Topics: Daniel Radcliffe, Harry Potter, JK Rowling, Film and TV
The Boy Who Lived is seemingly keeping his spell book shut when it comes to returning to Hogwarts.
Daniel Radcliffe and the rest of the Harry Potter cast were able to inspire and delight a generation with unforgettable trips to Hogwarts.
But our last trip to the school for Witchcraft and Wizardry with Potter, Emma Watson’s Hermione Granger and Rupert Grint’s Ron Weasley was over a decade ago, as the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 came out in July 2011.
So, some fans were delighted (or dismayed) to learn that HBO Max would be taking a new generation to the school for a Harry Potter TV series.
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Little is known about the series but as it will be a TV show rather than a film and some fans are excited for the show to hopefully flesh out the wizarding world in a way films couldn’t allow due to the time restraints.
Radcliffe was recently asked in an interview with E! about whether he would be open to making an appearance, either as a cameo or as a professor at the magical school.
"Like the rest of the world, [I’m] very excited to watch as an audience member,” Radcliffe told the outlet on May 17.
When asked whether he would star, he said "No, I don’t think so."
So, that pretty much closes the door on some fans’ dreams of him playing Professor Dumbledore or Severus Snape.
Radcliffe continued: “[The show runners] very wisely want a clean break"
"I don't know if it would work to have us do anything in it,"
But the 37-year-old actor kind of dodged the question on how he would respond if HBO Max approached him to star.
"I'm gonna be a politician about this and not deal in hypotheticals."
This is slightly less firm than what he said back in 2023 when he was asked as he said he’s ‘definitely not’ looking to be involved.
"My understanding is that they're trying to very much start fresh and I'm sure whoever is making them will want to make their own mark on it and probably not want to have to figure out how to get old Harry to cameo in this somewhere,"
"But I do wish them, obviously, all the luck in the world and I'm very excited to have that torch passed," he added.
"But I don't think it needs me to physically pass it."
Radcliffe’s reluctance to be involved with the new series comes as he has made his allyship to the trans community abundantly clear in the wake of creator JK Rowling's repeat accusations of transphobia.
Earlier this year, Rowling was firm that Radcliffe and Watson, as well as others, 'could save their apologies.'
Radcliffe eventually responded and admitted to be sad about how things have unfolded.
“It makes me really sad, ultimately,” he said when speaking to The Atlantic.
“Because I do look at the person that I met, the times that we met, and the books that she wrote, and the world that she created, and all of that is to me so deeply empathic.”
He added: “Jo, obviously Harry Potter would not have happened without her, so nothing in my life would have probably happened the way it is without that person,”
“But that doesn’t mean that you owe the things you truly believe to someone else for your entire life.”
