'It was shot so quickly we didn't have time to get nervous': Daniel Radcliffe opens up about filming gay sex scene in Kill Your Darlings

PUBLISHED: 09:30 EST, 11 December 2013 | UPDATED: 10:05 EST, 11 December 2013

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Daniel Radcliffe has opened up about filming his first gay sex scene.

In his latest film Kill Your Darlings,The Harry Potter star is playing Beat poet Allen Ginsberg as a 17-year-old college freshman who is seduced in a bar.

But Daniel says that far from being nervous about filming the scene, he found it fun.

Mature star: Daniel Radcliffe arrives at Kill Your Darlings premiere at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival

He told the Sydney Morning Herald: ‘With the sex scene, it was shot so quickly, we didn't have time to get nervous. You just had to dive in and go for it,’ he says. ‘It was a battle to stop me from laughing a lot of the time, to be honest, just because it's that sort of nervous laughter.’

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The film, a murder-mystery, centres around Ginsberg’s obsession with Lucian Carr, whose lover David Kammerer comes to a grisly end.

Period role: Daniel is playing the role of Poet Allen Ginsberg in his latest film Kill Your Darlings

Playing the role of the teenage writer, who alongside Jack Kerouac and William Burroughs formed a group known as the Beat poets, meant that Daniel had to research Ginsberg's life before he became famous.

Daniel adds that there were no real recordings of him and images were scarce.

He also said that the poet’s life represents a ‘counterculture’ movement that doesn’t exist today.

Mystery: Daniel Radcliffe stars in Kill Your Darlings opposite Michael C.Hall, who plays David Kammerer

Growing up: Daniel plays Ginsberg as a 17-year-old college freshman

He explained: ‘Kerouac, Burroughs and Ginsberg - they were all just sitting around the West Village writing and editing each other, and sharing their writing with a few friends, maybe 20 people were aware of the existence of it.

‘Now, everything's given to exploding online in a way. It's impossible for anything to become counterculture, because in seconds it's absorbed into the culture. I think we're given now to fads more than movements.’

Daniel nearly missed out on being cast in the film after he auditioned in 2008 but went on to film the final Harry Potter films instead.

Bygone era: Daniel said the film portrays a counterculture movement that doesn't exist today

The film was put on hold due to financial issues but when director John Krokidas joined the project in 2010, Daniel was back on board.

His next roles are set to include playing former British Olympian Sebastian Coe in Gold and a hunchbacked lab assistant named Igor in Frankenstein.

He is also set to star in Irish-Canadian romantic comedy The F Word and a fantasy feature, Horns, in which Daniel plays a loner who uses special powers to track down his girlfriend's killer.

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AC, London, United Kingdom, 15 hours ago

Why does his character still look like he's attending Hogwarts?

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hrhlou, No. Va., United States, 15 hours ago

I love DR. Wish more American actors were like him. Hes humble, proud that hes a person first and acting is his job and doesnt tweet every time he goes to the loo. I just really like how he transitioned smoothly from young actor to adult without all the drama.

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Cherry, New York City, 15 hours ago

I'm tired of the media glamorizing these hideous, self-absorbed tools known as the Beat Generation. By the way, Allen Ginsberg was a member of NAMBLA. I'll bet Radcliffe's new movie ignores that little-known disgusting fact about him. They always do.

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Crazytimes, Liverpool, United Kingdom, 16 hours ago

I'll look forward to that one NOT!!!!!

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Carrie, Portsmouth - UK, 16 hours ago

Harry Potter AND Dexter! Omg!

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greatbritain1989, Croydon, United Kingdom, 16 hours ago

I can't take him seriously as an actor. I have tried.

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JustJane, New York, 16 hours ago

He is really so thoughtful about his work and the world--a seriously good head on his shoulders.

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moon, oregon, 17 hours ago

How can he say that there are no recordings of Ginsberg?

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David, Warsaw, 17 hours ago

Never was there someone as over-hyped as Jack Kerouac! Until John Banville. I was so disappointed when I read "On the Road". I rank it the world's second most disappointing book behind the uber-hyped Booker prizewinning "The Sea" by John Banville. The Sea was so bad I almost gave up beach holidays.

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Azulle, San Diego, United States, 15 hours ago

True... True. I personally find "Cather in the Rye" completely overhyped. I read it twice... and there's nothing meaningful or compelling about it... just some whiny teenager moaning about how he hates everything.