Harry Potter icon Daniel Radcliffe reveals emotional reaction and letter he penned to new TV series star
"I do look at them and say, 'Oh, it's crazy I was doing that at that age.'"
Daniel Radcliffe has revealed that he wrote a letter to 11-year-old Dominic McLaughlin, who will lead HBO’s upcoming Harry Potter TV adaptation.
In an interview on Good Morning America, Radcliffe – who played Harry Potter across eight films – explained that he knew some of the people working on the new production so he was able to reach out.
"I wrote to Dominic and sent him a letter, and he sent me a very sweet note back," the actor said.
"I don’t want to be a spectre in the life of these children, but I just wanted to write to him 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 time.'"
The actor concluded: "I just see these pictures of him and the other kids, and I just want to hug them. They just seem so young. I do look at them and say, ‘Oh, it’s crazy I was doing that at that age.’ But it’s also incredibly sweet, and I hope they’re having a great time.”
Radcliffe and Rupert Grint were also 11 when he was cast in the first movie, 2001’s Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, while Emma Watson was 10.
In 2023, HBO announced that all seven novels in JK Rowling's hugely popular children's book series were set to be adapted into a new TV show.
The three lead child stars were confirmed in May 2025, with Dominic McLaughlin, Arabella Stanton and Alastair Stout set to star as Harry, Hermione and Ron.
Other actors on the show will include John Lithgow as Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore, Janet McTeer as Hogwarts headmistress Professor McGonagall, Paapa Essiedu as Professor Snape, Paul Whitehouse as Hogwarts caretaker Argus Filch and Nick Frost as gamekeeper and Care of Magical Creatures professor Hagrid.
Harry Potter author JK Rowling has faced backlash in some quarters due to her views on transgender rights. In 2020, she published a lengthy statement detailing her stance on sex and gender debates – the essay was criticised and disputed by LGBTQ+ charities including Stonewall.
Rowling has also shared her views on social media, including in a 2024 post on X (formerly Twitter), in which she insisted that “there are no trans kids” and opposed the idea that a child can be “born in the wrong body”.
In May 2025, Rowling set up the JK Rowling Women’s Fund, which describes itself as offering legal funding support to “individuals and organisations fighting to retain women’s sex-based rights”.
Harry Potter actors including Radcliffe, Grint and Watson, have distanced themselves from Rowling's views and have issued statements supporting the transgender community. Others, including Ralph Fiennes, Helena Bonham Carter and Jim Broadbent, have defended the author from the criticism she has received.
Read more:
- 13 ways the Harry Potter TV series could be salvaged – from Peeves to Voldemort's death
- Harry Potter TV series' Hagrid has key element questioned by original film director: "Part of me was like, what's the point?"
The Harry Potter series will stream on HBO.
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Authors
Molly Moss is a Trends Writer for Radio Times, covering the latest trends across TV, film and more. She has an MA in Newspaper Journalism and has previously written for publications including The Guardian, The Times and The Sun Online.
