Given that What If is a rom-com about two friends of the opposite sex, we had to ask Daniel Radcliffe, who plays Wallace in the movie, the following question: Is it possible for a man and a woman to be friends?
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"It is. I think when the question of romantic or sexual attraction comes into it, it's a separate issue. In this film, though, I feel like the central question is: Is it ever wise or healthy to subdue your feelings for somebody and pretend they don't exist? Wallace has feelings for Chantry (Zoe Kazan) pretty instantly, but then she reveals she has a boyfriend and then my character has this dilemma.
"Do I just torture myself and hang around her because she makes me incredibly happy? Or, do I just forget about her and move on. And, of course, he chooses the lovesick torture."
Seems to always be the most popular choice, at least, in movies. But the character of Wallace seems a bit unsure of himself, as well. We asked Radcliffe if he related to Wallace, who recently had his heart trampled by another woman.
"I've never had my heart broken like Wallace has, being betrayed like that. It's a tough thing to recover from and that's where we find him in the beginning of the movie. But I do relate to him in other ways. We have very similar senses of humor. I also relate to the way he reacts and relates to people."
Most older people know the adorable actress, Zoe Kazan, is the granddaughter of the famous director, Elia Kazan, known for such influential films like East of Eden, On the Waterfront and Splendor in the Grass. We asked Radcliffe if he was familiar with the work Zoe's grandfather did. Radcliffe confessed he didn't.
"I like to watch original sci-fi movies when I should be watching Elia Kazan movies, so I'm shamefully ignorant to a lot of that. With Zoe, I don't think she cares that I haven't seen all her granddad's movies, much in the same way that I don't care that she hasn't seen all the Harry Potter movies."
Radcliffe splits his time between New York and London and very rarely comes to Los Angeles. We asked him if people in Hollywood were less impressed by his fame. His answer surprised us.
"I think Harry Potter breaks a lot of rules for people. The sentence I hear most often is that, 'I never do this, but...' I don't know if that's a lie, but a lot of people have got kids. They wouldn't get an autograph for themselves, but they know how much it would mean to their kids."
We also heard that, ever since making Kill Your Darlings, Radcliffe has become buddies with his co-star, actor Dane Dehaan (Life After Beth). We wanted to know what these two do on a typical night.
"We play a lot of games. We discovered a new game called Anomia. It's brilliant and very addicting. Dane and I are terribly competitive, especially at ping pong."
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We had to ask him about the upcoming film, Horns. He grew very excited and said, "It's a brilliant movie, it's mad, it will be unlike anything you've ever seen. It mixes comedy, drama, horror and romance. I think our director, and I don't use this word lightly, is a genius. Not just in the way he talks to actors, but how he composes shots and technically.
"Horns is one of those movies where afterwards you'll either go, 'What the hell did I just watch?' or, 'This is my new favorite film.' There's this quote from my friend's song, 'I'd rather be nine people's favorite thing, than 100 people's ninth favorite thing.' That's how I feel about my career in general, and that's how I feel about Horns."
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In terms of his dream role, Radcliffe told us he'd love to play a boxer some day. "I don't know if there are any lightweight boxers with interesting backstories that haven't been turned into films, but I would like to go through the physical training and all of that.
So, why should we go see What If? "It's a great date movie, but also, if you have a friend and you want them to be more than a friend, take them to see this movie and see what happens," said Radcliffe with a chuckle.
Who knows? What if could start a rash of friends confessing their secret love for each other. Radcliffe happens to think that would be the best possible result of opening weekend.
What If opens in limited release today.