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The Advocate: The Woman in Black is the first film you made since the Potter franchise ended. Did you have any hesitation about making another movie within the horror-fantasy genre? 

Daniel Radcliffe: I said to myself, if I rule out any script that had remotely any fantasy element, I’d be cutting myself off from a huge amount of amazing work. 

There are so many films that could be deemed as having heightened paranormal elements to them, which could just be magical realism or a ghost story, which isn’t really the same feeling as Potter. I decided not to let that impinge on my decision-making.

What specifically appealed to you about the film?


For me it was a chance to do something that’s genuinely different and that I thought people wouldn’t be expecting and that I wasn’t expecting. If you’d said to me that the first film I’d do after finishing the last Potter would be a horror film, I wouldn’t have believed you.

You mentioned the 1946 fantasy A Matter of Life and Death. I’m impressed that you’re so film-literate.


That’s my favorite film. There are gaps in my film knowledge. I’ve never seen Star Wars and stuff like that. But A Matter of Life and Death I think is one of the greatest showings of what imagination in cinema can do, with no visual effects, really. It was a brilliant story and brilliantly acted. David Niven is the most impossibly charming man in the world in that film and always. It’s just a brilliant film.

This is director John Krokidas’s first feature film. What convinced you to take this leap of faith with a novice filmmaker?


You obviously haven’t met John. [Laughs] John is one of the most passionate people you could ever meet. For me this is an exceptional script. The scenes were almost completely devoid of exposition, yet the story was always being moved along and any information being given out in those scenes is given as information about the characters and not just handed out for the audience to understand. It’s a brilliantly written script. You meet John and he has such unwavering belief in this project and he’s enthusiastic and fun and I thought, Yes, I want to dive in with you and make this happen.

Last year you received the Trevor Project’s Hero Award. The founder of Trevor Project said that you actually reached out to them to become involved with the organization. Why was this important to you?

Finding out about Trevor Project through friends at that time just seemed perfect. I wanted to be of service and help, and I’m just incredibly proud that I’m able to. I do get people coming up to me and saying – I’d say at least five or six times each week someone will come up to me and say, "Thank you for what you do for the Trevor Project." It’s amazing that you’re able to effect a positive change just by being you and talking about things that you feel strongly about. I’m just very proud to be a part of it.