Daniel Radcliffe Promotes “Victor Frankenstein”

Daniel Radcliffe has been making the rounds on talk shows, promoting his new movie, Victor Frankenstein, which hits theaters November 25th.

Right before going to a premier for the movie, Dan Radcliffe stopped by The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. After forcing Jimmy to dance the Gangnam Style, they engaged in a card game of War…with a watery twist. Half way through getting soaked, Dan remembered that he was going to a premiere and didn’t bring a dry change in underwear. Check the videos out on The Tonight Show web page, and below:

Sitting down with SlashFilm.com on the set of Victor Frankenstein, Daniel talks about working in unconventional roles, and goes into detail about his role as Igor. He talks of playing the part physically, including wearing a prosthetic hump and performing stunts, such as stage fighting, without hurting the other person. Dan also discusses what attracted him to the role in the first place

“James McAvoy said there’s a physicality to this role. Could you describe that for us?

Yeah, in my experience in doing various physical scenes with people, half of your energy that day is just spent in getting the other actor to engage physically with you. Most actors don’t do it, don’t want to hurt you, but James and I have enough confidence in each other that we’re not going to hurt each other. It’s amazing working with James on that level; he gives 100% every time. He just throws me around.

I’d like to think I’ve been the most willing victim he’s ever had. Pretty much our first day actually was him repeatedly slamming me against a pillar; so yeah, that set the tone. I’ve enjoyed all aspects of working with him, but I think the physical side is what sets this apart.

Does that physical side take a toll on things, even on elements such as your costume?

Not so much on those things, but on the first day, that slamming against a post, I had a prosthetic on — not of the full hump, but of the hump when it’s been drained, so it’s actually messed up and not nice looking. So I had that on for three hours, then I put a costume on over it, so it started getting sweaty and covered in material, and then I’m landing on it every time when I go back, I’m hitting the prosthetic time after time after time. And then, at the end of the day, after doing that for seven hours, they were like, “OK, close up on the hump,” and actually, it held up remarkably well. James has got the brilliant ability where he really looks like he’s slamming you against the wall, while actually taking most of the impact himself. So it held up better than we thought.

But was that an attraction to this?

There’s always an attraction to it, in the same way there was about playing Ginsberg [in Kill Your Darlings], about any kind of transformation – particularly a physical one as well – I really enjoy that. I enjoy working with hair and makeup a lot, I enjoy watching people being good at their jobs, and so hair and makeup and prosthetics and all that lot, I’ve always loved being involved in that, but this is definitely the most heavily made up look. I’m not sure if it’s a deliberate thing, but I think most actors enjoy looking in a mirror and not seeing themselves.“

Dan talked in detail about his character, Igor, and how his adaption of the role is different than any other of the Hollywood character (Igor has become a staple to Frankenstein movies, though the character was never present in the novel by Mary Shelley.)

“What differentiates this new iteration of Frankenstein?

One of the big differences in this film is when the monster is created, and that puts a very different perspective on everything. The monster isn’t created until the end of… we have several attempts throughout the movie, but the main monster isn’t created until nearer the end of the movie, whereas traditionally it’s something that happens earlier. So it’s less about what happens to the world after the monster is created, and the monster in general, it’s more about the relationship between Frankenstein and Igor preceding it, which of course isn’t a relationship that is in the book. It’s something that has been entered into a global consciousness by loads and loads of movies.

Does Igor have the same drive to play God that Frankenstein does?

Not at all, he wants to… the battle for Igor is, once Victor has rescued him, and he develops this insane loyalty to him, then Victor starts going off the deep end ego-wise. It starts off being very well intentioned, ‘I want to create life, and do something incredible to change the world’, and as his ego takes over, it just becomes, ‘how far can I push this? What crazy, insane thing can I do, just because I can?’, and I think Igor – the chance to change the world for the better is something he never thought he would get, so entering into that, he’s incredibly excited, he wants to be part of that, but then the battle for him in the film is trying to work up the courage to actually stand up to Victor and to tell him to stop.

Are you interested in any other portrayals of Igor from the past?

Other than the ones I’ve already seen, and grew up loving, like Marty Feldman [in Young Frankenstein] is one I get referenced a lot, I think this treads a really wonderful line between Frankenstein and Young Frankenstein. There is humor in this film, it’s not a comedy by any stretch, but there is humor in it. I’ve played a few parts where there have been other people who have played them — when I did Equus, there was a film of that — I’m always worried about being influenced too much, especially this where it is such a fresh take on Igor. I’m a terrible mimic, if I see something to hang on to, I’ll probably do that, so it’s just trying to create it myself, and trying not to do bits from Marty Feldman.

So how old is Igor supposed to be?

I think he’s supposed to be early 20s. He’s younger than Frankenstein. He’s also supposed to have lived his life entirely in the circus, so he is — he’s not naive, but he’s terrified of the world around him.“

To read much much more of this very extensive interview, Dan’s relationship with the crew on set, his love of Sherlock, and his character’s relationships with Victor Frankenstein and Jessica Brown Findlay’s character, visit the original article, here.