Daniel Radcliffe revealed whether he wants his son to watch the eight Harry Potter films that made him a household name.
Over a decade after leaving the Wizarding World behind, the actor became a father in 2023; he and his partner, Erin Darke, have one son, who’s about to turn 3 in April. With filming currently underway for the upcoming Harry Potter TV show, the cast of the movies, including Radcliffe, has expressed support for the new actors.
Since there are about to be two adaptations of the hugely successful fantasy series once the reboot premieres, Radcliffe opened up about whether he wants to introduce his son to Harry Potter.
During an interview with the NYT, the actor said that he’ll read the books to his son if he shows an interest in them, but Radcliffe doesn’t want to “nudge him toward them” just because of his connection to the franchise. “He’ll find them eventually,” the Harry Potter alum added.
“If he gets into them, I totally will. But I don’t think I’ll nudge him toward them because I don’t think I’ll need to—he’ll find them eventually.”
When it comes to the movies and TV show, Radcliffe would rather have his son watch the HBO series instead of seeing his face on screen. “Hopefully, I can just put that on, and he doesn’t have to watch me on it. That’d be, honestly, ideal,” he explained.
“Hopefully I can just put that on, and he doesn’t have to watch me in it. That’d be, honestly, the ideal.”
Radcliffe called his son a “ball of joy” who is funny and happy. The actor gets “really protective” over his child and now understands the instincts that come with being a parent.
His new play, Every Brilliant Thing, is about to open on Broadway. Radcliffe was originally offered the role in the West End, but his desire to stay in New York so he could be close to his son resulted in the actor joining the Broadway production instead.
“He’s just this ball of joy—so happy and funny and sweet—which I find both beautiful and heartbreaking I get really protective, and I suddenly understand every instinct every parent has of home-schooling and moving to the woods.”
He’s no stranger to Broadway, having starred in Equus, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, The Cripple of Inishmaan and Merrily We Roll Along, with the latter show earning him a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical.
Radcliffe has also starred in several movies and shows, like Swiss Army Man, Now You See Me 2, The Lost City, Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, Miracle Workers and the upcoming TV comedy The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins.
He began his Broadway career while still filming the Harry Potter movies, which grossed $7.7 billion at the box office and spawned the three-film Fantastic Beasts spinoff series.
Based on the seven novels by J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter centers on the titular boy wizard who discovers magic for the first time while facing off against bullies, creatures and the Dark Wizard himself, Lord Voldemort.
After the diminishing returns of the Fantastic Beasts films, Warner Bros. went back to the drawing board and announced a TV show reboot of Harry Potter that will remain faithful to the books.
Dominic McLaughlin, Alastair Stout and Arabella Stanton have been cast as Harry, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, the characters that Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson played in the movies.
The Harry Potter TV show cast also includes John Lithgow, Janet McTeer, Paapa Essiedu and Nick Frost.
The eight-episode first season, which will adapt Sorcerer’s Stone, is currently in production, with each season expected to cover the events of one book in the Harry Potter series. HBO CEO Casey Bloys recently revealed that the show will premiere sometime in early 2027, though a specific premiere date hasn’t been announced yet.
- Cast
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Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Tom Felton, Alan Rickman, Matthew Lewis, Bonnie Wright, Evanna Lynch, Maggie Smith, Michael Gambon, Richard Harris, Ralph Fiennes, Helena Bonham Carter, Alfred Enoch, Harry Melling, Gary Oldman, Robert Pattinson, Warwick Davis, Oliver Phelps, James Phelps, David Bradley, David Thewlis, Katie Leung, Jason Isaacs, Imelda Staunton, David Tennant, Jamie Campbell Bower, Timothy Spall, Robbie Coltrane, Eddie Redmayne, Jude Law, Katherine Waterston, Ezra Miller, Dan Fogler, Alison Sudol, Johnny Depp, Mads Mikkelsen
- Movie(s)
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Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore
Harry Potter is a multimedia franchise about an orphaned boy who enrolls at Hogwarts School of Wizardry, where he learns the truth about himself, his family, and the terrible evil that haunts the magical world. Adapted from the novels, Harry Potter is an eight-episode film saga that follows the journey of Harry Potter and his friends, Hermoine Granger and Ron Weasley, as they navigate the tricky world of growing up, school life, and magic. Starting from year one and moving to their seventh year, the films chronicle the students’ time at Hogwarts while unfurling a sinister plot that centers around the unsuspecting Harry. With the return of the dark wizard, Voldemort, the students and professors at Hogwarts will fight to carry on as the world around them may change forever. Harry Potter has expanded beyond the world of its films and novels with several video games, a spin-off film series titled Fantastic Beasts, and even attractions at Universal Studios.