Daniel Radcliffe mag London als Heimat bezeichnen, aber seit seinem Broadway-Debüt im Jahr 2008 in der Wiederbelebung vonEquus kann er einfach nicht genug von New York City bekommen. Er spielt derzeit in seiner dritten Broadway-Show, der von Tony nominierten Wiederbelebung von Martin McDonaghs schwarzer KomödieThe Cripple of Inishmaan, die während der Dreharbeiten von Robert Flahertys bahnbrechendem ethnografischem Film aus dem Jahr 1934,Man of Aran, auf Irlands spärlich besiedelten Aran-Inseln stattfindet. In dem, was viele sagen, ist McDonaghs sensibelstes Spiel, setzt Radcliffe seinen Körper an, um die behinderte Waise Cripple Billy zu spielen, die davon träumt, mit Slippy Helen, dem bedeutendsten Mädchen der Stadt, zu verabreden und sie in Hollywood groß zu machen. Nachdem er gehofft hatte, dass diese Produktion unter der Regie von Michael Grandage ihn nach einem ausverkauften Lauf im letzten Sommer in Londons West End zurück zum Broadway bringen würde, spricht der Harry Potter-Star mit uns darüber, diesen Sommer in der Stadt zu verbringen und was es an New York bedeutet, dass er mehr möchte.
What do you look forward to doing in New York each time you come back?
Daniel Radcliffe:
The food here is wonderful—not that I'm particularly sophisticated by any stretch of the imagination. I live in the West Village, and I go to
all the time. I recently got really excited because I realized it was owned by Marc Murphy, one of the judges on Chopped.
is also fantastic, and my friend just introduced me to The Grey Dog. I also love this place called
because I enjoy playing Ping-Pong. The whole cast of the show and I went there not long ago, and it was awesome. The place I always used to go for dinner after shows—which I haven't actually been to this time yet—is Angus McIndoe [now called Angus' Café Bistro]. It's a very welcoming place. The guy who runs it is Scottish, so it's a little bit of Britain away from Britain.
The rest of the actors in your cast are all Irish. Are you showing them around New York?
DR:
I've shown them a few spots, and we'll all go out to dinner together sometimes, but they don't need me to show them how to have a good time. Pat Shortt, who plays JohnnyPateenMike, is a fantastic musician with a real passion for jazz, so he's been going to the
and Birdland. But we're all having a pretty fantastic time. That's one of the reasons I was so excited to do the show—I wanted to be able to come to New York again.
What about New York is more enjoyable to you than London?
DR:
I don't know if it's because in London we do sort of have gray weather the whole year round, but there is a genuine positivity to New York. London is quite a cynical city in some ways—it doesn't have quite the same energy about it that New York does. London is always going to be my home—it's where I was born and where I'm from—but I definitely enjoy spending time here.
What's one of your favorite things to do in New York?
DR:
Running. Now I'll run up the West Side Highway, but when I was doing Equus, I was living on the Upper West Side and I would go to
. I think that's one of the more fun experiences you can have, particularly if you're competitive like me, because there are always going to be enough people there to have a race—even if they don't know they're in a race. You can find other people to focus on and then run to.
What is something new that you've discovered in New York this time around?
DR:
I went rock climbing at a place called
. I had to go there to film something and ended up being there for quite a few hours. I love all that kind of outdoorsy, rock-climbing-type stuff. There's a climbing wall, but they've also got a section for free climbing with crash mats on it and overhangs. It's really cool.
In the show your disabled stance and movements are very physical and involved. Are you exhausted afterward?
DR:
No, not particularly. Rehearsing a show is a phenomenal routine for embedding something into your muscle memory. It's sort of the same way you learn a dance. The first time I did “Brotherhood of Man” in rehearsal [for
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
], I was knackered. But by the time you get to the performances, you've done it for so long that it's in your body. It's something you don't have to struggle for anymore. The same goes for the physicality of this show. I've worked with myself a lot, and it's become second nature for me to stand like that in the show. It's so comfortable that there are moments where I sort of have a panic on stage and think that I might just have let the physicality drop.
You've performed this play in both London and New York. Have you noticed differences in the audiences' reactions?
DR:
I think the general difference between them is that you get the same kind of laughs with London audiences, but you won't really get the gasps and the “oohs” and “aahs” and all the other noises you guys make over here, which are awesome. There was a woman in the audience the other day who would be like “ugh!” every time Sarah Greene's character, Helen, says something despicable to me. She was getting really annoyed. I love that. And then people sort of clap at the end here where there's this kind of life-affirming moment and a kiss. That wouldn't happen in London. British audiences are more reserved.
What plans do you have for summer in the City? Are you going to go out to the Hamptons?
DR:
I don't have time to go to the Hamptons! I will just be going to parks and chilling out with friends there. There's nothing more enjoyable than sitting with friends and reading and talking rubbish on a brilliant, sunny New York day.