“When you see a musical, it’s so complete, so massive that I can’t personally imagine where you could possibly start!” he says before realizing how funny that might sound coming from the star of one of the most fantastical film franchises ever. “Harry Potter is wizardry on film. It’s a certain amount of technical effects, and I know how that works, whereas in Broadway musicals, there are no effects. It’s just manpower and technical skill that create all that enormity.”

“There is something very special about being English in [New York City], because there’s a certain fascination with British culture,” he says. “I don’t know what it is, but I feel a lot cooler here than I do in England.”

“It’s quite good being this short; you just put your hood up and no one gives you a second glance really,” he says. The work is what makes him uniquely happy in New York. “I’ve never felt better about myself as an actor than when I was on Broadway doing Equus, because I felt part of an artistic community. And I’m not slagging off London, because I love it, but the interplay and the amount of socializing between the shows in New York—it’s just glorious and doesn’t happen in the West End as far as I can tell.”

“Finch’s age has never been pinned down, but it’s never been played by someone as young as me. I think it changes the show when you’ve got someone my age playing him, versus someone in his 30s, doing things that can come off as nasty and manipulative. There’s an element of Falstaff to him—everything he does is morally reprehensible, but you love him and you back him.”

“I have no doubt this will be the hardest I’ve ever worked in my entire life,” he muses. “I’ve been training really hard because I don’t want [director] Rob Ashford to feel like he has to censor himself for me. I want him to be able to treat me as much like a dancer as he can.” For that reason, Radcliffe has been in singing and dance training here and in London for two years, which he recognizes is also part of the fun. “When I did Equus I had to talk to myself and get my cock out every night for five months, but this will actually be quite good fun!”