On the 20th anniversary of Harry Potter, the celebrated movies adapted from the book series are getting its reunion special, “Harry Potter: Return to Hogwarts,” ready to be aired on Jan 1, 2022. Emma Watson, Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, among many other recurring characters are coming back for this one-off special.
Before the special is to be aired, however, many stars have been talking about cast secrets around the time the series was in production for multiple years. The newest revelation has been Daniel Radcliffe admitting that he had a crush on fellow star Helena Bonham Carter, albeit many years older than him in age.
Radcliffe, now 32, worked with Carter, 55, until 2011 when the final movie came to be. As the main (chosen one) hero, Daniel Radcliffe went directly against Carter’s evil Bellatrix Lestrange in the movie, coming only second to Voldemort himself in evilness. The two share a 23 year age gap, and the Harry Potter actor realized this barrier as he talked about how he would have a shot if he was born some 10 years earlier.
The 32-year-old actor shared the note he gave to Carter after their filming ended, it said, “Dear HBC, it was a pleasure being your co-star and coaster in the fact I always ended up holding your coffee.”
Daniel Radcliffe also further wrote, “I do love you and I wish I’d just been born ten years earlier so I might’ve been in with a chance.” Radcliffe was not the only one to confront his past crushes while filming the series, as Emma Watson also agreed to have a crush on Tom Felton, who played Draco Malfoy while working on Harry Potter.
“I walked into the room where we were having tutoring,” Emma recalled. “The assignment that had been given was to draw what you thought God looked like, and Tom had drawn a girl with a backward cap on a skateboard,” said Watson continuing, “And I just don’t know how to say it – I just fell in love with him. I used to come in every day and look for his number on the call sheet, it was number seven, and if his name was on the call sheet, it was an extra exciting day.”
The reunion is about to happen as soon as the new year gets into gear, available on Sky, and HBO Max for viewers around the world. The overall feel around the special has not been as highly positive as they tend to with certain cultural phenomena, especially of Harry Potter’s scale, but the series’ author’s remarks and continuous transphobic sentiments have pushed many fans away. Before there was some ambiguity around J.K. Rowling’s appearance and participation in the reunion special due to her controversially bigoted remarks, as many reporters even claimed her ‘snubbed‘ from it. However, a recent teaser has shown Rowling to be a part of the special, while the cast including Daniel Radcliffe talks about how fundamental a role the books played for them and for fans around the world.
