Daniel Radcliffe Speaks Out Against Racism & Donald Trump in ‘Imperium’ Interview

Aug 22, 2016

Posted by: Emma Pocock

Film Images, Movies, News, Posters, Radcliffe, Radcliffe Interviews

Daniel Radcliffe’s newest role in Imperium follows FBI agent Nate Foster, who goes undercover in a White Supremacist group. IGN published the newest movie poster, and some exclusive behind-the-scenes photos from the film:

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View more photos at IGN here.

Daniel Radcliffe also spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about going undercover, portraying White Supremacists on-screen, and how the media has responded to Donald Trump.

On how he responds to real-world white supremacism, and how the film helps to unpack the term:

“The white supremacy stuff that’s explored was so horrifyingly fascinating, or fascinatingly horrifying. The breadth of how many different kinds of beliefs there are — it’s an umbrella term that we use, it actually describes a ton of different kinds of people.”

Writer-director Daniel Ragussis also spoke about how he researched for the movie, saying that he studied works written by ‘leaders’ of the movement, memoirs of those who had left the movement, social science surrounding the movement and undercover FBI memoirs. Another source, however, was crucial: the internet:

“I was researching the Nazis for another project and stumbled onto the American neo-Nazi community. There are hundreds and hundreds of comments on YouTube videos of Hitler’s speeches, saying, basically, ‘Rest in peace, Adolf,’ and ‘This is the greatest leader of the 20th century.’ I was just stunned at the size, depth, breadth and diversity of this community. Then I found Mike German’s story and I thought, ‘That’s the perfect way into this world, to see it through the eyes of an undercover FBI agent.’ I tracked him down, and we agreed that a movie couldn’t be based on his own cases due to privacy reasons, but we’d make a fictionalized story that nonetheless drew inspiration from his work.”

Daniel  Radcliffe spoke about experiencing kinds of white supremacism through everyday racism in his own life:

“I know some really f—ing racist people, friends I vehemently disagree with. They’re not white supremacists, they would never be that extreme, but they are anti-immigration and absolutely voted to leave in Brexit. And I’m still friends with them because I don’t think that friendship should be drawn along those lines. That’d be a really sad way of viewing the world. But yeah, I definitely have got first-hand experience with this.

And also, just get into a cab in London. Some of the most unbelievably racist shit I’ve ever heard came out of a cab driver’s mouth in London, and you just go, ‘Dude, you’re taking a chance. I know I’m white, but you can’t just assume that I’m gonna agree with you.’ My girlfriend was in an Uber the other day in L.A., and the guy was like, ‘So, who are you voting for?’ Why is that small talk in a 45-minute cab ride? At the beginning, she was like, ‘Hillary,’ and then she couldn’t help herself and asked, ‘Are you voting for Trump?’ And his actual response was, ‘Yeah, just to see what happens.’ Which is just the worst. It’s the same people who say, ‘Well, I just love Trump because he says what he thinks.’ But isn’t the problem that he thinks that in the first place?”

And then he gives some Dumbledore-level wisdom on racism and prejudice in general:

 “If you’re gonna feel something for these people, feel sorry for them. There’s something incredibly sad about a world where all the races are separate, and it’s so depressing and bleak to me, the fact that that’s what these people want. We should look at ourselves as trying to help them to come to an understanding. Absolutely, there are some people who will never have their minds changed, but we have to go forward with the belief that we can change at least some percentage of peoples’ minds out there. Racism is learned; we don’t come out of the wombs thinking this. I do think we human beings are essentially selfish, but good; we’d rather do a good, selfish thing than a bad one on the whole. In order to change something, to change someone’s mind, you have to have a conversation, but people won’t engage with you if they know that you’ve already written them off as stupid and evil. Why would they?”

On how he sees the U.S. Presidential Election playing out:

“Well, I didn’t think Brexit was gonna happen, so there goes what I f—ing know. I hope Hillary gets in. I want to think there’s a ceiling to how much support Trump can get, and he hopefully will alienate more of his own voters by the time we get to the election. But it’s not a sure thing; that’s what’s certain. It’s not enough for him to lose [on his own], you need to really try and protect it.”

Trump has had a lot of media attention, and some say that this is the reason he’s been more successful than most would’ve guessed. His journey is certainly unexpected. Dan had some words for media outlets:

“Don’t help him propagate things that are blatantly untrue. The things that always winds me up is when you hear Hillary Clinton say she wants to do background checks for gun control, and then you hear Trump say, ‘She wants to take away your guns!’ No, she doesn’t; she has at no point said that, so don’t repeat what he’s said. [The media] has actually started doing it: somebody sent me a screenshot the other day of their TV which read, ‘Donald Trump Says He Did Not Say This Thing. [He Did.]’ He should be very much treated like a politician and not a reality TV star because otherwise, he’ll be allowed to get away with a lot more.”

Read the full interview with Dan Radcliffe and Daniel Ragussis on The Hollywood Reporter here.

A synopsis of the film is as follows:

Inspired by real events and the experiences of ex-FBI agent Michael German, Imperium follows Nate Foster, an idealistic young FBI agent who is selected to go undercover amongst a group of white supremacists suspected of initiating a terrorist plot. Immersed in a deeply unsettling, hate-filled world, Nate must fight to maintain control of his own beliefs and principles whilst working to identify the threat and keeping his true identity and motives a secret.

The film has been available in select theatres and on-demand since Friday 19th August.





The Leaky Cauldron is not associated with J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros., or any of the individuals or companies associated with producing and publishing Harry Potter books and films.