New Harry Potter Actor Says It Was ‘Insane’ to Get Daniel Radcliffe’s Letter of Support Before Filming Started: ‘I Was Going Mad’
Dominic McLaughlin is taking over the role of Harry Potter in HBO’s series reboot and recently gave an interview on BBC’s “Saturday Mash-Up! Live” where he said “it was insane” to receive a personal letter from none other than Daniel Radcliffe, who played the boy wizard in Warner Bros.’ eight-movie franchise. Radcliffe revealed last month that he wrote words of encouragement to McLaughlin before HBO’s “Harry Potter” series started filming.
“It was insane,” McLaughlin said about getting Radcliffe’s support. “My Dad tapped me on the train and just gave me this letter. I read it and then I got to the bottom, and it said, ‘Dan R.’ I was going mad, but I had to [keep cool]. I was on the train.”
McLaughlin added that filming on HBO’s “Harry Potter” series is “going amazing,” adding: “It’s going really well. I’ve made good friends with everyone, it’s great to be there.”
Radcliffe said on “Good Morning America” in November that he wrote a letter to McLaughlin and got a “very sweet note back” from the young actor. McLaughlin is headlining the new “Harry Potter” opposite Alastair Stour as Ron and Arabella Stanton as Hermione.
“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,’” Radcliffe said. “And I do, 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.”
Rupert Grint later told the BBC that he similarly rout a letter to Stout giving him his full blessing as the role of Ron Weasley gets passed down to a new actor.
“I wrote him a letter before they started, passing the baton as it were,” Grint said. “It was really just wishing him all the best with it. I had so much fun stepping into this world, and I hope he has the same experience… It’s quite strange to have the cycle happening again. I’m really intrigued what it’s going to be like.”
Grint acknowledged there’s “a bit of family resemblance” between himself and Stout, adding: “I think it’s great that it’s a whole new thing. It’s going to be its own thing, and I think that will be fun.”
The “Harry Potter” series is set to debut on HBO and HBO Max in 2027.
