Harry Potter's Daniel Radcliffe Officially Meets His Third Albus Dumbledore - MCE Notices | California State Portal

Harry Potter will get a new remake as a television series on HBO later this year. However, for now, longtime fans still consider the original to be better.

The eight feature films based on J.K. Rowling starred Daniel Radcliffe in the titular role, who has gained worldwide recognition. While the series will introduce a new young wizard, Dominic McLaughlin, it will also feature a completely new cast. Ahead of the show’s premiere on Christmas Day, Daniel Radcliffe met his third Albus Dumbledore: John Lithgow.

Daniel Radcliffe Met Harry Potter’s John Lithgow

The Dexter fan-favorite is the next person to play Albus Dumbledore in the upcoming series. However, he’s also the third Albus Dumbledore Radcliffe has met. The first two Harry Potter films featured Sir Richard Harris, who was replaced by Michael Gambon in 2004’s Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

Radcliffe now met the third Dumbledore, as he supported Lithgow on Broadway for his show Giant. The actor posed next to Lithgow backstage with his longtime partner Erin Darke.

The play, written by Mark Rosenblatt, premiered in 2024 at the Royal Court Theater before heading to the West End in 2025 and Broadway in spring 2026. The play is a dramatization of a period in author Roald Dahl’s life after his 1983 literary review of the picture book God Cried. Lithgow plays the author.

Giant also stars Bookish‘s Elliot Levey as Tom Maschler, Their Finest‘s Rachael Stirling as Felicity ‘Liccy’ Crosland, and The Boys‘ Aya Cash as Jessie Stone, alongside Stella Everett and David Manis.

When it comes to the Harry Potter series, Lithgow stars alongside Janet McTeer as Minerva McGonagall, Paapa Essiedu as Severus Snape, and Nick Frost as Rubeus Hagrid, with Arabella Stanton and Alastair Stout playing Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, respectively. The show has already been renewed for Season 2.

What’s Next for Daniel Radcliffe?

Scott Gries/ NBC

The actor has often highlighted his support for the new adaptation, but clarified that he won’t be a part of it. Radcliffe knows first-hand the pressure that comes with adapting such a popular story, and revealed that he wants the children to make the characters their own.

For years, Radcliffe has mixed film work with theater, and just ended a stint on Broadway in the play Every Brilliant Thing. His next project is the Vietnam War thriller Trust the Man, which was announced in February 2025.

Considering Radcliffe’s busy schedule, the project didn’t advance much, but it just received a new update as Tony and Grammy-winning actor Jonathan Groff just joined the film. The duo previously worked together on the multiple Tony Award-winning revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along, for which Radcliffe won his first Tony Award. It will start production this summer.

Radcliffe will also return in Season 2 of The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins, which scored a 100% approval score from critics on Rotten Tomatoes.