Actors are always looking to enhance their roles with real life experience. While this can be hard to come by, especially when their characters often lead extreme lives, actors find ways to prepare themselves and get a glimpse into the necessary lifestyle. Daniel Radcliffe is no different and since his Harry Potter days, he has actually played a variety of very distinct and unique roles. Here is a look into how he prepared himself to play these diverse characters.

Now You See Me 2

In the 2016 film Now You See Me 2, we were able to see Daniel in an entertaining role as the somewhat maniacal young tech tycoon. This was an interesting side to Daniel’s acting skills and overall it was a thoroughly enjoyable film. For this role, Daniel decided to really embrace the atmosphere that the film showcases. 

To get a firm understanding of the true ambience and draw of the Macau setting, Radcliffe dove into the famous casino scene here. He decided to start with the historically prominent gaming staple Blackjack, which has been a part of casino culture for decades. After this, he tried his luck with Baccarat, a game that is a popular attraction in most Asian casinos. It doesn’t stop there either. Daniel also worked with celebrity magician Dynamo to understand some of the tricks of the trade, things he then utilized on the set. 

Jungle

For the 2017 film Jungle, Daniel understood this would be a physically challenging role that required him to change his physique drastically. The character Daniel was portraying was Yossi Ghinsburg, an Israeli that went missing in the Amazon Rainforest for weeks, battling starvation and the many threats of this wild and uncharted landscape. 

During the shooting, Daniel showed the dedication to his craft that makes him such an inspiration for his fans. To put himself in the mindset of this character as well as physically look the part, Daniel forced himself to follow a strict diet of just one chicken breast and one protein bar every day to really lean out as well as get into the necessary mindset to understand such a desperate situation. In the final days of shooting the most destitute of moments for the film, he stopped eating completely. It has been reported that Daniel lost 14 pounds from his already petite frame in preparation for Jungle. 

Horns

Daniel may have spent his early years playing Harry Potter and fighting the dark side, but in the 2013 comedy-horror film Horns he became the darkness. This film has a lot of devilish elements as the main character, Ignatius Perrish, suddenly grows horns and gains supernatural powers following a tragedy in his life. To prepare for filming this, Daniel Radcliffe tossed out the indie rock playlists and instead listened to heavy metal around the clock, particularly the band Megadeth and songs like Sweating Bullets. This helped him to get into the rock and roll spirit and find the energy he needed to excel in this film. 

Swiss Army Man

After playing his most famous role of Harry Potter for a full decade, it’s clear that Daniel could only pursue unusual roles after this. Whether it is his personal tastes or how Hollywood sees him, his post-Harry Potter performances are certainly not the norm. One of his most unorthodox performances came in the 2016 black comedy film Swiss Army Man. In this creative film, Daniel played a literal corpse and throughout the film he was required to show a plethora of emotions with very minimal facial movement and an arsenal of strange sounds. 

Daniel regularly said that he was immensely stressed in the production of this film as he had no idea how to portray this character. He spent hours recording unintentionally hilarious sounds and faces and sending it to the director to get feedback. All of this culminated in the film and whether you loved it or hated it, it certainly is a very memorable piece of cinema history. 

Beast of Burden

In 2018’s Beast of Burden, Daniel played the role of an American pilot who is tasked with flying drugs across the US/Mexico border. Of course, he must sidestep both the DEA and the Mexican cartels and return in one piece. Daniel was dedicated to learning the skills necessary to be a pilot and went out for multiple flying lessons both as a passenger and even briefly in the cockpit to understand what it really entails. Though the film itself was not very successful, the memory of the experience will certainly stay with Daniel for his entire life.

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