December Boys

On Thursday I hosted a Q&A with Daniel Radcliffe and director Rod Moody after the London premiere of their film December Boys. The pair had only gotten off a plane that morning from Australia but were in good form nevertheless. I’ve met Radcliffe a few times now, and have always found him to be extremely personable. He’s a smart kid, extremely passionate about what he does, and looks to be growing into a fine young actor. He said he was attracted to December Boys, which he shot between Potters four and five, because his role was a thousand miles away from Harry both in terms of character and location (grey Leavesden to sunny Oz). The story of four Aussie orphans from the outback on a holiday visit to the sea, Radcliffe plays Maps, the oldest of the quartet, swaggering around in tight t-shirt and jeans, smoking cigarettes (they were herbal ones, he revealed) and getting his cherry popped by the blonde down the beach. It’s a sweet little film, nicely performed by all the kids. It looks great too, filmed in and around the picturesque Kangaroo Island. The filmmakers clearly had Stand By Me as their inspiration, although this lacks the bite and edginess of Rob Reiner’s film which had both a dead body and Kiefer Sutherland’s looming villain to drive the plot. (Here the main thrust is the kids' desire to be adopted.) But with this, his Extras cameo and his stint on stage in Equus (which he said might transfer to New York next year), Radcliffe looks to be trying to break the Potter mould as often as he can. He starts shooting the sixth film at the end of the month.