A former anti-apartheid activist played by Daniel Radcliffe in a forthcoming film recounting his daring escape from prison said today the Harry Potter star was “politically motivated” to take on the role.
Escape From Pretoria tells the story of white South African campaigners Tim Jenkin and Stephen Lee, who were jailed for a total of 20 years in 1978 for distributing leaflets in support of the African National Congress. The pair were part of a group that managed to break out of the high security Pretoria Central Prison the following year by creating wooden copies of jailer’s keys.
Following the escape, Mr Jenkin moved to London where he continued his work for the ANC. His autobiography, Escape From Pretoria, was published in 1987.
Mr Jenkin, now 72, praised 30-year-old Radcliffe for his portrayal, telling the Standard: “He is a very good actor, and I think he’s politically motivated himself which helped. Some modern actors they aren’t that way inclined, and you had to be politically motivated to play the part, that’s the only kind of actor I would have wanted to play myself. Without the right attitude and the right politics you can’t do that person you’re playing justice.
"He asked me what South Africa was like under apartheid and I had to explain to him, and he took it all in, because you can’t really pick up from the script or from the book — you really had to be there.”
Escape From Pretoria will be released in UK cinemas on March 6
