up the first clip I really started to do well in a secret plan with my family , that was the first fourth dimension I was like , “ OK , I must be get smarter . I must be raise up . ” There was also another game called Mouse Trap , which I loved as a kid . I ca n’t call back any of the rule of it , but I remember there were like obstruction around the course and it was impress , and I bask that as a child .
Are there any skills you have n’t mastered that you would wish to?I’d love to be able-bodied to wreak an instrument ; I ’m not sure if I ’ll be capable to get to a tip where I can . I ’d also love to talk another language . Language has been a matter that I ’ve been entrance by because it tells you so much about a people and a culture . The story of lyric and news meanings and pronunciations is generally the floor of society . I ’m learn a bit at the moment .
Which language?I’m endeavor to learn Japanese . Just to verbalize . There ’s a film I hope to do calledTokyo Vicethat has Nipponese lines that my fiber speaks , and he ’s suppose to be fairly fluid . I could just instruct it whole phonetically , but I do want to have some idea of what I ’m saying .
Japanese is very onomatopoeic . The Christian Bible for wind ispyu pyuand if you want to upgrade that to a storm , you usegyu gyu . Hop ispyon pyon , and my favorite Japanese countersign istokidoki , which means “ sometimes ” but it sound like “ hokey dokey . ” There ’s a thing you have to do in Japanese a circle which is quite fun — sometimes they ’ll take a modern Western word and just make it sound Nipponese because they have n’t got a parole for it for themselves . The word for granola bar isgar - a - nola saloon , and McDonald ’s isMac - uh - Donna - roo - doh . I ’ve make an amazing instructor , this guy called Shinsuke , and he ’s cracking . I do n’t know when I ’ll get to use any of it , but I am enjoying it .
You ’ve operate with a lot of different kinds of animals — African tea , dogs , owls , and now a snake onHorns . Are you a hombre guy wire , a hotdog guy , a snake guy?I’m a Canis familiaris guy , and I ’m actually kind of a Hydra guy now . I ended up loving that snake onHorns . They ’re really sweet after a while , especially because when they get cold , they just love your warm body — the colder they get , the more they kind of string up on to you . Princess Leia was the name of the Snake River inHorns — she got carry around in aStar Warspillowcase — and she would do amazing things on camera that you could n’t groom a Snake River to do , like wrapper around one of my horns [ in the movie ] . At that point I go “ OK , Alex , I think she ’s going to break the cornet off . ” The snake ’s just render to move , and you feel that exponent short — like “ OK , you may kill me if you wanted to . ” I really savor the snakes onHorns . They were almost like the ultimate prop . You do n’t have to act menacing — you have a python around your neck opening .
You just look badass . The movie comes out on Halloween , so I have to expect : What was your best costume ever?Halloween I would say is only just get big in England , over the last 5 to 10 long time . I ’ve never been trick or process in my life ! I actually had a few good costumes , though . I was the King of fancy clothes — that ’s what we call it . " Fancy dress ” is another good English phrase . When I was 7 years sure-enough , I ripped up an old Spider - human beings costume I had , found some false nozzle piercings , sprayed my pilus red , and move as Keith Flint , the drummer of Prodigy . When I was 14 , I go to aGrease - themed party as David Bowie — I did n’t like the movieGreaseat the time , so I was like , “ I ’ll be Bowie . ” My supporter was able to get me a lot of costumes that Jonathan Rhys Meyers bear inVelvet Goldmine . It was pretty amazing .
Also on the topic of Halloween : What kind of repugnance flick do you care watching?I’m a fan of SyFy ’s movies and B - pic horror . Sharknadois Syfy ’s most famous movie , but they ’ve also gotMegashark vs. Gatoroid . For right repulsion cinema , The Shiningis obviously a pretty great movie . But yeah , I ’m much more into the beast picture show thing , which is why I really sleep with [ Hornsdirector ] Alexandre Aja ’s body of work . I was babble out to him aboutPiranha 3-D , and he was like , " I just wanted to make the bloodiest , aphrodisiac variation of a group B - flick that I peradventure could , " and he did it . The issue of way that Alex had come up with for people to give out in that moving-picture show ? It ’s incredibly imaginative . The dying by motorboat propellor is my favourite — it ’s horrible . And what ’s that other movie I have n’t watch in for a while ? … Deep Blue Sea !
With the LL Cool J song![Rapping]“Deepest bluest my hat is like a shark fin . " LL Cool J is in reality really well in that movie . He ’s the best character in that movie — aside from like , Sam Jackson ’s just ever death scene .
InHarry Potter , you had a lightning mark on your forehead . ForFrankenstein , which is out next twelvemonth , you wore hair extension , and for this movie , you wore horns . What ’s more annoying to have applied?Onehundredpercent hair’s-breadth lengthiness . The lightning cicatrix , on the first two films , we essentially painted it on , and after that we used Pros - Aide , which was like a gum [ to put it on ] . It was very wide-eyed . The car horn were basically on a telegram John Cage , and we hid the metal under the tomentum and then conflate in the front . But the hair extensions took 14 hours to put in across two days and were a incubus to be with and wash for the five calendar month I had them . They ’re supposed to take 4 to 5 hours to take out , but I cerebrate we did them in two because I was just ripping them out of my head .
You ’re slate to play Washington Roebling in a movie about the Brooklyn Bridge , which must be passably coolheaded for a chronicle caramel . When you ’re preparing to diddle an actual person , do you research a lot?Yeah , dead you have to — I would palpate weird not doing that . One of the groovy thing about play someone who is real is that a lot of the oeuvre has generally been done for you . There are ton of Allen Ginsberg autobiographies that I could look at [ to play the poet inKill Your Darlings ] ; his diary actually were the master affair I looked at . It ’s about read as much about the man and the history and the period as you mayhap can . It ’s also one of the fun parts of the line of work , memorize about your case — in particular when it ’s a real individual and you find out interesting bits of information and you think “ Oh , mayhap we can forge that into the fib . ”
The floor of the Roeblings and the Brooklyn Bridge — I really hope we to get to tell that news report . It ’s an astonishing American story , and a story about a marriage that was so dissimilar from what people wait of a marriage in that clock time . That ’s why I suppose it ’s particularly an authoritative story to tell : Emily [ Roebling ] for the first half of the playscript is very much the kind of doting wife in a full point film , and then you see herbuild the bridge circuit . The equality in their marriage and the way they needed each other , and were so unresolved about needing each other , feel very uncommon — like a story we do n’t often discover about in that epoch . I have kind of fallen in love with New York and so to make something that feels like a honey letter to America but also very specific to New York as well , and what New York is to America … I hope it happens . It ’ll be gravid . It ’s afantasticscript .
What ’s your pet karaoke song?Anything by Eminem , really . If everyone join in on the chorus I ’ll do “ Ca n’t Take My eye Off Of You , ” the Frankie Valli Sung dynasty , because the rest of the song is high , but the chorus isreallyhigh .
What songs would you include on the soundtrack to your life?My favored Sung ever , and I altogether forgot how superb it is until I listen to it again the other day , is “ take the air on the Wild Side ” by Lou Reed , and that would seamlessly manifestly give agency to “ Can I plain It ” by A Tribe call Quest because they sample it . And then there ’s “ Time For Heroes ” by The Libertines , “ Where Is My Mind ? ” by The Pixies , and “ We Will All Go Together When We Go , ” by Tom Lehrer . This could be such a retentive lean I could keep conk but I ’ll stop there . Oh no , I wo n’t terminate there : “ EMI ” by The Sex Pistols .
What , to you , is the most pesky phone in the world?The sound of my own voice , specifically read the words “ you know . ” It is my pause idiomatic expression , and instead of pausing — which I shouldjust do — I say “ you know , ” even whenIdon’t know what I ’m about to say ! I ’m indisputable there are more annoying sounds in the world , but that is the one that grates in my spike the most , and because I ’m in a pressing tour at the moment , I ’m hearing it a mickle . I ’m by all odds at the point where I ’m really starting to irritate myself .
Well they say that using phrases like that and " um " and " uh " in reality avail people get the picture what you ’re allege well . That is science.[Laughs]That ’s what I ’m doing — I’m just making it easier for the rest of the people in the world to put up my monolithic thoughts !
