25 years after Daniel Radcliffe first brought the young wizard to life in the 2001 movie Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, the star has wished the new Harry Potter the best of luck ahead of the new TV show adaptation hitting HBO this Christmas.
When asked if he has any advice for new Harry Potter star Dominic McLaughlin, Radcliffe told Associated Press, "I'm really, truly in the business of not giving Dominic advice. He's got it. He doesn’t need any advice from me. If I say something to you, then the next interview people have with him, they’ll be like, 'Oh, Dan said you should do this.' And I don’t want to haunt this poor child through interviews. So I have no advice for him. He's gonna be amazing, and I hope that I will get to meet him someday, and I'm very excited about that."
However, Radcliffe doesn't think he will be tuning into the series. "I don’t know if I will [watch it], honestly," said Radcliffe. "I’ve watched [and] been in a lot of Harry Potter already. Also, I don’t watch any TV. I haven’t seen Breaking Bad. I haven’t seen Mad Men. I haven’t seen some of the real classics. So, you know. Eight hours is a lot of anything to watch."
Radcliffe was just 11 years old when he started filming the first Harry Potter movie, and returned to the franchise almost every year until the eighth and final movie, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, released in 2001. Radcliffe was 21 years old when he finished playing Potter for good. McLaughlin is in a very similar position. The now 12-year-old has a long road ahead, as HBO plans to shoot seven seasons over 10 years, meaning McLaughlin will also be in his early 20s when filming ends.
Harry Potter season 1, officially titled Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, will adapt the first book just as the first movie did, following Harry's first year at Hogwarts after he finds out that he is a wizard. But the series format allows the new adaptation to delve into the source material further. With that in mind, McLaughlin arguably has an even harder task than Radcliffe did, having to log so many hours of content.
Alongside McLaughlin, the younger cast also includes Arabella Stanton as Hermione Granger, Alastair Stout as Ron Weasley, and Lox Pratt as Draco Malfoy. As for the adults, John Lithgow plays Dumbledore, Janet McTeer plays Minerva McGonagall, Paapa Essiedu plays Snape, and Nick Frost has been cast as Hagrid.
Harry Potter season 1 hits HBO and HBO Max on Christmas Day. For more, check out our ranking of the Harry Potter movies, and keep up with new TV shows on the way.
