Daniel Radcliffe refuses to give the new Harry Potter any advice — and his reason makes sense
Don’t expect Daniel Radcliffe to offer Dominic McLaughlin any advice before HBO’s upcoming TV series — and there’s a reason for the silence.
If you had a tenner for every time someone asked Daniel Radcliffe if he’s got advice for the next Harry Potter, you’d almost have JK Rowling money by now. Well, we’ve reached that moment, because HBO’s gearing up to launch its big-budget Harry Potter TV remake, and someone inevitably put the advice question to Radcliffe about the new kid on the block, Dominic McLaughlin.
Here’s how Radcliffe put it to the Associated Press: "I’m really truly in the business of not giving Dominic advice. He’s got it. He doesn’t need any advice from me."
That’s the vibe: no grand handover, no ‘this is how you tilt the wand’ masterclass, just a polite refusal. Radcliffe seemed to want to nip the whole ‘passing of the torch’ thing in the bud, saying he doesn’t want McLaughlin to start every interview with, ‘well, Dan said this, Dan said that’. No one needs a 15-year-old haunted by the old Harry through a million red carpet soundbites.
Instead, he backed McLaughlin to do just fine on his own, and mentioned he is genuinely looking forward to meeting him at some point. The rest? Let the new bloke breathe.
New Faces at Hogwarts
If you’ve not been following the recasting saga, Dominic McLaughlin is your new Harry. Rounding out the trio, Alastair Stout lands Ron Weasley, and Arabella Stanton steps into Hermione’s trainers. Frankly, there are some real curveballs in the faculty too: John Lithgow will take on Dumbledore (yes, you read that right), Janet McTeer becomes McGonagall, Paapa Essiedu gets the poisoned chalice of Snape, and Nick Frost gives us Hagrid.
Radcliffe Isn’t Keen on Watching
If you’re wondering whether Radcliffe himself will be glued to the sofa come launch night, the answer is basically, don’t count on it. He’s not exactly a telly obsessive, and by his own admission, the thought of slogging through eight hours of any TV is a lot for him, never mind a retread of Potter.
Radcliffe’s reasoning: "I don’t know if I will, honestly. So you know it’s just, eight hours is a lot of anything to watch."
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (the TV series, not the 2001 film) arrives on HBO Max this Christmas — 25 December 2026, if you want to stick it in your diary.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone TV series premieres on 25 December 2026.