Just days ahead of the theatrical release of Horns, Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe sat down with his fans on Reddit for an Ask Me Anything session. Redditors came through with some great questions, addressing topics including Radcliffe's American accent -- you'll hear it demonstrated in Horns -- and of course, his experiences working on the Harry Potter films. Here are some of the things we learned about Daniel Radcliffe from his Reddit AMA:
He'd store his horcrux digitally.
Apparently, no one's ever asked Daniel Radcliffe what his Horcrux would be... until today! If he were to shred his soul in an attempt to be immortal, Radcliffe's answer for the item he'd use to serve as his horcrux? His iPod:
I would put it inside an album on the iPod, so you'd have to open that album. So I somehow want it to be connected to a particular album that means something, like Ziggy Stardust.
It's a more modern approach. Voldemort probably wouldn't approve.
He's been on the Star Wars set.
Daniel Radcliffe has only just recently watched the original Star Wars movies, but he now considers himself a fan. When answering a question about his Halloween costume this year, he suggested he might go as someone from Star Wars, and then dropped this little tidbit about getting to visit the set of Star Wars: Episode VII...
And I got to go out to the Star Wars set recently, because a lot of my friends are working on it crew-wise..
Any chance he ran into his Harry Potter co-star Warwick Davis on that set. He doesn't mention. Nor does he tell us anything about what he saw on that set, but we imagine he's bound by some kind of tongue-tying curse on that subject... or whatever the Jedi equivalent to "Mimble Wimble" might be...
Radcliffe did say he's leaning toward Boba Fett for Halloween, but he hasn't found a good enough costume yet.
Gary Oldman taught him how to play a Beatles song on the bass guitar.
When asked for stories about working with amazing actors, Daniel Radcliffe revealed that Gary Oldman taught him how to play the Beatles' "Come Together" on the bass guitar.
Gary Oldman is a bass player, a very good base player, yeah, and, um, I started learning bass on the 3rd film when he joined the cast. And so one day, I think actually maybe on my 14th birthday, that day started with Gary teaching me the bass line to "Come Together" by the Beatles, yeah! And you know, that was just an amazing, amazing moment.
As if we didn't think Gary Oldman were cool enough.
Michael Gambon demonstrated how to shoot a man with a dueling pistol.
Daniel Radcliffe also learned about dueling pistols from Michael Gambon, who's apparently a big dueling pistols collector:
Michael Gambon was always also hilarious to be around. Something not every knows about Michael is that he collects and restores antique dueling pistols. Yeah! And they're really his passion, much more than acting is, and I remember he one morning gave me a demonstration of how you would shoot a man in a duel with a 17th century pistol in one hand and his morning coffee in the other!
Truly awesome.
Friends, Frasier and pro wrestling helped Radcliffe master his American accent.
Daniel Radcliffe's been practicing his American accent since he was little, having grown up watching shows like Friends, Frasier and the Toy Story movies. And he applied that knowledge to playtime...
I used to be really into WWF and I would play with wrestling action figures and give them American accents, so I think I've been practicing since I was about 9.
He added that people have commented that his American accent sounds like Harry Potter director Chris Columbus. "I think subconsciously I may be doing an impression of him," Radcliffe noted.
He'd rather play a Bond villain than James Bond.
When asked if he'd rather play James Bond or a villain, there was no uncertainty in his response, and from the sound of it, it's not just a matter of personal preference but also a matter of what he thinks he's better suited for:
The villain. 100%. I think it's generally more interesting, and honestly, more what I'm suited for, to be honest. I don't see myself necessarily - I mean, I know there was a lot of action in Potter and I liked those sequences, but I don't think of myself as a natural action star.
Alan Rickman played a funny prank on him during Prisoner of Azkaban
The prank Alan Rickman played on Daniel Radcliffe during Harry Potter and the Prisoner Azkaban isn't a brand new reveal, as evidenced by the video above, which shows the on-set joke, complete with the melodic tones of fart noises in Hogwarts' great hall. When Radcliffe told the story during his AMA, he said he thought it was one of the other kids messing with him...
I immediately thought: "This is one of the other kids fucking around, and we were going to get in trouble." But as it turns out, it was one of the members of Britain's acting royalty.
Alan Rickman, the jokester! Radcliffe also admitted that he was "quite intimidated" by Rickman during the first few years, but he eventually discovered that Rickman is "one of the kindest and most supportive members" of the Harry Potter cast.
(#TrustSnape)
He really wants to do a Master and Margarita adaptation.
To say that Daniel Radcliffe wants to be a part of an adaptation of Mikhail Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita sounds like it'd be something of an understatement. In his words...
I would hopefully be in any adaptation of Master and Margarita, I would do literally absolutely anything on that set if they would let me.
Later during the AMA, when answering a question about which book character he'd like to play (besides Harry Potter), he said he'd like to be Behemoth the cat from Master and Margarita.
He'd like to hang out with the Marauders, and he's a total Gryffindor.
When asked who he'd like to hang out with of the Harry Potter characters, Daniel Radcliffe expressed an appreciation for James Potter's pals:
Probably Sirius. Like I always loved the character, and then Gary's portrayal of him I thought was perfect. Or Lupin, really. Any of the characters my dad used to hang out with, other than Wormtail. There was always something bout those two guys I loved a lot.
Weirdly, I love that he refers to James Potter as his dad.
And if he had to pick a house, Gryffindor all the way. "Maybe I'm just biased because I played one for so long," Radcliffe said. "But I could never picture myself in any other colours."
Scarlett and gold forever!
He loved doing the Gringotts scenes in Deathly Hallows
Daniel Radcliffe had to think for a moment before answering about what his favorite scene to shoot was in the Harry Potter films. His first thought was one of the big scenes from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2:
The first thing that comes to mind, and it's a silly one, but doing all the Gringott's stuff in the last movie with Rupert and Helena and Warwick and Emma, that was like a really fun time. We were all enjoying ourselves in that, it's an action sequence so it was quite, it was more of a technical challenge than an emotional one, so it was a lot of fun to get right.
It's an interesting choice, but certainly a tough decision to make when we consider there were eight Harry Potter films to choose from.
Metallica and Megadeth played a part in his Horns make-up process.
When asked about the make-up process for Horns, Radcliffe revealed that visual effects and makeup artists Mike McCarthy and Mike Fields are big metal heads. Also, it didn't take as long to get into make-up (and horns) as you might guess...
the two guys that were doing the makeup, Mike McCarthy and Mike Fields, they were both big metal heads, and I mean, the actual process -they made it so easy - the horns themselves only took about 20 minutes to put on, and even some of the more extreme makeup that we had near the end only took a couple of hours, so you know, I had it easier than a lot of actors do. And yeah, so Metallica, Megadeth, and what was the other band we listened to loads of... shit... can't remember it'll come back to me.
Wonder if Metallica's "Devil's Dance" was in the playlist...
There were 3 or 4 Hedwigs in the movies.
Where's Hedwig? Radcliffe noted that there were actually three or four of the birds that played Harry Potter's faithful snowy owl Hedwig. As for where the birds are now, it doesn't sound like Daniel Radcliffe is certain on that, but he does have some ideas...
I imagine they are all still living with Gary Gero, who was the head of the animals department on Potter. I imagine he is looking after them all somewhere. I imagine they are all at the home where actor owls retire to.
Anaconda is one of his favorite horror movies.
Daniel Radcliffe says his favorite horror films are The Shining and Straw Dogs. And then he added...
...and tell you what, just because it has a nostalgic place in my heart - ANACONDA.
As in, the 1997 movie with Ice Cube? Well, between Horns and Harry Potter, the actor has proven to have a connection with snakes...
He has no involvement in Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them.
To anyone who knows what the Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them films are set to be about, it should come as no surprise that Daniel Radcliffe is not a part of the anticipated Harry Potter spinoff(-ish) trilogy. That said, Radcliffe put the words out there for further clarification. He's not involved...
I am not involved at all, and so I don't know anything about it, so I have no inkling as to what they are going to be like or about, but I'm sure they will be exciting. Jo Rowling is writing them, so that's a pretty good sign!
As he notes, J.K. Rowling is penning the screenplay for the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them films, the story of which is set seventy years before Harry Potter attended Hogwarts. With that timeline, the likelihood that Daniel Radcliffe would appear in the film seemed slim to none.
He's not trying to escape Harry Potter.
Daniel Radcliffe considers himself lucky to have become famous for a series so many people love.
I always like to say that I think some people think that because I'm making an effort to have a career for myself after Potter, that they somehow think I want to escape Potter? And I don't, I"m very proud of what those films were, and what we did with them. And so I always like to say I am happy to hear from people who still love the movies.
It's great to hear him speaking fondly of his connection with the Harry Potter films and just as great that he can appreciate the impact the role had in launching his career. With that in mind, Daniel Radcliffe has grown up and he's moved on to different roles, including Horns, which hits theaters this weekend, and is already available on demand.
You can read Daniel Radcliffe's full AMA over at Reddit.
