10 Acting Performances Way Better Than You Thought They'd Be

7. Daniel Radcliffe - Swiss Army Man

Will Smith Genie
A24

'Harry Potter plays a farting corpse'.

Statements like that generated most of the publicity around Swiss Army Man and while yes, that does form an important part of the story, Daniel Radcliffe's performance is much more than that. The actor has gained huge respect for throwing himself headfirst into challenging roles since the end of his signature franchise, and that has never been more obvious than when starring in this surreal, absurd two-hander alongside Paul Dano.

Again, while Radcliffe does play a slowly decaying body prone to bouts of flatulence, the actor brings a surprising amount of depth to a performance that could have come off as crude and one-note in the wrong hands, especially when the plot is so unashamedly batsh*t crazy.

At points soulful, tragic, philisophical, laugh-out-loud funny, crude and outrageous, Radcliffe goes for broke and delivers arguably the best and most multi-faceted performance of his career, despite how easy it would be for the surprisingly emotional narrative to treat his presence (and boner-compass) as nothing more than straightforward prop comedy.

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