What I learned is that acting is to a large extent about trying to stave off self-doubt long enough to be natural and real onstage.
You have to find out who you are aside from what the media say you are. If you’ve become reliant on them for kind of a sense of self, then you’re really screwed.
I take things in better when I’m allowed to talk, and respond, and engage and move around a bit.
I think honesty is the most heroic quality one can aspire to.
I think I’m a tiny bit like Harry ’cos I’d like to have an owl. Yeah, that’s the tiny bit, actually.
There’s no shame in enjoying the quiet life.
I was worried on a personal level because I wanted to be slightly taller than I am, ideally. But I’ve now accepted it. Basically, I came to the conclusion a while ago that you can either be really bitter about it or you can make loads of funny jokes.
Working hard is important. But there is something that matters even more, believing in yourself.
Well, I think I’m a feminist, just by the virtue of the fact that I believe in equal rights for everyone.
There were a few years there when I was just so enamored with the idea of living some sort of famous person’s lifestyle that really isn’t suited to me.
There is something inherently valuable about being a misfit. It’s not to say that every person who has artistic talent was a social outcast, but there is definitely a value for identifying yourself differently and being proud that you are different.
I’ve always thought that as long as directors and casting directors don’t see me as just Harry Potter, I’ll be OK. People have shown a lot of faith in me, and I owe them a huge debt. They’re letting me prove that I’m serious about this.
I’ve never been one of the cool people at school, but then again, I don’t get the people who are cool. It’s not that I don’t like them, it’s just that they don’t interest me.
I’ve not got a girlfriend at the moment. Somebody said, ‘Do you worry girls are just giving you attention because of who you are?’ I was like, ‘I’m 17, it’s wonderful.’
For ages, in my lunch hours, I would just go round and choreograph fight scenes. For fun. So now I’m very good at being thrown around. I bounce, in the words of my friends.
If I was left to my own devices, you would see about ten T-shirts in rotation with maybe a few nice pairs of jeans – but I also like to look good. I like feeling really well put together, I just don’t have the aptitude and the knowledge to do that.
My preparation is mainly just knowing the lines and getting in and knowing where your character is, knowing what it’s about and having ideas that you can put in on the day.
Obviously, I’ve been very lucky in general in my career, but I feel that I’ve been very lucky in terms of having directors come along at the right times who have taken me to the next level of where I needed to be.
People tell me I look mournful. They say, ‘Cheer up, Dan, it’s not that bad!’ Sometimes I just look into space, which freaks people out. If I was ever required to do anything other than look haunted, I could. I’m a happy person.
The art world can be very intimidating because it’s just so vast. You talk to people who are really clued in to all the young artists and coming into it you’re never going to be able to catch up immediately, even though there’s pressure to.
The stories I’m interested in are challenging ones, and maybe that requires a little bit more of you. I love my job and I want to earn the right to do it every single day.