Daniel Radcliffe On the Election and His New Movie Role

Talking elections and erections with the Swiss Army Man actor.

- Jada Yuan

DANIEL RADCLIFFE KNOWS that most people refer to his new movie, Swiss Army Man, as “the farting boner corpse movie” starring Harry Potter. “And I’m totally happy with that!” he says.

Radcliffe, who’s joined me for a very un- British iced coffee at the Spotted Pig, near his West Village home, plays Manny, the aforementioned farting corpse, who washes ashore on a desert island while a stranded man, Hank (Paul Dano), is in the midst of hanging himself. Hank soon manages to ride Manny like a Jet Ski, propelled by postmortem gas release, in the most exhilarating sequence you will ever see of a man riding another man across an ocean set to rousing a cappella music. And the wonders of Manny’s magical body have just begun. From his drowned bloating comes water for Hank to drink; from his rigor mortis, an arm stiff enough to chop wood; and from within his suit pants, with an assist from a discarded Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, a mighty erection that acts as a compass guiding their way home.

It’s actually a sweet buddy comedy, the first feature film from the twisted minds of the directing team known as the Daniels (Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinart), who did the insane video for DJ Snake and Lil Jon’s “Turn Down for What,” in which another man with a prodigious boner destroys an apartment building. (At least they had practice with that particular special effect.) At Swiss Army Man’s debut screening at Sundance in January, there was a steady stream of walkouts; at the one I attended a few days later, booming laughter and a standing ovation. “I remember reading the log line and being like, ‘This is either going to be the stupidest movie ever or it’s going to be amazing,’ ” says Radcliffe, who, in a family tradition dating back to his Harry Potter days, had his parents vet the script first.