By ZACH ZAHOS
If you’ve heard Daniel Radcliffe’s name in the news anytime over the past couple months, there is a good chance his new film Kill Your Darlings is the reason why. While Radcliffe has been a tabloid staple for years now (that’s what being the face of a multi-billion dollar franchise will do to you), the challenges of this role, and the degree to which he pulls it off, have earned him reappraisals from all corners, including cover stories on The New York Times Magazine and Out.
You see, one of the biggest movie stars in the world took on the role of Allen Ginsberg — and you owe at least half the credit to our very own Prof. Austin Bunn, performing and media arts. Alongside co-writer/director John Krokidas, Bunn wrote a script about the Beats — including Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac — before they were famous and when they, in a little-known historical episode, became embroiled in a grisly murder. Bunn and Krokidas veered little from the facts in recreating this heated period of time, where Ginsberg fell for an older student, Lucien Carr (played by Chronicle‘s Dane DeHaan). The movie’s got sex, drugs and rock ’n roll — or, rather, jazz (this was 1944, after all).
Tonight at 7:10 p.m., you can not only see Kill Your Darlings at Cinemapolis but hear Bunn introduce and answer questions about it, too. The script took nearly a decade to get picked up, filmed and released, so aspiring screenwriters should listen up for any advice he learned along the way. Ask him about historical context, the film festival circuit and, who knows, maybe some behind-the-scenes gossip, too. Remember: He’s like best buds with Daniel Radcliffe now.