Daniel Radcliffe shared that he was able to talk about the new cast members of the upcoming Harry Potter series with Emma Watson and Rupert Grint and it made them reflect on their own journeys in the franchise.
Daniel previously starred as Harry Potter, while Emma played the role of Hermione Granger and Rupert portrayed Ron Weasley in the Harry Potter films.
In an interview with PEOPLE, Daniel remarked "how surreal [it is] to watch people starting off on that journey, all those years later."
The actor highlighted how the three of them resonated with what the new Harry Potter stars could be going through stepping into the world of such a massive franchise.
"It's one of those where I think we all just know how the others feel, because we're also feeling it. You just see the pictures of these kids, and you just want to grab them and hug them. That's the impulse that I think that we, mainly, all have," he stated.
Daniel also pointed out that realizing how young the cast members are, it put his Harry Potter experience into perspective.
"When you're 11, and you're doing something, you're like, 'Of course I'm old enough to do this — I'm the oldest I've ever been.' But now when I meet 11-year-olds, I am like, 'Whoa, that seems nuts.' It puts it into perspective," he remarked.
The actor also realized the amount of work that his parents did in order for him to navigate the entertainment world as a child star.
"Honestly, it makes me admire – and I do tell them this, but — my parents, more than I was capable of doing at the time. Just going like, 'Wow, you got me through something crazy, and you did it with a huge amount of humor,' yeah, it's a big task," he stated.
In an interview with Good Morning America in November 2025, Daniel relayed that he wrote a letter to Dominic McLaughlin, the young actor stepping into the role of Harry Potter in the upcoming series.
"I wouldn’t say that anyone who is going to play Harry has to [reach out to me], but I know a few people working on the production. I wrote to Dominic and sent him a letter and he sent me a very sweet note back," he shared.
On what he wrote Dominic, he relayed: "I don't want to be a specter 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.”
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Daniel remarked that seeing the new cast ignited a lot of memories in him when he was filming the Harry Potter films.
"I just see these pictures of him and the other kids and I just want to hug them. They just seem so young. I just 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," he said.
Aside from Dominic, the upcoming Harry Potter series will star Arabella Stanton as Hermione Granger and Alastair Stout as Ron Weasley.
Filming for the show started in 2025 and it is set to premiere in 2027 on HBO Max.
"This new Max Original series will dive deep into each of the iconic books that fans have continued to enjoy for all of these years," Casey Bloys, Chairman and CEO, HBO & Max Content, previously stated. The executive also guaranteed fans that the series will be "a faithful adaptation" to the books.