What to Know
Daniel Radcliffe was just 11 years old when the first movie in the Harry Potter franchise, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, hit theaters in 2001. And now, a new generation of kids will be taking on the iconic characters for HBO’s upcoming TV series based on the beloved children’s fantasy books.
Now that he’s passing the torch to the next actor to play The Boy Who Lived, Daniel has welcomed the new Harry Potter, Dominic McLaughlin, to the role in the sweetest way: With a letter.
As the original Harry, Daniel doesn’t want to be too overbearing.
While on Good Morning America, Daniel recognized that while some actors may feel like those who go on to play the roles they originated should reach out to them for advice, he isn’t one of them — and he said that he doesn’t want anyone who plays Harry in the future to feel that way.
“I just want to say, I do not want to be a specter in the lives of these children at all,” he said.
He did reach out to Dominic, though.
Since Daniel knew someone who is working on the show, he was able to reach 11-year-old Dominic directly, writing him a letter and receiving “a very sweet note back.”
“But I just wanted to say, ‘I hope you have the best time, and an even better time than I did. I had a great time, but I hope you have an even better one,'” he said.
Looking back on his time as Harry, Daniel said, “I just see those pictures of him and all the other kids and I just want to hug them. They just seem so young. I do look at them and I go, ‘Oh, it’s crazy that I was doing that at that age.’ But it’s also incredibly sweet, and I hope they’re having a great time.”
The series may make it to HBO sooner than fans thought.
While HBO has yet to reveal a premiere date for the series’ first episode, the network did share an update on production earlier this week. According to HBO’s CEO, Casey Bloys, the first season is currently being filmed, but the writers are already drafting up the second. Each season will be based on a different book in the series.
“So the plan is to try and get it — I don’t know if it’s going to be like, stop shooting Season 1 on Friday and start Season 2 on Monday. There will be a break in there,” he said during a press event this week, via Variety. “But we’re going to do whatever we can to not have a huge gap, for the kids, obviously, but also for viewers. We’re trying not to have massive gaps. It is a big show. Lots of special effects, obviously, a massive operation. But we’re going to do what we can, for the kids ages, but also for viewers as well.”
