Daniel Radcliffe is a busy man. He's currently starring in the just-released, Daniels-directed "Swiss Army Man" as a not-so-dead talking corpse and "Now You See Me 2," with returning stars Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson, and Morgan Freeman.
The 26-year old actor's latest endeavor is arriving this August and will come in the form of a limited release film from Lionsgate Premiere called "Imperium." In the film, Radcliffe plays an FBI agent who goes undercover to penetrate a faction of white supremacists who are fabricating a bomb.
Director Daniel Ragussis spoke with Entertainment Weekly to shed light in the upcoming film, which also stars Toni Collette, Tracy Letts ("Homeland"), Sam Trammell ("True Blood"), Burn Gorman ("Game of Thrones," "Pacific Rim," "Crimson Peak"). "It was inspired by real events and co-written by Michael German, a former agent who spent years inside the neo-Nazi movement," Ragussis explained.
"I learned from Michael that actual undercover agents are primarily master manipulators—able to win confidences, control situations, and out-think the enemy, even when mortal danger is staring them in the face."
Daniel Radcliffe is an undercover FBI agent in this exclusive 'Imperium' poster: https://t.co/eiutJvOBnT pic.twitter.com/6SMQMIMFKt
— Entertainment Weekly (@EW) June 30, 2016
Ragussis explained that Collette's character, Angela Zamparo, is a case agent and supervisor whose goal is to keep Radcliffe's Nate Foster alive. Production began filming in September last year in Richmond, Virginia, and Radcliffe was photographed shortly thereafter, sporting a shaved head for the role.
Ragussis shared that extensive research went into creating the film, because he wanted to correctly portray the white supremacist movement. The director delightfully mused that while there was an abundance of details that had to be captured to make the film as realistic and as accurate as possible, the fact that they were able to achieve it in the film gave him a very accomplished feeling.
"Imperium" arrives in theaters and on demand on August 19.
