New Daniel Radcliffe Interview with “We Got This Covered”

Daniel Radcliffe has been promoting his new film, Victor Frankenstein, by making a lot of appearances on shows, podcasts, and in interviews with many news sources.

Dan recently sat down for an exclusive interview with We Got This Covered. In the interview, Dan discussed his character, Igor, working with James McAvoy, and filming in Scotland. Excerpts of the interview can be seen below:

“WGTC: What attracted you to this project in the first place? It’s kind of a different take on the classic story that we all know and love.

Daniel Radcliffe: Everyone has an image of Igor as Victor Frankenstein’s hunched over assistant, like Marty Feldman in Young Frankenstein. People are expecting to see that, and I felt it was important to be faithful to that image as we open the film. But that image changes about twenty minutes into the film when Victor rescues me, then takes me in and breaks my spine, which is a very intense and painful scene. Then Victor drains Igor’s hump.

What fascinated me about the script was how it revealed Igor’s backstory, how he lived before he met Victor. Everyone has an image and perception of Igor, based on what they’ve seen in the films, and I liked how the script subverted all of my expectations. In the 1931 film the creature was born in the middle of the story; in this film the creature is finished towards the end, so the story is mostly about the relationship between Igor and Victor.

WGTC: What do you think Igor sees in Victor? Why does he help him? 

Daniel Radcliffe: When you first see me, I’m a freak show attraction being controlled by Barnaby, who’s played by Daniel Mays, and I’m living in absolute squalor. Igor has been mistreated; he lives in abject conditions and doesn’t even have a name. But he has a brilliant mind. He’s saved by Victor, who shows him great kindness and recognizes Igor’s intelligence and talent. After he breaks my spine, I begin helping Victor with his experiments.

WGTC: What was it like filming in Scotland, and what did that bring to the film?

Daniel Radcliffe: Well, we filmed the main castle sequence, the climax, in January, when it was freezing cold, and they had all of these rain machines pouring down on James and I for two weeks.

There was this little room, a hot room, two-by-three, where we could run for cover and get warm, which we did every time there was a break. The conditions made the scenes seem real to us, and Paul was very good at letting James and I find the characters and play around. It’s a beautiful looking film, classic, gothic, but also very dark at times, and I think that, tonally and visually, it’s very faithful to the original film.“

The entire interview can be read here, in the original article. Victor Frankenstein comes out in less than 2 weeks, on November 25.