Daniel Radcliffe has shared the one Harry Potter joke he finds funny – and it relates to his own son.
The actor was cast as the boy wizard over 25 years ago and has heard numerous wizard jokes over the years, but he told Seth Meyers on his late-night show on Monday (November 24) that one in particular really made him laugh.
“It’s very rare that I experience a Harry Potter joke in the wild that makes me truly laugh,” he told host Meyers. “Not because they’re bad, just because I’ve heard all of them! It has to be really good to make me laugh.”
He then explained that, during a previous visit to the set, Meyers was planning to ask him a question about his son, whom he shares with his partner Erin Darke. “I don’t say his name on TV,” Radcliffe explained of his son, who was born in 2023.
Meyers then recalled being backstage with producers when they made the joke, explaining: “I was like, ‘Tell me how old Daniel’s child is.’ And they were like, ‘Two years old but [Daniel] never says his name publicly.’ And then my producer Kevin Miller said, ‘Is it Voldemort?’”
“It’s really good,” Radcliffe said, “It’s a really good joke,” with Meyers telling him, “Obviously you’re the audience for it.”
Lord Voldemort is the main antagonist in the series, and most characters refuse to say his name out loud, instead referring to him as ‘You-Know-Who’ or ‘He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named’.
While on Meyers’ show, Radcliffe was reunited with his Merrily We Roll Along costars Jonathan Groff and Lindsay Mendez to promote the live recording of the musical – it’s set to arrive in theatres next month after being filmed live during its stage run last year.
Discussing the premiere screening, Mendez told Meyers that Radcliffe “was in a ball, not wanting to watch himself,” and the actor confirmed that he always finds it tricky to watch himself onscreen.
“I started watching it and I was like, ‘Oh god,’ but then I watch these guys and I’m like, ‘Oh, that’s nice,’” he said. “It was mixed for me. If there could be a cut made of everything I’ve ever done without me in it, I would love watching that.”
Meyers then joked, “They say the Potter films are not great without Potter,” before Radcliffe replied, “I mean, I beg to differ. I think there’s a lot of people doing some really good work.”
Radcliffe will, however, have the chance to watch Harry Potter without him at some point in the next couple of years. HBO’s TV adaptation of the series is scheduled to premiere in early 2027, with Dominic McLaughlin portraying the wizard, though Radcliffe has kept his distance from it following his disagreements with author – and one of the show’s executive producers – J.K. Rowling, over transgender identity and rights.
However, Radcliffe said last week that he wrote McLaughlin a letter and received a “very sweet note” back. He told Good Morning America, “I do not want to be a spectre in the lives of these children. I just wanted to write to [McLaughlin] to say, ‘I hope you have the best time, and an even better time than I did – I had a great time, but I hope you have an even better time.’
“And I do. I just see these pictures of him and the other kids and I just want to hug them. They just seem so young. I do look at them and say, ‘Oh, it’s crazy I was doing that.’ But it’s also incredibly sweet and I hope they’re having a great time.”
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