Daniel Radcliffe Opens Up About The 'Lovely' Harry Potter Reunion Special
"Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts" premiered on HBO Max in January 2022, granting "Harry Potter" fans a heartfelt reunion of (almost) the entire cast from the original films. Daniel Radcliffe, who played The Boy Who Lived, was obviously present, alongside castmates Emma Watson and Rupert Grint, and it was endearing to see the heroic trio meet again. Speaking to Empire on their podcast, Radcliffe reflected on the reunion, musing how "double-edged" yet "lovely" the entire experience was:
"It was really lovely. I'm really, really glad we did it. It is double-edged, going back. If they'd done a five-year anniversary – which would have been silly, but if they had done that – I'm not sure I would have been able to go. It would have been a different-feeling thing. I think the place I'm at in my life allowed me to feel good to go back. And it was honestly great. There is something lovely and full circle about having adult conversations with people that you had only had children's conversations with before. That was really, really cool."
Although Radcliffe had previously mentioned that he is not interested in reprising his role as Potter anytime soon, he seems to be genuinely comfortable with the aspect of getting back together with the cast, as it allowed for more free-flowing conversations and open communication.
Bridging the gulf, years later
Time played a seminal part in Radcliffe's feelings towards the "Harry Potter" reunion, as he expressed how he is currently in a space that allows him to revisit in a way that feels good. Despite the crushing weight of childhood fame and the risks of being typecast after playing the protagonist of multi-billion dollar franchise, Radcliffe has continued to challenge himself as an actor, taking on roles of a wide variety. From playing a farting corpse in "Swiss Army Man" to an eccentric billionaire in the recently-released "The Lost City," Radcliffe has embraced genres and roles that are interesting and offbeat (good for him, we stan).
Radcliffe went on to express how the reunion allowed him to connect with senior actors in the "Harry Potter" cast, and have honest conversations with them, which he could not quite do before, due to his age at the time of filming:
"Particularly with Helena [Bonham Carter] and Chris Columbus and Gary [Oldman], but then also people like the Phelps twins [James and Oliver, who play the Weasley twins]. That was an interesting one. Because, you know, we were very friendly on the films, but they were older. I was 11 when we started, they were 14 or 15, and at that age, that is a massive gulf. Now, we're all just men in our 30s, and that age difference flattens out in a really nice way. It was lovely to see everybody and see how everyone has kind of come out okay. It was something that made me really proud, actually, of all of us."
The problematic legacy of the franchise aside, it is heartening to see the cast get back together and talk about their individual experiences while reconnecting to one another after a span of many years, leading to a nostalgia-addled reunion.
Radcliffe is set to star as musician "Weird Al" Yankovic in "Weird: The Al Yankovic Story," which is now in production.