Daniel Radcliffe Discusses “Harry Potter” Memories and the Late Robbie Coltrane on “20 Questions: On Deadline” Podcast

Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe recently appeared on an episode of the podcast 20 Questions: On Deadline, discussing everything from his role as Al Yankovic in the newly released Weird: The Al Yankovic Story to the resemblance between him and Lord of the Rings star Elijah Wood.

Of course, it’s hard for those talking to Radcliffe to not discuss the franchise that brought him fame; Potter fans will be pleased to hear that on the podcast, Radcliffe also discussed his memories of the Harry Potter films, including his time with the late Robbie Coltrane (Rubeus Hagrid).

Rubeus Hagrid and Harry Potter in “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone”

When talking about the most fun he’s ever had on set, Radcliffe mentioned filming Weird and moments from Swiss Army Man, as well as the magnificence of the Potter films, stating that as a kid he was able to “play around on some of the craziest amazing sets,” while reminiscing about the incredible details that can be seen in them.

That’s the other thing about those sets is, they were so detailed and you would have rooms going off rooms and yeah, they… I mean, I’ve been on some great films since, but I was really spoiled by the production design on the Harry Potter films. They were unbelievable sets. The Chamber of Secrets is still… Yeah, it’s ridiculous what they did with that. It was so cool.

It won’t be a surprise to fans of the much-loved franchise that when asked which film fans most often quote to him, it is “absolutely Harry Potter.”

People don’t really quote it at me. […] I’m sure somebody drunk at some point in my life has shouted, ‘You’re a wizard, Harry’ at me, but it is not a common occurrence.

Daniel also admitted that he doesn’t always catch on when people quote from Potter.

That definitely happened a couple of times where people have made a Harry Potter reference that they assume I would get immediately, and I’m like, ‘I’m sorry, it’s been a while. I don’t know all the things anymore.’

Speaking about the sad passing of Robbie Coltrane, Radcliffe described him as “an incredible man,” discussing the fond memories from when Daniel was a young actor on the set of the Potter films.

My memories of him always were lovely, but when we were young, young kids as well and required entertaining on set in a way that you don’t when you’re a bit older, I think he was very aware of that, and Robbie was also a dad. He was very good at making his own kids laugh, I’m sure, so he knew how to make some young, hyperactive kids very, very entertained on set, and yeah, he was lovely.

The thing with Robbie’s passing and Helen’s and Alan’s and Richard and… The list goes on and on, unfortunately. Yeah, we were all really young when we met these amazing people, and so there is just going to be this strange procession through our lives, and yeah, it feels very odd but also incredibly lucky to have been able to work with him and all those other people. What an amazing thing to have that.

Alongside the recently released Weird, Daniel is keeping busy. He’s currently working on the musical Merrily We Roll Along, and he even voices one of the Knights of the Sun in Season 6, Episode 9 of Rick and Morty, “A Rick in King Mortur’s Mort.” The penultimate episode of the season sees Morty ending up on the Sun and getting entangled in a wild adventure. It’s safe to say that Daniel’s character is sure to provide some laughs.

If you’re intrigued to find out more about what Daniel had to say on 20 Questions: On Deadline, you can catch the episode on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.