Daniel Radcliffe Explains Why He’s Avoiding “Cursed Child” on “Late Night with Seth Myers”

Daniel Radcliffe has delighted audiences with a wide range of interesting and eclectic roles since his time on Potter came to an end. Now, as he steps onto the Broadway stage in The Lifespan of a Fact, he elaborates on the stage play he does not intend to see: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

I feel like it would not be a relaxing evening in the theater. I feel like I would be being watched for my reaction.

Appearing on Late Night with Seth Meyers, Radcliffe expressed a keenness to maintain distance from the Broadway installment of wizarding world magic, describing the idea of intentionally embedding himself within a crowd of such super fans as an “odd” exercise of redirecting audience attention.

It’s fair to say that if someone’s a super Harry Potter fan and they want to go see that play, if they’re sitting next to Daniel Radcliffe, that’s going to be a distraction from the art.” – Seth Meyers

Meyers proposed the possibility of a disguise, but this suggestion was quickly dismissed by Radcliffe for good reason.

The thing about a disguise is that if it stops working, then you’re just the dude who wore a disguise.

Eager to avoid being caught in costume, Radcliffe drifted into anecdote, telling Meyers about the World War II gas mask disguises he and former costar Rupert Grint once wore, and subsequently removed, at Reading Music Festival. Their shared identity reveal, Radcliffe says, was “not a good feeling.”

Interestingly, Radcliffe’s determination to avoid Cursed Child seems to be specific to its theater genre. In 2015, Radcliffe excitedly anticipated the then upcoming Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them film, stating that while he might have to go “slightly heavily disguised” he would “definitely” be seeing the film. However, he has previously discussed the potentially uncomfortable experience of seeing Cursed Child.

Though Radcliffe may steer clear of Cursed Child, he will have plenty of contact with Broadway at large as he takes to the stage as rigorous fact-checker Jim in The Lifespan of a Fact. Meanwhile, hardcore Potter fans can meet up with Harry once more as he is brought to life by Jamie Parker in Cursed Child.