Daniel Radcliffe has been slowly working his arse off to leave the iconic role of Harry Potter behind him over the last few years, and though he’s done that with relative success, he’ll never truly escape the role. The epic Harry Potter story came to a conclusion with 2011’s Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, but the franchise is getting an exciting resurgence in the form of a prequel spin-off, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
Ever since Fantastic Beasts was announced, fans have wondered if Radcliffe would reprise his role. Yes, the film takes place about seventy years before Harry’s beloved adventures, but as seen with The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey‘s Elijah Wood cameo, anything is possible.
We Got This Covered interviewed Radcliffe about his new film What If, and asked if there was a possibility of him showing up in Fantastic Beasts. His response?
“No. None at all. Absolutely no chance.”
Well, that seems pretty cut and dry, eh? So, while Radcliffe won’t be showing up in any past Potter works, there’s always the chance that he could return for future films, if they ever come to be. Interest in more Harry Potter adventures recently hit a fever pitch with JK Rolwing’s new short story, which told of adult Harry’s appearance at the Quidditch World Cup. When asked if he’d ever reprise the role in future films, Radcliffe said:
“I don’t know. I really have no idea. I don’t know if J.K. Rowling has any plans to write anymore of the series with Harry as a central character. In the last story she wrote Harry is 35, so I’m not old enough to play that yet. Thank god, too, otherwise I’d definitely be getting asked about that. In terms of Fantastic Beasts though I definitely won’t be showing up in that.”
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them doesn’t have a director yet, but is slated for release on November 18, 2016. The screenplay is being written by JK Rowling herself, and tells the story of writer Newt Scamander in New York’s secret community of witches and wizards seventy years before Harry Potter reads the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them textbook in school.
Originally published July 24, 2014. Updated April 12, 2018.
