Daniel Radcliffe Panicked When He Heard J.K. Rowling Was Writing Another ‘Harry Potter’ Book
The Harry Potter franchise has played a huge role in Daniel Radcliffe’s career and personal life. So when he heard reports that J.K. Rowling was writing another sequel after Deathly Hallows, he panicked.
How Daniel Radcliffe was able to quickly move on from ‘Harry Potter’
Bidding farewell to the Harry Potter films was an emotional task for many of the cast and crew. Although Radcliffe had several projects lined up after the last Potter film, for a moment, the Weird Al star worried about his life after the franchise.
“There was just some very primal reaction,” Radcliffe once said, according to Reuters. “When you’ve spent 10 years in a certain place with a group of people, suddenly that goes … you do sort of go ‘What am I going to do now?’ It was bizarre because I knew I was doing a musical next year but that was all done; I knew that was going to happen, and I knew there was a definite option of one of about three films … but at that moment I was really thinking …’What am I going to without all of you?'”
Fortunately for Radcliffe, after shooting his final scene in Potter, he had another project he immediately needed to focus on.
“That was, I think, the main feeling of slight bereavement, but then four hours later, I was on a plane going to New York where I was doing the Tony Awards the next day, presenting, and I was reading the script for The Woman in Black, and five months down the line I’m halfway through shooting it, so we move on,” he said.
Daniel Radcliffe once worried J.K. Rowling was writing another ‘Harry Potter’ book
With the final Harry Potter film on the horizon, many wondered if Rowling had another sequel in her. According to MTV News, the author had an interview on Oprah where she didn’t rule out writing another Potter book. Radcliffe appreciated Rowling giving fans something to look forward to, but he would’ve been shocked if she continued the series.
“I think Jo is being very kind to a lot of people by giving them that little bit of hope and me that mild heart attack,” Radcliffe said. “But I’ve been doing this for 10 years. A team of surgeons would be needed to reapply my jaw to my face if she did this.”
He also shared that he was a bit tired of playing the character at the time.
“I would be incredibly surprised, but, you know, the other thing is, people have been saying, ‘If she did [write more books], would you be in [the films]?’ And at this point in time, ‘No’ is the answer,” he continued. “I’ve done it for 10 years, and that’s a long time. But I’m also being careful to qualify that with, ‘Better men than me have changed their mind.'”
So when Radcliffe heard rumors that Rowling might have been writing another Harry Potter book, he couldn’t help but panic a little.
“I was worried! I texted her,” Radcliffe once told Celebuzz (via Irish Examiner). “I said, ‘Look, is this true? Are you writing another book?!'”
But Radcliffe joked that Rowling quickly set his worries at ease.
“She wrote back that she was so pleased with my performance in Harry Potter 7: Part 1 that as a reward, she promised to never write another book about Harry,” he added.
Daniel Radcliffe still doesn’t want to star in another ‘Harry Potter’ film
A journalist asked The Lost City actor about the possibility of returning to the Harry Potter world. But it seems his opinion hasn’t changed about wanting to leave the wizarding world behind in favor of newer acting opportunities. At least not anytime soon.
“I’m getting to a point where I feel like I made it out of Potter OK, and I’m really happy with where I am now, and to go back would be such a massive change to my life,” he once told the New York Times. “I’m never going to say never, but the Star Wars guys had like 30, 40 years before they went back. For me, it’s only been 10. It’s not something I’m really interested in doing right now.”
