The appeal of ‘The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins’ for Daniel Radcliffe wasn’t just the mockumentary format—it was the chance to reunite with a writing duo he calls among the best in American comedy.
“I think if you look at Robert and Sam’s work, there’s generally at some point an English character will pop up,” Radcliffe says. “I think they’re both sort of anglophiles a little bit. I’m very happy to be the outlet for all their English jokes.”
Daniel Radcliffe reflects on joining ‘The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins,’ crediting his long-standing collaboration with writers Robert Carlock and Sam Means and his enthusiasm for their comedy as the driving force behind his involvement. He discusses the balance of scripted work and improv on set alongside Tracy Morgan and Bobby Moynihan, while also contrasting his mockumentary work with the immediacy of live theater in ‘Every Brilliant Thing.’ Radcliffe also touches on his current creative “poles” of choosing projects—either deeply meaningful or deliberately silly—his upcoming film ‘Trust the Man,’ and his appreciation for ensemble collaboration on ‘Reggie Dinkins,’ especially highlighting his castmates and the show’s comedic tone.
The series follows disgraced football legend Reggie Dinkins (Tracy Morgan) as he turns to award-winning filmmaker Arthur Tobin (Daniel Radcliffe) to chronicle his comeback attempt, a journey that forces him to reckon with old mistakes and strained family relationships.
Created by Robert Carlock and Sam Means, the series stars Tracy Morgan, Daniel Radcliffe, Erika Alexander, Bobby Moynihan, Precious Way, and Jalyn Hall.
All episodes of ‘The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins’ are currently streaming on Peacock. NBC recently announced that the series has been renewed for a second season.
Awards Focus: It’s so nice to see you again for the first time since TIFF in 2019. How are you doing?
Daniel Radcliffe: Oh, hello. Well, hello again. Thank you very much. Yeah, wait, so what was I there for?
AF: You had a film playing and then I was going to another interview.
Daniel Radcliffe: Was that ‘Guns Akimbo’?
AF: I think so.
Daniel Radcliffe: Was it ‘Guns Akimbo’? That sounds right. Okay, yeah.
AF: How did you first hear about ‘The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins’ and at what point did you know you wanted to be part of it?
Daniel Radcliffe: I knew I wanted to be part of it, probably—honestly—since before I read it. I’m trying to remember what actually happened first, if I read the script first, or if I had the call with Robert and Sam, where they gave me an overview of the whole thing.
I had worked with Robert Carlock and Sam Means a few years ago on the ‘Kimmy Schmidt’ movie for Netflix, and then I worked with them again on their animated show. I had always just loved them as people and as writers. I was just like, these guys are such good humans and people I want to spend time with, but also, they are some of the most brilliant comedy writers of the last 30 years in American comedy.
When the script came in—whenever we’ve been doing those—‘Mulligan’ or the ‘Kimmy Schmidt’ movie—I’d always been saying, “Guys, if there’s ever anything more involved, I would love to do that with you. I’m a huge fan.”
And so, yeah, when this came in, I was just like, oh my G-d, just a dream come true. I remember Robert and Sam had a call with me where they said, “We just think the idea of you and Tracy together is really funny and we like the idea of Tracy referring to you as your full name, Arthur Tobin, for the entire show.” I talked to them. It was one of those where I could not have read the script and probably said yes, but I did read the script because I do due diligence and I just loved it immediately and was like, yeah, absolutely, let’s go.
AF: Had you been looking to do a mockumentary series?
Daniel Radcliffe: No, not necessarily. But I mean, I’m always looking to do comedy, and I particularly like any comedy that might shoot in New York has always been something that I’ve been as a real kind of dream job.
I think if you look at Robert and Sam’s work, there’s generally at some point an English character will pop up. I think they’re both sort of anglophiles a little bit. I’m very happy to be the outlet for all their English jokes.
AF: In playing documentary filmmaker Arthur Tobin, did you study any real-life documentary filmmakers or filmmaking styles in shaping your approach to the role?
Daniel Radcliffe: Not particularly, no. I think if there is a real life analogous person to Arthur, it would probably be Louis Theroux or someone, but I don’t like to say that because Louis Theroux’s great and Arthur’s a bit pretentious twat.
But yeah, I watch a fair amount of documentaries anyway, so I wasn’t like, I felt like I had to brush up on my documentary knowledge to play this part. But in terms of looking for who is an auteur documentary maker who also features on cameras in his own documentaries, it’s sort of Louis Theroux. Maybe. I don’t know. Is Nick Brumfeld in his documentaries? I can’t remember. But yeah, I feel like Louis is kind of the clearest analogy or parallel.
AF: When you’re working with the likes of Tracy Morgan and Bobby Moynihan, how much room is there for improv on set?
Daniel Radcliffe: There’s definitely a lot of room. I think we’re very much of the mindset that what they write is really good and it doesn’t. First and foremost, you should always be making sure you get what’s scripted so we’ll do a few takes.
And also, the rules are slightly different for everybody. If Bobby and Tracy want to come in and throw some improv around, we can trust them to do that. My first protocol is always make sure we get what’s scripted first, and then I’ll start maybe branching out a little bit. But I don’t—what our writers come up with are so is so brilliant that it very rarely actually needs actors to improve it.
AF: You’ve also been nominated for a Tony this season for ‘Every Brilliant Thing’—mazel tov.
Daniel Radcliffe: Thank you very much. Thank you. Yeah, it’s amazing.
AF: How does working off the energy of a live audience differ from working on a single-camera mockumentary?
Daniel Radcliffe: It is very, very different. It’s a lot more relaxing to film a single camera comedy series.
I’ve got one week left of ‘Every Brilliant Thing,’ and I certainly couldn’t do this show forever. But what it has been like to do, it has been extremely, I don’t know, profoundly fulfilling in a way of, I get to connect with audiences and with just people in a way that I myself don’t really get to a ton of the time in my own life.
Most of the time, if I am in a room full of a thousand people, I will have a baseball cap and probably a mask on, and I will be trying not to be seen by anyone. There’s something incredibly liberating about going into an audience and just going up to people and saying, Hi, nice to meet you. I’m Dan. Do you know anything about the show? Talking to people.
I think there’s also something really—the show is very, very joyous, but it’s also about some very heavy stuff and about depression and suicide. A lot of people bring a lot into the theater with them emotionally when they come in and watch a show like that, their own experiences and their own relationships to those topics. There’s something that feels like a real privilege to be the person that is communicating with them about those topics.
There’s a line in the Mary Oliver poem, ‘Wild Geese,’ where she says, “Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.” When it’s at its best, there feels like there’s a genuine exchange going on between me and the audience every night. I don’t know when I’m going to get that feeling again so I’m going to try and really enjoy it for these last eight shows.
AF: When you’re working on a series and even though a lot of TV series are not as long as they used to be when I was growing up—we’re a long way from the 20-episode season—how do you decide which projects to tackle during the hiatus?
Daniel Radcliffe: For myself, right now, a project either has to be incredibly meaningful and have a message or a story that I think it is a really important time to be telling that story, or incredibly silly and incredibly fun, like ‘Reggie Dinkins.’ Those are kind of the poles I’m operating between at the moment.
So, ‘Every Brilliant Thing’ has been something that’s been very, very meaningful to me.
I’m doing a film over the summer that I think also is hopefully very, very timely and has something that is worth saying at any time, but particularly worth saying now, and then it’ll be back to ‘Reggie Dinkins.’
Any other time that I get to spend off will be spent hanging out with my child because I miss my son a lot at the moment. I’m very excited to get to spend probably after this year—I’m going to take a lot of time off next year and just be able to. It just so happened that things have happened in a way that I’ve ended up working a lot this year and so I’m looking forward to taking some time off next year.
AF: Yeah. Has the film you’re doing this summer been announced yet?
Daniel Radcliffe: Yeah, I believe it has. It’s called ‘Trust the Man.’ It’s written by Will Graham. There’s some other casting news about it that has not been announced that people I think will be very excited about when that is announced, but that is not my job or my prerogative, so I will wait for somebody else to do that.
But yeah, I think it’s got some really beautiful things to say, I think, about how we view masculinity and ideas around that, I think, are at play in this film. It’s one of those films that does a great job of talking about them because they are never overtly what the film is about, and it’s just there’s the current of it underneath.
AF: What has been the most fun part of working on ‘The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins’?
Daniel Radcliffe: I’m getting to work with the cast. I love—obviously, Tracy is incredible and incredibly funny. Bobby Moynihan is a comedic genius as well. Erika Alexander, Precious Way and Jalyn Hall—they’re all so good.
I just think Erika is extraordinary and amazing on the show and an amazing person. Precious Way, I feel like I’m getting in here at the beginning of her career and I’m going to be able to say, I knew her when, because I do think she’s got an incredibly bright future. She’s so brilliant at this kind of comedy, and it’s a really tricky style of comedy, I think, that not everyone’s suited to and she’s just amazing at it.
I’m incredibly lucky to be working with this great group of actors.
AF: Thank you so much, and enjoy these last few days on the Broadway run.
Daniel Radcliffe: Thank you very much. Nice to see you again, Danielle.