A Harry Potter TV show is on the way, and there are people excited to see some adventures start back up again at Hogwarts. The fanbase has already been told to expect a new cast for this series, which will eventually be available to watch with a Max subscription. Nevertheless, some may remain suspicious about whether veteran actors of the franchise will appear. Unfortunately, we can’t use veritaserum on Daniel Radcliffe, as his recent comments about returning made me feel he could be saying more.
The actor who played “The Boy Who Lived” spoke to E! News about the series and revealed what his reaction would be if Max approached him to be in the series, which will be based on the books. In what was a cryptic response, Radcliffe said the following:
I’m gonna be a politician about this and not deal in hypotheticals.
Is that Daniel Radcliffe never saying never and indicating that it’s possible, or just hoping that he doesn’t piss off anyone at WBD by outright saying he’ll never do the Harry Potter series? It’s exactly the reason why you’d want a veritaserum for this interview, as we’d get his honest thoughts on the matter one way or the other.
While the actor made a bunch of money due to Potter, he’s made honest attempts over the years to try wild and deeply weird roles in order to break out from that mold. One might wonder if he’d undo all of that by committing to play any character in the Max series, which intends to follow the events of the books. Because of that and his age, he obviously wouldn’t play the titular role but could always portray a professor or even Harry’s dead father, James.
That said, it sounds like Daniel Radcliffe believes the show would like to do the series without him or any others who were part of the OG Harry Potter cast. While he’s on the record as someone who has struggled to watch his own performances as Harry, he’s going to be tuning in to watch the series:
I think they very wisely want to [have] a clean break. And I don’t know if it would work to have us do anything in it. I’m very happy to just watch along with everyone else.
Hey, Daniel Radcliffe allegedly skipped out on seeing The Cursed Child, so the fact he may actually watch this next project feels like progress. Maybe the more he experiences, the more encouraged he’ll feel about finally return to the Wizarding World in some shape or form.
In previous interviews, the actor mentioned that didn’t feel a need to join the new HP series and that he feels the creators feel the same way. While his inclusion would probably entice a number of longtime fans to watch the show, I can imagine the headache that could result from trying to find a role for Daniel Radcliffe that is also in line with what audiences expect. I think he’d make a great Severus Snape, personally, but how would the vast majority of audiences respond to that casting? We may never know if there’s no plan of him being involved, but I wouldn’t rule it out just yet. (Man, I wish we had some Veritaserum.)
Those wishing to watch the original eight Harry Potter movies while waiting for the new series can do so with a Peacock subscription. I do think they hold up pretty well at this point, though I would love to see a series that leans further into the ’90s era in which they technically take place.