Many celebrities choose to keep their professional lives separate from their personal lives, and specifically, their kids. Daniel Radcliffe wants to be one of those dads. The actor has high hopes that his son (who he keeps out of the public eye, including his name) won’t find out he’s the boy who lived for a long time. When asked about letting his kid in on this part of his life, Radcliffe credited a funny-but-tragic Matt Damon story that inspired him to keep his son from learning he’s Harry Potter famous.
Daniel Radcliffe has previously spoken about how kids don’t recognize him as Harry Potter anymore, which seems to be the reaction he hopes his own son has. The topic came up while he was out enjoying a date night at the Tony Awards with his partner, Erin Darke. The actor had an interesting point of view on it too when asked by EW about when he’ll be introducing his child to his work:
I mean, probably never. I saw Matt Damon talking recently, and he was like, ‘My kids only like the films I’m in that I get like badly reviewed in.’ And I feel like he’ll be the same. Like, your parents are never cool, are they? So I feel like he’s just going to not be interested, and that’s healthy!
Well, that’s kind of a bummer. However, it also makes total sense, and it seems like the Harry Potter star is perfectly fine with his kid potentially not taking interest in the movies that made him a household name.
In the years since those fantasy films, Radcliffe has pivoted from the world of Hogwarts to more obscure movies, television and Broadway, where he has made a new name for himself. He’s an amazing actor, and these plays have shown new audiences his range. However, it’s still nice for fans who grew up with Harry Potter to see him re-embrace the love for the franchise. Radcliffe used to get stressed out whenever he was recognized as Harry Potter, but now he’s putting the films into a “which is best” bracket.
It’s lovely to see him jumping back on board the train and enjoying it along with the fans, which sometimes includes other actors. When he met Mariska Hargitay, who took over his role in Every Brilliant Thing, she shared with him an emotional story about how she was the real Harry Potter. The actor has been reported as being curious and thoughtful whenever being told stories like this. Although, despite the love for the role, Radcliffe doubled down on keeping his kid out of this loop, saying:
I’m going to keep [my son] from that as long as possible.
Well, while he’ll keep him away from the movies, I am curious to know if they’ll watch the show. The actor is not part of the upcoming reboot, though he has shared his thoughts on who he thinks would be fun to play in the HBO series. His answer is not surprising, given his admiration for Gary Oldman and the love he has for the character of Sirius Black. It’s fun to think about what it’d be like if Radcliffe took on the mentor role for the new Harry, but it’s doubtful we’ll ever see him step back into the wizarding world.
Fans excited to see what the new series has in store can check it out when it premieres on the 2026 TV schedule on December 25 with an HBO Max subscription. You can also use that subscription to watch the movies; however, something tells me Daniel Radcliffe won’t be doing that with his son anytime soon.
