Daniel Radcliffe

Presenter0:01

BBC Sounds, Music, Radio Podcasts. Hello, I'm Lauren Laverne and this is the Desert Island Discs Podcast. Every week I ask my guests to choose the eight tracks, book and luxury they'd want to take with them if they were cast away to a desert island. This is an extended version of the original Radio 4 broadcast and, for rights reasons, the music is shorter than the original broadcast. I hope you enjoy listening.

Presenter0:47

My castaway this week is Daniel Radcliffe. If anybody earned their chance to kick back and relax on a desert island early, it's him. At 12, he was catapulted into the limelight by his big screen portrayal of Harry Potter. Ten years playing the role earned him worldwide fame, fortune, a place in cinema history. The Harry Potter films are second only to Star Wars as the most successful franchise of all time and made him a beloved part of family life all around the world. All of which could have been an excuse to take things easy. Not for him. At 30, he's keener than ever to explore the creative possibilities of life after The Boy Who Lived, appearing on stage in New York and in London and taking on a dizzyingly numerous variety of roles. One minute he's an angel, the next an explorer stranded in the Bolivian jungle, then going undercover as a neo-Nazi. He says, I don't want anyone to ever say that I don't belong where I am. That's a very easy thing for people to say when you fall into something very young, something so huge, and you are wildly lucky to have ever got it in the first place. I want to earn my right to be doing these jobs. Daniel Radcliffe, welcome to Desert Island Discs.

Daniel Radcliffe1:54

Thank you very much. Thank you for having me.

Presenter1:56

So that idea of earning the luck that you've been given is important to you. Why?

Daniel Radcliffe2:00

Yeah, um because I have been insanely lucky and I think probably out of a vague sense of guilt about having something so amazing happen to you so young and I think I will always have a part of my brain that is going when I first walk into a rehearsal room. It's particularly a neurosis of mine in theatre. Not so much now, but I remember when I was first doing Equus, or was certainly when I was doing the musical, I went in and was sort of thinking, oh my god, everyone here just thinks you're here because of Harry Potter. And in large part, they are right. So you have to make sure that you're bringing something else to the table. And I think a little part of that will always be there in some respect. But if that's the thing that makes me work hard, then fine.

Presenter2:48

Lots of very successful people are quite keen to downplay the role of luck in their stories though, and it interests me that you aren't.

Daniel Radcliffe2:55

Yes, I think that's insane. Because you can be the most hard working and the most talented and all those things and you still need a huge amount of luck because there is a wonderfully talented, incredibly hardworking person out there who was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Presenter3:08

We've seen you taking on some very challenging roles in arthouse films. I think weird is a word that you've used more than once to describe your tastes. What are you looking for in a script?

Daniel Radcliffe3:17

I do think it's important to say I don't think of them as weird. Weird is sort of something I've been told so many times that my choices are weird that I'm like, I just, I guess I have to just.

Presenter3:23

Times that my choices are weird though.

Presenter3:26

Yeah.

Daniel Radcliffe3:27

Yes, I have to start saying it to myself at some point. And I don't mind that other people think that at all, but I just don't want people to get the impression that I'm going out there being like, what's the weirdest thing I could do next? But yeah, I mean, I'm excited by working, particularly with young filmmakers who are getting their first film made or very sort of young and hungry and ambitious. And I'm attracted to original material. I know that sounds like a really obvious thing to say, but it's very hard to find a script that you read and go, like, oh, I've not read anything else like this. Even of what I've done, there's only sort of, I suppose, Swiss Army Man, Horns, and Guns Akimbo. Those are the three that's like, they are just. The minute I read them, I was like, there is a vision behind this. A whole world is in this director's head. You know, I love that. And also, whenever a film, like Swiss Army Man does a wonderful thing.

Presenter4:22

You play a corpse, we should say, into a soft map

Daniel Radcliffe4:23

Corpse that is gradually coming back to life, that is befriended by Paul Dano, and they go on a weird magical journey together.

Presenter4:32

Together.

Presenter4:33

I mean he wouldn't want to be in that

Daniel Radcliffe4:35

I feel like I should mention there is a lot of bodily functions involved. If I don't say that, then people will just watch that movie and be like, wait, you didn't tell me about that. But there is something about that film that says something that I think I feel about the world, but I would never be able to express it as creatively and sweetly and insanely as those directors and writers have. And whenever you get the chance to be a part of something that does that, I feel like that's something you grab.

Presenter4:39

Hey that

Presenter5:02

It's almost a decade since the last Harry Potter film. There are very few actors, of course, who get to play such a huge part in millions of children's lives. How do you feel looking back at that ten years on?

Daniel Radcliffe5:13

It's amazing. It really is. I sound very corny and earnest when I talk about it, but it does inspire those genuine feelings in me. I don't know what I thought would happen at the end of Possa. I guess in some way I expected it to die down, which it has not. If anything, it sort of feels as big, or if not bigger, just because we're now at the stage when you know I am 30. If you were my age when you watched the films, you might have young children by now of yourself. They are being introduced to it. So it's like you just are watching that cycle kind of perpetuate in an amazing way. And, you know, I have things from when I was a kid that I really cared about and loved and still mean a lot to me. And if I met those people, I would be a bit sort of shell-shocked. So to think that I occupy that place for other people is genuinely really lovely.

Presenter5:40

Yourself

Presenter6:02

You're sharing your discs with us today, and we know you're a music nut. Let's start with your first. Why have you chosen it?

Daniel Radcliffe6:08

So I just think this is one of the most joyous songs ever recorded. I don't know if you need to know Morecambe and Wise to appreciate them, but this is a show in the UK, so presumably everyone here will have some sort of knowledge with Morcombe and Wise, and if you don't, I envy you because you just have a huge treat in store. They were a part of what I love about comedy. I think looking back, like a huge amount of my sense of humour is derived from them. They still make me laugh. I can just watch them and it's a very, very happy place for me to be in mentally. And Bring Me Sunshine is the most iconic song. They sang many other songs actually as well, which are all great, but they did this at the end of every show and it was wonderful.

Speaker 26:50

Bring me sunshine.

Speaker 26:53

Ain't yo smile.

Speaker 26:56

Bring me lasting.

Speaker 26:59

All the while.

Speaker 27:02

In this world where we live, there should be more happiness, so much joy you can give to each brand new bright tomorrow. Make me happy

Presenter7:17

Morecom and wise and bring me sunshine. What a start, Daniel Rycliffe. Thank you for that.

Daniel Radcliffe7:21

Good. Thank you.

Presenter7:22

So let's go back a bit then. You were born in London in nineteen eighty nine to Alan and Marcia, and they had been actors when they met, touring in a play. So it was quite a creative household. What fired your imagination when you were little?

Daniel Radcliffe7:25

And

Daniel Radcliffe7:33

I mean, my mum and dad did take me to see a lot of plays and a lot of musicals. The house was full of books. But then, like, honestly, my first relationship with something that really fired my imagination was The Simpsons. Oh, yeah. And actually, like, the reason I know so many things, like, I will often be doing a random quiz and I will know a piece of information and instantly be able to trace it back to A Simpsons episode being where I learned that.

Presenter7:45

Oh yeah.

Presenter7:58

They sneak a lot of clever stuff into the Simpsons. That's what's been one of the whole moments.

Daniel Radcliffe8:00

Yes, that's been one of the horrors about the second law of thermodynamics and perpetual motion machines. They're crazy. Yeah, so that, and then I didn't really read I am one of the kids that Potter got into reading. I'd read the first two and semi-government, but it was still reading and I was very much anti-reading until I was 12 or 13. And then suddenly a switch flipped and I went back and read the first four, which was all that was out at the time. And then started voraciously going after lots of other stuff as well.

Presenter8:04

Perpetual motion

Presenter8:16

It's a

Speaker 28:17

Uh

Presenter8:17

Yeah.

Presenter8:29

You're an only child. Lots of only children are quite at ease around adults. Was that the case for you?

Daniel Radcliffe8:34

Yeah.

Presenter8:34

Uh

Daniel Radcliffe8:34

Yes, and I actually think that was maybe one of the things that meant I segued into life on a film set very well because no brothers or sisters, so it was sort of very good at like either entertaining myself and being on my own or when my mum and dad would have friends over or whatever, I would kind of be a part of that. So I think I was okay with adults. And suddenly, you know, being on a film set, you have to, as a kid, you're having a relationship with adults where they're not your teachers or your parents or your parents' friends, but they're actually like your co-workers. And I found that a really exciting feeling. Because yeah, you're being treated like you know what you're doing by a bunch of adults, which is very much the opposite of most of childhood, I suppose. So yeah, that was great.

Presenter9:13

Only children are also slightly more portable, obviously, than large broods. And your parents took you to work sometimes. How did that go? Yes.

Daniel Radcliffe9:20

My mum had me in like a carry cot under her desk for the first six months of my life and she worked at that point for the man who 17 years later would become the producer of Equus. So there's the one of the many weird things in my life. And then she was a casting agent, right? She was a casting agent then. Yeah, she's not anymore. My dad had been an actor and then became a literary agent for writers and directors. So I was always kind of around it, but never particularly had like a desire to be an actor necessarily. It was more like I saw a panto at five, said that looks fun, turned around to my mum and was like, I want to be an actor. And she was like, no, you don't.'Cause my mum and dad have both had

Presenter9:50

This is how

Daniel Radcliffe10:00

Fairly crappy experiences as actors.

Presenter10:01

As actors? It's an interesting point to come to the industry at, isn't it? You're almost seeing it from the inside out. Yes.

Daniel Radcliffe10:08

Yes. And I actually think there's one of the many ways in which I was blessed with my parents was that they knew enough about the industry to be really helpful and guide me through it. And also, like, knowing what's expected of you on set, but also not jaded by it so that they would be like, yeah, we've seen it all done. It was none of that ever. What was the best piece of advice they gave you, do you think? They give me so many pieces of advice. The most useful. The thing that I always remember my dad saying, and now I'm rolling back in my head because I may not have done it this morning, but I remember at the time I was going to meet the cabinet secretary or something that had come to visit the studio where we filmed. And my dad gave me this piece of advice in that context. And I remember being like really annoyed with him for trying to give me this advice and being like, no, don't shut up. I'm fine. But he just said, whenever you meet somebody, always get your hand out first to shake their hand. And that really is like ingrained in me now. And I know it sounds really simple, but the thing that I hate is people assume that because you started young and you got famous young, that you're going to be a horrible human being. So I feel like I have a need to establish at all times that I'm not perfect, but I'm not terrible. Like, and sometimes I introduce myself to people and I say my name, and someone's like, oh, I know you are. Or they make a joke of me having introduced myself or something. And I'm always just like, no, but I would hate to be the kind of person that assumes you know my name because you might not. There are, believe it or not, people who have never seen a Harry Potter film or read a book or know that it exists. So I don't want to assume that you know that.

Presenter10:48

Yeah.

Presenter10:56

Boy.

Presenter11:30

Yeah.

Presenter11:32

I

Presenter11:42

And you did get your hand out first. Did I? Okay, good. Thank God. Just to let you know, it's all right. Still officially a good person.

Daniel Radcliffe11:43

Did I okay good thank god just today?

Daniel Radcliffe11:48

That's the test guys, as long as you're doing that, any other behavior is acceptable.

Presenter11:52

It's time for your second disc, Dan. What have we got?

Daniel Radcliffe11:55

So this is Tom Lehrer, who is a comedy songwriter from the 50s and 60s that my parents introduced me to. He is an absolute genius. And to have written songs that long ago that are still funny and still feel kind of edgy and subversive now is truly stunning. And this song is called We Will All Go Together When We Go. There's a sort of cheerful nihilism, which again, I think, very well represents me.

Daniel Radcliffe12:26

Or my worldview.

Speaker 212:27

And we will all go together when we go What a comforting fact that is to know Universal bereavement, an inspiring achievement Yes, we all will go together when we go

Presenter12:41

We all will go together.

Speaker 212:45

We will all go together when we go.

Speaker 212:49

All suffused with an incandescent glow No one will have the endurance To collect on his insurance Lloyds of London will be loaded when they go We will all fry to

Presenter13:03

We will all go together when we go. Cheerful Nihilists unite. So I'm Lara. Thank you, Daniel Radcliffe. So before we come on to life at Hogwarts, let's talk about your own school days, shall we? You weren't particularly happy at school. Why not?

Daniel Radcliffe13:13

Oh, you weren't partic

Daniel Radcliffe13:15

Why no? I mean, I don't like to talk badly of a whole institution where people go, but it's fine. I wasn't very good at school. I was nice. I wasn't totally disruptive, but I was not good academically. Just the act of writing, not thinking of what to write, but the act just took me an unbelievably long time. That was all a struggle. So I think they thought, well, maybe a bit thick or something. And was addressed as that at one point. Yes, that was communicated to me by one particular person. Stupid was the word. And then I wasn't good athletically either. The highlight of my sporting career at school was a hat-trick against St Thomas' B-Team. I remember doing cartwheels, celebrating, and falling in mud. It was great. But it was all downhill after that. So if you're not academic and you're not sporty, it's very few ways of feeling good at anything in a school environment, which was why when acting came along, it was like, oh, this feels fun, and people like me doing it. This is a new sensation. But I'd got on with all the students. I had a good time in that aspect. But yeah, the teachers just didn't know what to do with me, I think.

Presenter13:42

We'll address that at one point, yes.

Presenter14:23

You've been called stupid. Was that something that stuck with you? How did you feel? Yes.

Daniel Radcliffe14:27

Yes. I mean, I think it's made me...

Daniel Radcliffe14:30

Again, just work really hard to not be stupid or to feel. Because I also am very stupid sometimes. I've stupid at lots of things in life.

Presenter14:39

Yeah.

Daniel Radcliffe14:41

Well, like thinking about things too much. I d I do think generally speaking my reaction to hearing something negative is to work very hard against it, even if I fear it's true. That doesn't mean I don't agree with it. Often it's because I agree with it that I then feel like I have to work harder.

Presenter14:58

Acting was something that you could excel at then. Your first T V appearance was in the B B C adaptation of David Copperfield. You were ten at the time. Were you dreaming of a life of on stage and screen at that point?

Daniel Radcliffe15:06

Yeah.

Daniel Radcliffe15:09

Certainly not. Not at all. It was absolutely just this is great. This gets me out of school. You're you're extremely kind to say excel at the event because I think there are things I excelled at as a child actor. Very few of them are on screen. I think I actually dealt with being on set.

Daniel Radcliffe15:27

Better than most kids would do, and better than I've seen a lot of kids do now. I think.

Presenter15:32

Do you think that's what got you some of the parts then, maybe? Those interactions?

Daniel Radcliffe15:35

I don't know if it's what got me parts. I do have a great story about how I got David Copperfield. I have a slightly lazy eye, and when I'm tired, it'll blink on its own like Homer Simpson when he's drunk. See, just a reference for everything is The Simpsons. But I walked into this room and looked at the director and gave him like a one-eye blink. And he thought, who's this confident kid who's just winked at me?

Daniel Radcliffe15:59

And apparently that was like a large reason that I got a call back. So that was fun. But yeah, on David Cobfield, it was very much just like, this gets me out of school. I love it. It's an experience that gives me something that feels like is mine that I can then go to school and be like, hey, I did this cool thing.

Presenter16:16

Did you get to act in plays at school? Was that something that was part of your school life as well as life outside?

Daniel Radcliffe16:21

No, not at all. I was in one school production. I was one of many children playing some sort of monkey in a production of Nellie the Elephant. And I seem to remember we had black nylon stockings on our arms and on our legs as well. It's a bold costume choice. Yes. And yeah, I never did a school play after that. They did a few, but I was never in them.

Presenter16:39

It's costume choice.

Presenter16:46

So you've already told us that Harry Potter got you into reading. Tell me a little bit about taking on the parts. What were your preconceptions when you were set to go for the audition?

Daniel Radcliffe16:50

Uh

Daniel Radcliffe16:56

I was probably the kid with the least preconceived ideas about Harry Potter when I was auditioning for it. I knew that they were a thing, but it was still like early days of the books. I think people were definitely talking about it, but I was 10 or 11 and going, oh, well, people have talked about books before. It's fine. I'm not going to read them. And then became gradually more and more aware of how big they were. And then when I got the part and we did the first press conference, I remember some journalist, I think, tried to like trip me up, which is looking back a real weird thing to do to a kid. They asked me a question that I could only have known the answer to if I'd read all four of the books. We were in view of the world's press and cameras. And I didn't know the answer. And I remember Emma and Rupert both. They were just like writing it down, trying to slide it over to me, the answer.

Presenter17:41

They'll never notice this.

Daniel Radcliffe17:42

He'll never see us. It's fine. I'm pretty sure I got away with it.

Presenter17:45

Good to have a new corner though.

Daniel Radcliffe17:45

Good to have you in the corner, though. Yeah, absolutely. So, I didn't have any notions of what it was going to be like going in, which was probably quite nice. And then, when I went for the auditions, I met Chris Columbus, who's the director of the first two films. And Chris is a famously nice man and also very, very good with young actors, and just made it all feel fun. And that is not a skill everyone has.

Presenter18:07

Time to take a break for some music. What are we going to hear next?

Daniel Radcliffe18:10

So, this is a song by Pixies called Where is My Mind? Pixies is one of my favourite bands, and I was able to see them live at Reading a while ago, which is good because I barely go to live music ever anymore. This is not necessarily my favourite song. There are songs like Something Against You and Broken Face from Surfer Rosa are songs I really adore as well, but I wouldn't want to listen to them on a desert island, and this one I would, so that's why I picked it.

Speaker 219:00

Where is my mind? Where is my mind?

Presenter19:09

Pixies with Where Is My Mind. So Daniel Radcliffe, let's talk a bit more then about life on set. Harry Potter was already a literary sensation when the film went into production and on set, of course he was surrounded by so many great actors. I mean Gary Holdman, Maggie Smith, Jason Isaacs, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman. Was that an education? It must have been.

Daniel Radcliffe19:29

It must have been. Absolutely. You know, I didn't go to drama school. I didn't ever train formally. I've worked with a lot of coaches and teachers and stuff like that since to try and make up for that. But essentially, my teaching was being on set and being able to look at Gary Oldman and David Thutlis and Timothy Spall and Michael Gambon and Imelda Staunton and go, okay, which bits of whose process do I think would work for me? And what do I like? And there are people.

Presenter19:54

Please tell me some bits that you picked up. I'd love to know.

Daniel Radcliffe19:57

Gary Oldman was always really helpful and encouraging. I remember having a conversation with him very early on when he was talking about don't be scared to use your own stuff and the stuff that's going on with you because it'll be projected through a character and that is all the audience would see. So don't worry about that. You know, things that are basic in some ways, but that as a 14-year-old, I needed saying to me. But then it was more about watching, you know, there were some actors who have to wrap themselves in an intensity in order to work. And then there are some actors like Michael Gambon or Imelda Thornton who can be laughing and joking and having a great time. And then you say action and they switch. And I think I'm somewhere in the middle. And if it's cool for intensity, I like need a minute to get into that sort of thing. But yeah, it was just an education in seeing, like, oh, there's no one way of doing this. And everyone's come to it through different paths. So you just have to find the thing that works for you.

Presenter20:48

It's an every

Presenter20:52

What about the technical side of your performance? CGI is often very physically demanding and you had to do all sorts of kinds of things. I mean, you know, you mentioned that you didn't have any acting classes, but also you had to shoot underwater when you couldn't swim and things like that.

Daniel Radcliffe21:03

That was amazing. So for that, for the underwater sequence in the fourth film, we filmed that for six weeks, averaging around six to ten seconds of footage per day. I spent a total, I've got a logbook somewhere, so I think I spent a total of 41 hours underwater, which is nothing compared to the crew and the rest of the cast. But it was underwater filming, if you ever get to do it, is painful because it is so slow, but it is also amazing because it is just a sunken film set. Lights, everything's underwater. And if you took a photo of it and then removed the bubbles, it would just be like everyone's floating on a normal set. It's very, very cool. If I never have to do it again, also fine. I'm very glad I've had the experience.

Presenter21:44

The choreography? You know, fight scenes and things like that. How did that come to you?

Daniel Radcliffe21:48

One of my favorite parts of my job generally is doing stunts, and that I can trace back to Davey Holmes, who was my stunt double on the first six films. Unfortunately, very sadly, had an accident on the seventh film, which left him paralyzed. And he's still one of my best, best friends. I spoke to him the other day and adore him. But he basically was told on the first film: apparently, I've learned this recently, they saw me do one vaguely physical thing, and the stunt coordinator turned to Davey and was like, We're gonna have to work with him because he cannot do it. And so, Davey, he was put in charge of me every lunchtime. I'd go to the gymnastics bit of the stunt room with him and just like flip onto mats and do all that stuff. So, it was, you know, you're a kid, you're being told to jump off a trampoline, do a flip, and run into a wall. It was just, you know, amazing.

Presenter22:36

It's time to hear your next track done. What's it gonna be?

Daniel Radcliffe22:38

So, this is by a band called Granddaddy, and it's a song called He's Simple, He's Dumb, He's the Pilot. They're a band that I've loved for a long time. This is a song that I think when I first listened to it, it just borrowed into my brain, and it's long and beautiful, and it can kind of match your mood depending on what you're like. If you're really happy, it feels relaxing. If you're sad, it kind of allows you to wallow in that if you want to do that. So, yeah, Granddaddy, He's Simple, He's Dumb, He's the Pilot.

Presenter23:05

One, two, three, four.

Speaker 223:11

House of gold thousand round

Daniel Radcliffe23:20

Welcome back to Soligram

Speaker 323:22

Oh my friend

Daniel Radcliffe23:31

Where are your controls for Jam?

Presenter23:39

Granddaddy with He's Simple, He's Dumb, He's the Pilot, a song of many moods, so therefore perfect for the desert island. Exactly, it's adaptable.

Daniel Radcliffe23:43

FOS

Presenter23:47

So Dan David Yates, who directed the last four Harry Potter films, once said of you, If he was feeling good, bad, indifferent, or terrible, he carried the perception that everything was lovely and great, even though the pressures were really intense. Would you say that's accurate?

Daniel Radcliffe24:01

Yes, I think you have a responsibility on a film set, particularly if you're the lead, but if you're any actor, to conduct yourself a certain way and don't let whatever's going on in your life disrupt the day. Because literally nobody else from any other department does that. Because acting is like viewed as an emotional job or whatever. You're allowed a certain amount more like latitude to be, you know, disruptive, basically. And it does, you know, still happen like a lot, but I try to not be a part of that.

Presenter24:33

Well, I mean I hear you, but also, being the lead actor, you're carrying the film.

Daniel Radcliffe24:38

Yeah.

Presenter24:38

That's hard, you know. Whatever the kind of benefits of that, that is a lot of pressure, isn't it?

Daniel Radcliffe24:42

I mean, yes, but it's also not. I don't think it's pressure that I really felt at the time on Potter, because the name of Harry Potter, the franchise of Harry Potter, was what was carrying it. You know, me giving a crappy performance on one day, which I'm sure I did, is not going to be the thing that affects how that film goes. I think as a kid, when you feel that you're in that position to genuinely affect everybody's day, I was always really inspired by that and wanted to make those days good if I could.

Presenter25:15

The films, of course, were increasingly successful. How did the people around you react as the experience grew and the phenomenon got bigger?

Daniel Radcliffe25:23

Generally speaking, all my friends at school were and remained really supportive. If they were jealous, they didn't show it. Not to me anyway. It was a few years before I even started getting recognised on the street because I was still just a fairly anonymous looking kid. We were also taken out of the world for so much of the year. We were just on set. The first film took 11 months, the second film took 9. And one of the great things about those sets for us was that we were treated by the crew as kids first and actors second. And I think that helped to sort of keep us grounded.

Presenter25:55

Was there ever a moment, though, when it went to your head a little bit? I mean, did you ever get cocky?

Daniel Radcliffe26:00

I remember literally, and I don't say this to make myself sound like crazily humble, but I remember going around to people on the first film and saying, If I ever get cocky, will you tell me? Will you stop me? Like alerting everybody to that, because I was so paranoid about it happening. And yet, I'm sure it did. Probably actually, particularly when I was back at school. I'm sure there were moments, but my dresser was a guy called Will Stegl, who is one of my best friends, an incredibly important person in my life. And if I, or Davey Holmes, who I mentioned earlier, if I had ever approached getting real ideas above my station, both of them would have, and many other people on set, would have come down on me. The really remarkable thing that happened on those sets was that they did manage to feel like a family vibe, even though it was this huge corporate machine. Essentially, everybody really cared about us. And, you know, our makeup designer, Amanda, was the same for all of the 10 years. Many other people stayed for many, many years. And so they've seen us grow up. And so they were also kind of really invested in us turning out as good people and happy people.

Presenter27:06

And so that

Presenter27:10

It sounds like you were quite insulated then from many of the things that people might assume that you kind of experienced or had to deal with. But I guess one thing that you can't really do much about is the scrutiny that inevitably is going to come with being part of a successful film franchise. How did you deal with that?

Daniel Radcliffe27:12

Yeah.

Speaker 227:22

Uh

Daniel Radcliffe27:22

Yeah.

Speaker 227:22

Yeah.

Presenter27:28

I mean

Daniel Radcliffe27:29

I think badly at first. I

Daniel Radcliffe27:34

I didn't really know in terms of behavior and behavior in public. I.

Daniel Radcliffe27:41

Yeah, that was one of the first times that I felt being famous brushing up against my life. If I went out and if I got drunk, I'd suddenly be aware of there being an interest in that because it's not just like a drunk guy, it's oh, Harry Potter's getting drunk in the bar. And that carries its own kind of um

Presenter27:51

It's not

Daniel Radcliffe27:57

Interest for people and also a slightly mocking interest because it is inherently funny for people. And, you know, I suppose those were the moments when I first started being like, oh, that doesn't feel good. I don't like how I'm being looked at in this particular context. And then the.

Daniel Radcliffe28:15

The way of dealing with that is just to drink more or get more drunk. So I did a lot of that for sort of a few years. And that's then. There are many questions in my life where you can say, is this thing, thing X, the way it is because it is in you to be that way? Or was it because you got famous and were in this slightly crazy situation? That's not just the sense with my drinking and all that stuff. It's a few things that you go, I wonder if that's because of Potter or that would have been that way anyway. And I'll never know, so it's sort of pointless to ask. But I definitely think a lot of the drinking that happened towards the end of Potter and sort of for a little bit after it finished, you know, it was.

Presenter28:24

Yeah.

Daniel Radcliffe29:04

Panic a little bit and not knowing what to do next, and not being comfortable enough in who I was to remain sober, honestly. And so that was uh

Presenter29:12

Uh

Daniel Radcliffe29:14

you know, a a weird thing to

Daniel Radcliffe29:17

realize young that you were probably going to have to stop doing this thing and and drinking. But you know, ultimately was something I was very, very happy about. I'm also super happy for anybody who is continuing to drink. It's a very specific thing that it works for me, it may not work for anyone else. But yeah, I will always be fascinated and frustrated by the question of is this something that would have happened anyway, or was this to do with Potter? But I will never know. There's definitely it runs in my family generations back. Definitely not my mum and dad hasten to add that.

Presenter29:46

I think all of this takes us onto your next track actually, Dan.

Daniel Radcliffe29:49

Yeah. So this is by a band called The Hold Steady. This is a song that I was listening to on the way back in my friend's car from a truly terrible weekend or a weekend that had ended terribly and I was hungover and coming back to reality and this song played and it just hit me at a very specific moment. You know, bands, films, writers, everyone makes drinking look super cool most of the time. The Hold Steady were the first band that I ever heard sort of talking about the aftermath of drinking and not just in this song but in various other songs they have characters that sort of talk about the cost of it as well as talking about doing it a lot. But yeah, this song is called Killer Parties and it just hit me at the right moment.

Speaker 330:37

And we found out Virginia really is for the lovers.

Speaker 330:42

Philly's full of friendly friends that'll love you like a brother. Pepsacola parties hard with Poppers, Phills, and Pepsi. Ibor City is Trey Speedy, but they throw such killer parties.

Daniel Radcliffe31:03

Killer parties almost killed me.

Presenter31:08

The Hold Steady and Killer Parties. So, Daniel Radcliffe, in early 2007, you took on your next big challenge, one of theatre's more notorious roles, playing a disturbed stableboy in Peter Schaffer's Equus. Now, it features one of the longest nude scenes in theatre. You were very casual about it in interviews at the time. Yes. Was that really how you felt? No.

Daniel Radcliffe31:27

Yeah.

Presenter31:29

Yeah.

Daniel Radcliffe31:30

Um, not really. I mean, you know, it w no, it was. Of course, it was terrifying. I've got a friend who was in hair and we have a debate about the

Presenter31:30

Oh.

Daniel Radcliffe31:39

Nudity on stage is liberating argument, which we always come to the point of going, Well, yes, you think it's liberating because you were doing hair. I had to run around doing a scene about sexual failure and horse blinding. Like, so that's why I feel less cool about it. I mean, I think the nudity aspect was a bit scary, but genuinely, the more scary thing was just doing a play at the time. My attitude to it was: well, if you're doing this, you might as well get naked. So, very much in at the deep end. Very much in at the deep end on Equus. And I remember there were some headlines.

Presenter32:00

Mm-hmm.

Daniel Radcliffe32:10

crash, what's that? The sound of a career coming to a grinding halt, something like that. And I guess some people saw it as a really risky or dangerous thing to do, and it just never seemed that way to me. It was terrifying, but it turned out to be one of the best experiences I've ever had. And

Daniel Radcliffe32:29

One of the things that set me up for the rest of my career, because I've had several directors tell me since then that even if they didn't see the show, they heard about it and as a signal of intent: I want to do other things and I'm not going to necessarily take the easiest route that I can all the time. And you want to show, for lack of a better thing, that you, you know, you've got some balls and that you will, I know, as a pun sort of halfway intended. Well done. But yeah, you want to show that you're serious and you're not going to flinch at doing harder material. Absolutely.

Presenter32:50

You will I know.

Presenter32:53

But

Presenter33:00

And also that you're not scared to make yourself vulnerable.

Daniel Radcliffe33:03

And you know, we certainly were. Me and Joe Christie, and then Anna Camp, who I did it with in America. Yeah, it was super weird doing those scenes in front of her. I mean, certainly the first few times we did it in London, there was definitely some wolf whistles and stuff from the audience. And you're like, okay. And bear in mind, they've just watched two hours of a very depressing play. So for somebody to have been sitting there the whole time, being holding it in. I'm going to wolf whistle. I cannot wait to wolf whistle when they get to that moment. Yeah.

Presenter33:26

Maybe.

Presenter33:31

And how did you deal with the the reaction? You mentioned the tabloid's response to it. Actually, the theatre reviews were very, very good.

Daniel Radcliffe33:39

Yeah, I mean, if they had been bad, then the whole thing would have been a disaster. But yeah, I mean, I think I was able to insulate myself from any of the the sort of more scandalous reaction to just going, I'm here doing apparently an okay job, but I'm

Presenter33:52

You didn't make a bingo card of the puns that you were gonna get in the headlines?

Daniel Radcliffe33:55

No, I just accepted that there would be like wand jokes forever and you know they wouldn't be doing their job if they didn't make

Presenter34:03

Everyone who meets you comments on your tremendous energy, and it comes in very useful for many of your stage roles, including your latest in Beckett's Endgame. Is that physicality part of the attraction of theatre for you?

Daniel Radcliffe34:15

I think so. I think I just really like anything that lets me use my body as part of my acting and sort of throw my body around. As I've sort of learned more what acting is, as I've grown up, when I'm best at my job is when as much self-consciousness of what I'm doing is removed as possible. And a very basic way of doing that with most actors is give them something to do with their hands or their body. So I find the more like physically challenging something is, the more the acting kind of takes care of itself.

Presenter34:44

People might be surprised to learn though that you're dyspraxic. So, how do you manage that? Yes, I mean it's something that I don't like.

Daniel Radcliffe34:51

I don't like to put too much weight on because there are people out there who are much more dyspractic than me and have a lot more to deal with because of it. You know, I was diagnosed with it when I was eight or nine, I suppose, and I'm still very dyspractic in some areas. Like my handwriting is still that of a very dyspraxic person. But like, the fortunate thing about all the jobs I've done is that, you know, if something doesn't come immediately physically, I've generally got a lot of time to practice with it and make it so that the one time they film it, it looks good.

Presenter35:10

But like

Presenter35:21

It's time to hear your next track done. What's it gonna be? Disc sick.

Daniel Radcliffe35:24

It's a Nick Cave song, it's called Into My Arms and I'm sure there are many people who have many different entries into the what is the best love song of all time argument. This would be mine. It has the effect on me that almost nothing can have which is it is it makes me wish I was religious because there's a lot of religious imagery and things in it and I love this song but I can only imagine how much more I would connect to it if those things meant something to me too. It's just a stunningly beautiful song.

Speaker 335:53

But if I did, I would kneel down and ask him.

Speaker 336:03

Not to intervene when it came

Speaker 336:10

Well not to touch your hair and your head Leave you as you are If felt he had to direct you and direct you into my

Speaker 236:25

Into my arms

Speaker 236:28

Oh no.

Presenter36:30

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds with Into My Arms, which Daniel Radcliffe, I think, is also for your girlfriend. Emma. Yes.

Daniel Radcliffe36:36

Yes, absolutely. It has since become for her and Killy Darlings was the film we met on. If and when we have kids, we'll have a very awkward story to tell them one day about how we met. So we might have to tell some lies there because her character and my character sort of were just getting it on in the library, and that's how we met. But yeah, here we are, eight years later. So some things are built on weird foundations, but it works.

Presenter36:58

You divide your time between the UK and US so that you can spend time together. How does that work for you? Living between two places?

Daniel Radcliffe37:05

It was definitely more fun a few years ago to be going back and forth constantly, and I I sort of do wish I felt a little more settled, but I think that'll come in the next sort of year or so. I love New York and I love being able to come and work here as well. It's a very happy problem to have to be going between two places a lot.

Presenter37:21

Can you be a slightly different person in each place?

Daniel Radcliffe37:25

Yes, I think I'm probably slightly more social in New York because it is so much easier to get round. And also, I think that part of New York's ethos is to not care if you're famous. In the area that I live in in New York, people see me around there all the time, so it's not a new thing anymore. So it's very easy. And I find in New York, people actually respond if you're just like, which I am, just like incredibly earnest and love things very openly. That gets a really nice reaction in America as well.

Presenter37:56

You've spoken of your need to prove yourself worthy of your success in the past. Are you over that now? Are you beyond that now?

Daniel Radcliffe38:03

I don't think I'll ever be beyond that. I definitely wish I could relax about it a bit more, and I think I have.

Daniel Radcliffe38:10

To a certain extent, I can now look back on several jobs and go.

Daniel Radcliffe38:17

That was that was good. Other people liked it, and that is evidence enough that I must not be totally terrible. I've now got enough work behind me that I can sort of look back on and go, Okay, no, this is all evidence to tell against the way you feel in your mind sometimes.

Presenter38:34

You are your own worst critic, though, aren't you? I mean, you're I think you're quite tough on yourself, having read your own critiques of previous performances stretching right back to your childhood. I think you're quite hard on yourself.

Daniel Radcliffe38:43

I guess

Daniel Radcliffe38:44

I am probably on the channel with stuff. Probably that's unfair because you're learning or whatever. I also think there's a part of me that knows I have to be my own worst critic because there comes a point in a lot of actors' lives where they stop getting directed. And I've seen amazing actors not be directed because the director was scared of them and don't really want to give a note and just go, oh, they know what they're doing. It's fine. And I never want that to be the case. And you can get to a point in the industry where everyone's just telling you great all the time. So it's a good way of sort of staying vigilant on myself.

Presenter39:15

What are your litmus? Who else can be that kind of touchstone for you?

Daniel Radcliffe39:18

Erin, definitely. I'll work on scenes with her and she can give criticism in a way that is constructive. But yeah, I know she's not lying. And we had this conversation the other day, actually. Somebody said something really nice and I was like, yeah, but I don't really believe it though, because, you know, they like me, so they're biased. And she was like, so wait, the only people you would accept compliments from are strangers who dislike you. And I was like, yes, actually, those are the only people I will believe that are opinions about me.

Presenter39:47

I mean, as well as as fame and work, there's fortune, which we haven't talked about yet. Although you don't have to work, you're always on set, but you must allow yourself some indulgences.

Daniel Radcliffe39:58

Um, I mean, you know, the the main industry is like flights and stuff. Being in a long distance relationship makes it much easier if you have money, which I'm very, very thankful for. I do have some moments of being like, Oh my god, I am

Daniel Radcliffe40:11

Very bad at being famous. There's people who would have done way more cool, crazy, wild stuff with their money.

Presenter40:17

Not even one fine artwork painting.

Daniel Radcliffe40:20

I do have some art, but then I watched a film a few years ago about how much fraud there is in the art world, and that really took the sting out of buying anymore. I really am like, oh, it's so hard to trust. So I have a few paintings, but other than that, at best, money should be a thing. This was something that I was told by Will Stegl, my dresser and imposter. And he said, you know, money should give you room to maneuver in your life. At best, that's what it gives you-a bit of freedom to sort of do what you like. And it gives me the freedom to do what I like work-wise. You know, I don't have to do things unless I want to, which is that's something almost no actor has.

Presenter40:20

Yeah.

Presenter40:40

And

Presenter40:54

Dan, it's time for your penultimate disc. Tell us about this track.

Daniel Radcliffe40:57

Okay, so this is by a woman called Joanna Newsome, and she's this artist that I think gets weirder and more wonderful and more imaginative every time she comes back. And this is a really beautiful song called Emily.

Daniel Radcliffe41:21

Away the latel leads to a dark red ball of light.

Speaker 241:26

Oh my god.

Daniel Radcliffe41:28

Went skyward and listen

Daniel Radcliffe41:33

Loving him, we move within his borders Just asterism in the stars Set order

Daniel Radcliffe41:44

Or we could stand for a century staring.

Daniel Radcliffe41:50

With that

Presenter41:51

Joanna Newsome with Emily. Daniel Radcliffe, you will be well aware of the old narrative about child actors who, you know, burn out or fade away, but here you are sitting hale, hearty, unbelievably busy. How have you managed it when others didn't?

Daniel Radcliffe42:07

It's very hard to say, and I think a huge amount of it does obviously come down to my parents. It comes down to the other people, a lot of the people who I've already mentioned on Potter who were able to give me enough perspective on my life and help me at key moments that I've sort of stayed where I want to be. Honestly, I think the main thing I can attribute it to is that I loved being on set. I think a huge problem for people is that for a lot of people, they.

Daniel Radcliffe42:43

Get into a situation where they start doing something when they're 10. They are committed for several years. They stop enjoying it. They are, by that point, the breadwinner for their family. So, multiple people are now reliant on them continuing to do this job, and they feel pressured into it and forced into it. And then, if they don't enjoy it, then they go, Well, I will enjoy all the other things that this life gives me, even if I hate the work. So.

Presenter43:05

Yeah.

Daniel Radcliffe43:08

You know, I think that's why you can see people going to drugs. You can also just see people going to drugs and drink because it's fun and they're available and it seems like a good idea, and there's nobody around you talking about the consequences or being honest with you about that. So I think there's all of that. And I think the fact that we did it in London, you know, I spend time in LA now and I feel like I'm going insane. I don't know what it would be like to grow up in LA from the age of 10 and continue growing up there.

Presenter43:39

Why, just because it's all about the s film industry?

Daniel Radcliffe43:39

It's all about the

Daniel Radcliffe43:41

Yeah, and it's all about a very specific part of the film industry, which is the glamour of the studio system. You know, so it's about people wanting you to look a certain way and just the sense of competition. Having that sense of that as a kid is hard. I think the other thing that is hard about being famous when you're young is that you haven't figured out who you are yet. And if you are having a perception of your identity sort of reflected back at you by everyone else, where everyone else expects you to be a certain thing, while you are still figuring out what you want to be, that can be really...

Daniel Radcliffe44:16

hard for people, but again, very fortunately, I knew that I liked being on set enough so that if everything else about it went away the money and the fame I would still like being on set and I would still want to do that in some way.

Presenter44:32

You've said you would quite happily die on a film setting.

Daniel Radcliffe44:34

Yeah, I would have said I wanted to ruin the day. Just one. Ruin continuity. Yeah, I think they're great places. And film sets are the most incredible communal effort that I think you get to be a part of. So many people with so many different disciplines all coming together to make this one thing. And I got a taste for that young and never want to stop experiencing this. And so I think that made all the other weird stuff about life more than worth it.

Presenter44:37

Just one

Presenter45:02

We skipped ahead to death there. That'll be the cheerful nihilism again. Just to wind it back a bit, I mean, what's left on your bucket list before you get there? What would you really like to do that you haven't yet?

Daniel Radcliffe45:11

I want to write and to direct. I remember Gary Alban actually saying to me, as a director, you have to make a creative decision every second of the day, and how much he loved that. And I think I would love that. I also think I'd love working with a film crew in that way. And I do sometimes stand by when directors are doing stuff now. I go, oh, not like that. God.

Presenter45:28

Uh

Daniel Radcliffe45:28

It's saying

Presenter45:29

You're not

Daniel Radcliffe45:29

Uh

Presenter45:29

Yeah.

Daniel Radcliffe45:29

I feel like I am, so I feel like I have to exorcise the annoying critic out of myself f by directing something of my own. So, yeah, I would love to do that and I'd love to write, and I'm as always working on things. But you know, every actor's got a script now. Everyone's doing this.

Presenter45:30

I feel like I am.

Presenter45:45

One more disc before we send you off to your desert islands. What's it gonna be?

Daniel Radcliffe45:49

Yeah, so this is called Atta Boy by Yo-Yo Ma, Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer and Chris Thieley and it's from an album called The Goat Rodeo Sessions. It's the only piece of instrumental music that I've got on the list and I think I could listen to it anywhere and it would make me both nostalgic for the past and excited for the future and full of life. Even on a desert island, I think it would have that effect.

Presenter47:21

Add a boy from the Goat Rodeo sessions, composed and performed by Yo-Yo Ma, Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer and Chris Thieley. You know what a Goat Rodeo is, Daniel Rackler.

Daniel Radcliffe47:30

I if I'm getting the definition right, a goat rodeo is a situation in which unless everything goes perfectly, everything will go wrong. So it's there's only one outcome and it's intricate. That's my understanding.

Presenter47:41

That's my understanding. Every day is a school day. So it's time to send you off to the splendid isolation of your desert island. You have some experience of being stranded, but in the Bolivian jungle.

Daniel Radcliffe47:51

Yes, which we filmed in the Columbia jungle, pretending to be the Bolivian jungle. Only very keen-eyed viewers would notice.

Presenter47:58

Jungle enthusiasts.

Daniel Radcliffe47:59

Very annoyed. But yeah, I filmed a movie called Jungle out there about the true story of a guy called Yossi Ginsburg who was left in the jungle for three weeks and did you pick up any terms?

Presenter48:09

Did you pick up any tips, any skills that might come in useful?

Daniel Radcliffe48:12

That's the thing, we're on a desert island, so it's probably not a river. I'll always stick to the river, because then you've always got some sort of marker of which direction in a circle.

Presenter48:18

We ran it around in the circle, mate. I mean, good luck with that one. Yeah. Anything else?

Daniel Radcliffe48:22

Check what's upstream of your water source before you start drinking.

Presenter48:25

So you have to an extent honed your practical skills.

Daniel Radcliffe48:27

Oh yeah yeah I'm fully ready.

Presenter48:28

No kick it.

Daniel Radcliffe48:29

And I watched a lot of Naked Unafraid, so this is gonna be fine.

Presenter48:31

Well, I'm happy then. We'll give you the Bible and the complete works of Shakespeare to keep you going there, as well as a book of your own. What would you like?

Daniel Radcliffe48:38

So I've chosen the Norton Anthology of Poetry because I got given it by someone when I was in my late teens and it really inspired my love of lots of different poets and poetry generally. And rather than taking one book, you get one book that has a lot of different stories in it because many of the poems are stories. And I could spend time trying to understand some of the modern free verse nonsense.

Presenter48:54

Men

Presenter48:59

Yeah.

Presenter49:01

We can also offer you a luxury item, of course. What will that be?

Daniel Radcliffe49:04

I'm gonna stick very, very simple here. Pencil and paper. Just enough that I can pass the time writing and presumably doing some version of all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy as I go slowly insane on the island. But, you know, it's something to do.

Presenter49:16

Yeah.

Presenter49:19

Oh yeah, for sure, it's yours. And finally, which of these eight wonderful discs would you rush to save if the rest were stolen by monkeys?

Daniel Radcliffe49:27

Ugh.

Daniel Radcliffe49:28

Bring me sunshine.

Daniel Radcliffe49:30

Yeah, just'cause that's gonna make me happiest when I need it, I think.

Presenter49:34

Daniel Rycliffe, thank you very much for letting us hear your Desert Island discs.

Daniel Radcliffe49:37

Thank you so much for having me.

Presenter49:50

I hope you enjoyed my conversation with Daniel Radcliffe as much as I did. Many of his fellow actors on the Harry Potter films have also been cast away, including Michael Gambon, Imelda Staunton, Robbie Coltrane, Emma Thompson, Warwick Davis, Miriam Margulies and Julie Walters, and of course, J.K. Rowling herself. You'll find all of those editions on BBC Sounds. In 2018, Kirstie Young cast away Jack Whitehall. He was also a child actor. He played his first part at the age of three. But later, he also auditioned for the part of Harry Potter. You'll hear about that in a moment. But first, here he is explaining to Kirsty that as a child, he loved dressing up.

Speaker 350:30

I was obsessed with dressing up. I would dress up as Robin Hood all the time to like everything, like family function.

Daniel Radcliffe50:36

Where are you one of those kids that turned up and people are just like, Yeah, yeah. Yeah, he's in tights. Yeah.

Speaker 350:38

He's in tights. Made my mum made me a Power Ranger outfit and I wore that all the time.

Speaker 350:44

Yeah, I mean they must be why worried.

Speaker 350:47

I wanted to be other people. Yes, you wanted to be other people. There was a stage when I loved Thunderbirds so much, and I wanted my mum to make me look like Scott Tracy. And if she couldn't get my hair to look like Scott Tracy before I went to school, then I would cry. And she was like, if it's a puppet, I can't make your hair look like a puppet. She'd be spraying it, yelling it, and trying to get it to look like Scott Tracy. No wonder they wanted me to go off and act. It was a, you know, a day off.

Daniel Radcliffe50:48

That's a good idea.

Daniel Radcliffe50:49

But I guess

Presenter50:50

Yes, you wanted to be other people.

Daniel Radcliffe51:12

But your dad didn't want you to to dance, and what was his problem? Because that's all sort of part of the same thing, isn't it, of performing.

Speaker 351:18

My sister was doing ballet, I was like, Well why can't I do ballet? So I went and did ballet and he didn't think that that's what boys should do, so he then made me do karate.

Daniel Radcliffe51:26

And how did that go?

Speaker 351:26

And how did that go? Not great. I probably should have taken the tutor off before I started the lesson.

Speaker 351:33

So quite an exuberant child. And then, but like.

Daniel Radcliffe51:38

Did you have a s a surfeit of energy? Were you sort of one of those kids who was kind of bouncing off the walls?

Speaker 351:43

Yes, but I was a really sweet kid and I looked like a little cherub. And then I went to boarding school thirteen, fourteen and I got very awkward, had glasses, buck teeth, terrible acne, and I suddenly became that awkward ass adolescent.

Daniel Radcliffe51:59

I do want to ask you about this Harry Potter audition. I don't know how much of it is embellished to make us laugh, but you were eleven.

Speaker 352:05

Yeah.

Daniel Radcliffe52:05

And you you seriously were going

Speaker 352:06

Going for the big audition. Yeah. And you went in full costume, did you? I went, no, I didn't go in full costume. That's the embellishment, but I looked like Harry Potter. And they did an open audition at my school. And my dad was like, that's a complete waste of time. No one ever gets cast from those kind of things. So I have some contacts. Here's where the nepotism kicks in. I can get you in the door and you'll go to the casting director's house and you'll have a one-on-one with her. So I went there and I did it. But I hadn't read the book. And there were a lot of questions about the book and the audition. And obviously, having not read it, I slightly let myself down and didn't get the part. Obviously. Obviously, that you know. So, yeah. What did your parents say to you afterwards? They were absolutely fine. They realized that it was a long shot. I say, when I've talked about it before, that they were devastated, but they, you know, they were very supportive when things didn't work.

Presenter52:45

Obviously that that you know that that you know so

Speaker 352:59

Yeah.

Daniel Radcliffe52:59

Top

Speaker 352:59

I mean, but

Daniel Radcliffe53:00

That you're forced at disc. What are we gonna hear, Jack Whitehall?

Speaker 353:02

My fourth tune

Speaker 353:04

Is from a cassette tape that my mum had called Mundo Latino, and I always remember she used to play it on the long car journeys back to school. Those car journeys back to school, the two memories that I have are this and the archers, because she listens to the archers religiously. Like doing this show, Desert Island Discs is the most excited she's been for anything that I've ever done. The text that I got this morning, she was like, I am so proud of you that you're doing Desert Island Discs. The only thing that could top that was if I had like a walk-on part in the Archers. But I have this weird thing with the Archers where I remember getting really car sick and listening to the Archers. Whenever I hear the Archers theme tune, I feel a little bit sick. You might not be the only person that helps. I know. Anyway.

Presenter53:46

I know

Speaker 353:47

The Gipsy Kings Bambalayo.

Daniel Radcliffe54:01

No tene la curba.

Daniel Radcliffe54:03

Cavado lean tabana, porque muy depresciado por esón.

Presenter54:08

Bambalayo from the Gypsy Kings with marvellous Jack Whitehall. I have a feeling he won't be invited to make a guest appearance on the Arches anytime soon. Next time, my guest will be Dame Helena Morrissey. Do join us then.

Speaker 254:37

from the one village behind the mountain.

Daniel Radcliffe54:40

Imagine you're living a very different life on the other side of the world.

Speaker 254:44

You feel I can't. Cannot do anything.

Speaker 354:45

Uh

Daniel Radcliffe54:46

You live silently in the shadows.

Speaker 354:48

They haul.

Daniel Radcliffe54:49

Bring children, make food. And then someone takes your child, disappears into the night with your little girl, and you can't stay silent any longer.

Daniel Radcliffe55:01

And you'll do whatever it takes. Travel thousands of miles across the globe to find your missing daughter.

Speaker 355:07

This is my child. I look after this child like tiger. Just go everywhere.

Daniel Radcliffe55:15

Join me, Sue Mitchell, for this gripping new BBC Radio 4 podcast series. Subscribe to Girl Taken on BBC Sounds.