Harry Potter alum Daniel Radcliffe plays the villain in the new film The Lost City, and his casting in the film all goes back to The Mummy. Directed by Adam and Aaron Nee, and also starring Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum, The Lost City is a big-budget action-adventure film that's reminiscent of similar movies of days gone by.
Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Radcliffe revealed what had gotten him so interested in The Lost City. The actor explained how he had recently revisited The Mummy, the hit action-adventure film from 1999 starring Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz. Finding the film to be a fun and entertaining watch, Radcliffe found himself disappointed that there weren't more movies like The Mummy these days, so he was thrilled when The Lost City came along shortly thereafter.
"I think that's a generally good blanket rule, is make the films that you would wanna see. I had recently watched The Mummy, the Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz [movie] and had a kind of like, 'Aah! There are no movies like this' moment. And then, I'd read [The Lost City's script], and I was like, 'Aah!' That's that same sort of, you know, just that totally fun adventure thing. When it's done well, [it] is so much fun. And I think this is a really good example of them."
Daniel Radcliffe Enjoyed Playing the Bad Guy in The Lost City
Appearing in The Lost City also allowed for Daniel Radcliffe to take on a more villainous role as the movie's antagonist. In the film, Radcliffe plays an eccentric billionaire who kidnaps an author (Sandra Bullock) in pursuit of the fictional "Lost City of D" described in her latest novel. While Radcliffe was happy to be a part of a new action-adventure movie, he admits that he had it much easier than Bullock and co-star Channing Tatum, as they were the ones who had to do the more grueling physical work.
"It was a huge amount of fun. It’s weird because they worked really, really hard on this film and did quite a grueling physical shoot, and I was having a very chill time and being like, 'Hey guys, you all seem really tired,'" Radcliffe recently explained.
Adam and Aaron Nee directed The Lost City using a screenplay co-written with Oren Uziel and Dana Fox and story by Seth Gordon. Along with Radcliffe, Bullock, and Tatum, the film stars Da'Vine Joy Randolph and Brad Pitt. It premiered at the South by Southwest Film Festival earlier this month to positive reviews.
The Lost City is now playing in movie theaters. You can find The Mummy streaming on HBO Max. As for Daniel Radcliffe, the actor is clearly having fun with the other roles he's been landing, as he is also the titular star of the Roku biopic Weird: The Al Yankovic Story. Recently wrapping up filming with plans to premiere on The Roku Channel later this year, the biopic's casting was done by "Weird Al" personally after seeing Radcliffe reciting a parody song on television.