Daniel Radcliffe on playing Allen Ginsberg in ‘Kill Your Darlings’

Daniel Radcliffe
Daniel Radcliffe on playing poet Allen Ginsberg in the low-budget thriller, Kill Your Darlings.

The narrative focus of the film is the killing of David Kammerer in 1944, an English teacher who was on the fringes of the group.

Lucien Carr was jailed for two years after admitting manslaughter. He claimed he had acted in self-defence and was the victim of unwanted sexual advances. Kerouac and Burroughs were initially arrested as accessories to murder; but over the years, as their reputation grew, the scandal faded.

Daniel Radcliffe as Allen Ginsberg, Dane DeHaan as Lucien Carr and Jack Huston as Jack Kerouac
“It is about a killing, ” says Radcliffe, “but for me the great challenge was Allen Ginsberg, where he starts at the beginning of the film, and where he ends up – exploring his sexuality, experimenting with drugs, and beginning his writing.

“I certainly understood a lot more about him and his poetry, particularly Howl, after being immersed in this period of his life.”

The actor auditioned for the role four years ago. Krokidas says he succeeded because “Ginsberg is this shy seventeen year old kid who has to please everybody, but there was so much more to him inside. He was a poet, and he was a radical, and he felt he had something to prove. Somehow I just thought that would speak to Dan.”

via BBC News – Daniel Radcliffe on playing Allen Ginsberg.

 

Daniel Radcliffe taking on some interesting roles. One for the watch list!