Radcliffe, who lives in New York’s West Village, sat down last week to talk about the current phase in his career, and about “The Woman in Black.’’ The film is based on Susan Hill’s 1983 novel, which spawned a stage adaptation that’s a West End fixture.
Q. Americans don’t necessarily know this story.
A. No.
Q. But the play has been running in London since six weeks before you were born.
A. Yeah [laughs]. My parents still have a program that they bought from the original run of the play, which says on the inside, “Limited run, 12 weeks only.’’ I believe it’s also been running in Japan for maybe six years, and I think Mexico. I never saw the play.
Q. Really.
A. Yeah, as amazing as it is, and it is amazing, because if you ask anybody of my age [in London], they have all seen it. It is a standard school trip for everyone to go on, and I, for reasons I needn’t go into, wasn’t there. I read the book as soon as I’d read the script. Obviously we framed it quite differently. [He glances at a copy of the newly reissued paperback, his face on the cover beneath the words “Now a major motion picture starring Daniel Radcliffe.’’] It may as well not even have me on the cover [laughs]. “Now a major motion picture that’s vaguely like this book.’’
Q. In this movie and in the Harry Potter series, you’ve spent a lot of time with ghosts. What do you think so fascinates people about the supernatural?
A. I think it comes from the idea of the limitless possibilities: if you were able to transcend one life in the other, the possibilities that would engender. It’s interesting if you look at the places where [the play] has been running. If you look at Japan and Mexico, there’s a huge feeling of spirits and demons being a part of the world we live in - not in any metaphorical sense but in the literal sense.
Q. What about the UK? This story is quintessentially British.
