‘Harry Potter’: Which Actor Made Daniel Radcliffe Laugh Until He Was ‘Unable to Recover’?
As a character, Harry Poter experienced quite a bit of strife. This meant that Daniel Radcliffe was often tasked with performing emotionally intense scenes whilst filming the Harry Potter movies. But playing The Chosen One was often a lot more lighthearted than being him. Radcliffe has spoken candidly about how much fun he had during the 10 years that he filmed the eight movies. And it seems that a large source of that fun was due to his fellow cast members.
Daniel Radcliffe had great admiration for many actors in the ‘Harry Potter’ cast
Radcliffe certainly worked with some heavy hitters in the Harry Potter movies. The adult cast was filled to the brim with highly-respected and accomplished actors from the UK. Radcliffe was able to learn a lot from watching his fellow co-stars. And while he seemingly had an appreciation for everyone, there were some actors who truly stood out to him. In an interview with GQ, he named the castmates whose talent he was particularly enamored with.
“The people I really admired were the people that, like, didn’t mystify acting too much; who were just able to like come to set and do it,” the Harry Potter star revealed. “Imelda Staunton, David Thewlis, Gary Oldman, Michael Gambon; they’re all people that can be very normal and chatting away and then can just turn it on on action.”
Michael Gambon was always making Radcliffe laugh uncontrollably
According to Radcliffe, one person who could always jump into character quickly was Gambon. Gambon, of course, portrayed Albus Dumbledore for the final six Harry Potter movies. He took over the role in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban after Richard Harris died. Apparently, the actor also liked to have fun with Radcliffe right up until the cameras started rolling.
“Michael Gambon could do that to a frustrating degree,” Radcliffe continued. “He learned that he could, when I was a teenager, like he could make me laugh very, very easily. Making me laugh like right up until the word action, at which point I was pretty much unable to recover. And he could just like snap into a performance with just like, inherent gravitas and charm. Yeah, he’s awesome.”
The ‘Harry Potter’ star was also very impressed by Imelda Staunton
Gambon’s behavior was pretty much in line with what was shared in Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts. In the TV special, it was revealed that the adult cast pretty much served as the mischief within the Harry Potter movies. Of course, not everyone had to make Radcliffe laugh in order to impress him. He was also in awe of Staunton and her talent. Potterheads will recall that Staunton brought the sinister Dolores Jane Umbridge to life.
“Particularly, Imelda was one of the people that I always just looked at and went like, you’re so good, and it’s so effortless,” Radcliffe recalled. “Cause she will be just chatting away to everyone and having a nice life and day and then able to give an incredibly terrifying or intense performance.” Clearly, Radcliffe had some phenomenal scene partners whilst working on the Harry Potter movies. It’s pretty great to hear that he enjoyed working with his fellow co-stars so much.
