'The Lost City': Daniel Radcliffe explains why he loves playing weirdos (exclusive)

Watch: Daniel Radcliffe on The Lost City and playing weird

Daniel Radcliffe has explained why he enjoys taking on eccentric roles and revealed that he didn't consciously base his character in The Lost City on any obsessive fans of his own.

The 32-year-old Harry Potter star plays billionaire Abigail Fairfax in the film, who kidnaps Sandra Bullock's romance novelist in the hope that she can lead him to a treasure featured in one of her books.

"I think intense is always fun and people with that kind of pent-up energy that this guy has is definitely something I can relate to," Radcliffe told Yahoo.

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He added: "I like to think that's where the similarities between me and this guy end because he's pretty terrible. But it's a huge amount of fun to play a guy like this.

"A villain in itself is fun, but a villain who is desperate for you to think he's cool and desperate for people to like him even as he's doing terrible things to them, to me was very funny."

Radcliffe has embraced unorthodox roles since saying goodbye to Harry Potter in 2011, starring as strange characters in movies such as Horns, Now You See Me 2 and Swiss Army Man — in which he famously played a semi-sentient, farting corpse.

He will be taking on the ultimate weird role in his next movie, in which he will star as comedy musician Weird Al Yankovic.

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Radcliffe's character in The Lost City is an obsessive fan of Bullock's character Loretta Sage and her archaeological romance tales, but the actor said he didn't take inspiration from his own experiences.

He added: "It was not any fan specifically that I based it on as much as a general kind of English public school entitlement craziness that I am familiar with.

"I have had some crazy fan interactions, but thankfully nothing quite on this level."

Bullock joked that his security might have kept his more obsessive fans at a safe distance, shielding him from their excesses.

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Radcliffe added: "Unless I'm finding out at some point that one of my best friends has been doing a long con and is a crazy fan."

He joked that, if that were true, he would have to simply say "well done" and thank them for their commitment.

The Lost City sees Bullock's character and her book cover model — played by Channing Tatum — stranded in remote jungle as they attempt to escape from Radcliffe's clutches.

It's the third movie from sibling directorial duo Aaron and Adam Nee and filmed in the Dominican Republic in the summer of 2021.

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The cast also includes Brad Pitt, Da'Vine Joy Randolph and Patti Harrison in supporting roles.

The Lost City is due to arrive in UK cinemas from 15 April.

Watch: Trailer for The Lost City