Dane DeHaan: I'm not crazy!

Dane DeHaan has joked he doesn’t need an intervention after playing crazy villains in both The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and Chronicle.

The 28-year-old American actor says he is attracted to troubled characters as it gives him a bigger challenge when it comes to playing a part.

‘Don’t worry, I’m not like them at all,’ he laughed. ‘I play complicated people because that’s what’s interesting to me.'

'I have always loved acting and I’ve been given so many great opportunities to grow as an actor. And the harder those opportunities are, the more I’m going to grow so I look for the hardest ones,’ he said at the UK premiere of Spider-Man in London.

While DeHaan plays villain Harry Osborn in the film – who transforms into the Green Goblin – he credits Spider-Man himself with attracting him to acting in the first place.

‘I grew up with my Spider-Man pyjamas playing Spider-Man and that kind of thing. That’s how I started acting… pretending to play superheroes,’ he said.

With Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy still fresh in the minds of many, DeHaan says he doesn’t feel pressure over filling the boots of previous Green Goblin, James Franco, and that he finds the character of Harry Osborn more daunting due to the fact he is a legend in comic book lore.

‘The pressure lies in playing a character that has been around for 50 years. There has been many incarnations of Harry Osborn so I had to honour who he is as well as give the world a new Harry they haven't seen before,’ he said.

While clearly enjoying his role as the legendary character on screen, DeHaan reveals he hasn't been forced to sign one of Marvels notorious multi-picture deals.

'I’m good to go! I didn’t have to sign much of my life away at all. I think this film definitely plants the seeds for more to come, but what exactly that is, I don’t know. But I’m excited to find out.'

DAVE FRANCO

As fans of the TV series Scrubs will attest, it was all change with the ninth season of the medical comedy. Recently joining the cast of the Emmy-winning show is Dave Franco (younger brother of James), who has been quietly building a career with numerous roles in film and American TV. While the future of Scrubs currently stands in the balance, Franco is keen to keep himself busy and will appear in Noah Baumbach’s forthcoming Greenberg, in which he parties with his real-life friends and snorts cocaine with Ben Stiller – “something you don’t say every day.” 
    Attending the world premiere of Greenberg at this year’s Berlin Film Festival, Franco took to the city but was perplexed by the regimented German approach to clubbing. “I did notice that when you’re at a club and there’s music going, everyone – every single person – is facing the DJ and everyone is dancing by themselves. That was interesting.” Interesting, yes, but also a blessing for Franco. “I am a terrible dancer and so I didn’t have to embarrass myself in front of any girls.”

[Originally published in Wonderland Magazine Issue 22, April 2010. Photography Kenneth Cappello]