How Central Coast lifesaver landed star role with Daniel Radcliffe
Rising Aussie actor Daniel Webber admits he had to do a crash course in all things Harry Potter before meeting his big-name co-star, Daniel Radcliffe for their new movie Escape From Pretoria.
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When the Harry Potter movies were the biggest franchise in the world, Daniel Webber was volunteering as a lifesaver at Wamberal beach. And he “definitely did not” imagine he would ever star in a movie with Harry Potter himself — Daniel Radcliffe.
So how did it come about that Webber and Radcliffe were the stars of Escape From Pretoria, based on a true story of two white South Africans imprisoned for campaigning against apartheid, who escaped from jail?
“It was a long process, that’s for sure,” Webber says who was offered the role by director Francis Annan and, while he liked the director’s vision for the story, didn’t know Radcliffe was part of it.
“Things you get offered often aren’t that great and I didn’t think it had any money.”
Of course all that changed with the news Radcliffe was aboard.
“It’s one of those nice encounters that has come along in life,” he says.
He admits the Harry Potter films hadn’t made a huge impression when he first saw them — so he was quick to rewatch them and find a “very cool experience”.
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But Webber couldn’t afford to be starstruck by his Pretoria co-star as their two characters were supposed to be best friends.
“We had to move past that very quickly,” he says.
“We needed to work together and work well. We got to know each other really well and bond.”
While Webber, who has been in a string of movies including Danger Close: The Battle Of Long Tan and Motley Crue: Looks That Kills, says he has had “experiences with fame”, obviously it is nothing compared to what Radcliffe faces.
“I find the fame game very overwhelming, even where I am at … I don’t know how he handles it,” Webber says.
But, while he doesn’t necessarily want that level of fame, he would like to copy the way Radcliffe acts as a leader on set and how he is with other people.
“It’s quite inspiring,” he says of watching the Harry Potter star on set of the film which was shot in Adelaide.
“He’s the main man and always there setting a great example.”
The film is based on a book and the true story of Tim Jenkin and Stephen Lee, young white men who were labelled terrorists by the apartheid government and locked in a maximum security jail. Somehow the pair broke out and this is their story.
Webber admits he knew little about the horror of apartheid before this and was a little apprehensive about delving into “such a horrible part of history”.
The first time he and Radcliffe met Lee and Jenkin, the men they were respectively playing, it was via a Skype call beamed onto a cinema screen.
“They were about 15 feet tall and that was a wonderful metaphor,” he says. “Dan and I came away really fired up.”
He says their story is fascinating as they “essentially threw away a wonderful, middle-class life” to fight against apartheid.
“I would love to think (I would do the same) but I don’t think you know until you are in that situation.”
While the film had a limited release in the UK and US before COVID-19 closed down cinemas, Webber is looking forward to having friends and family watch it as it is released on digital download.
As for South Africa, he admits he is “very curious to see what they think of it and how they lean into the politics of the film”. But if they enjoy the story and the adventure, then he will be happy.
Meanwhile he was supposed to be shooting a new movie in Africa, something that has been postponed indefinitely and meanwhile he is working on writing a screenplay himself as he isolates with seven members of his family in Australia.
“It’s very loud and energetic, in a great way!” he says.
Escape From Pretoria is available now to rent on platforms such as Apple TV, Fetch, Google Play and Foxtel.