Daniel Radcliffe says his role in the new film Jungle is part of his mission to play as many varied roles as possible after finishing up with Harry Potter.
The British actor told ABC Radio Melbourne's Lindy Burns that as the series wound up, being typecast as the teenage wizard "was obviously a concern".
"It wasn't so much a concern of 'I think that's going to happen', as it was 'I don't know what's going to happen, and that's a possibility'," he said.
Radcliffe said while some directors might be turned off by his history of playing Potter, "others are intrigued by it".
"For as many directors as there probably are out there … who essentially saw me as just that one thing, there were a lot of other people who were equally excited by the prospect of being the one who reinvents me, or shows me in a different light."
"My mission from when I came out of Potter was to, [with] every opportunity somebody gave me to do something different and show something different — just take it."
That is exactly what Radcliffe did when offered the role of adventurer Yossi Ghinsberg in Jungle.
Jungle, by Wolf Creek director Greg McLean, is based on Ghinsberg's true story of becoming stranded in the Amazon rainforest for three weeks in 1981.
The film had its world premiere at the opening night of the Melbourne International Film Festival on Thursday.
Radcliffe became 'emaciated'
Making the film required shooting in remote locations in sometimes difficult conditions.
"I hesitate to, when talking about this film, to say, 'Oh my God it was so hard'," Radcliffe said.
"It's based on a true story of a guy who suffered way more than I did."
McLean said Radcliffe worked with his trainer to bring his body weight down to "an emaciated state" for the film.
"This speaks to his integrity and his commitment as an actor to be truthful to Yossi's story," McLean told ABC Radio Melbourne's Ali Moore.
"He was eating a boiled egg or an energy bar a day."
Radcliffe had to bring his body weight down twice for separate scenes shot in Colombia and Queensland.
"When we finished shooting the scenes in Queensland, he went to the local Thai food restaurant and ordered about $300 worth of curries and noodles," McLean said.
'More than I bargained for'
Before filming started on Jungle, Radcliffe read Ghinsberg's best-selling book about his ordeal and then had two long video chats with the adventurer.
"They were just me picking his brains, asking about any details I could," he said.
He said Ghinsberg's story was compelling because he "was not in any way a survivalist".
"There was nothing really in his background that equipped him for this," he said.
Ghinsberg said he went into the Amazon because he wanted to explore uncharted territory, find a remote Indigenous tribe and marry into them.
"It was a naive dream that was based on a lot of reading of adventure books," Ghinsberg said.
"Only problem, I got much more than I bargained for."
Ghinsberg said he was "privileged" to have Radcliffe play him in the film.
ABC Radio Melbourne is a media partner of the Melbourne International Film Festival, which runs until August 20.
