Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint and more cast members have had plenty of time to reflect on their ‘Harry Potter’ days — and their revelations may surprise you

PHOTO: D DIPASUPIL/FILMMAGIC

Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint and more of their costars have revealed on-set secrets and shared behind-the-scenes memories made alongside the franchise’s eight films. Between individual interviews and the 20th anniversary reunion special, fans have learned about the stars’ real-life relationships, their embarrassing moments and their biggest regrets.

Daniel Radcliffe and Helena Bonham Carter. WARNER BROS.

“Dear HBC, it was a pleasure being your costar and coaster in the sense that I always ended up holding your coffee,” Radcliffe’s note read. “I do love you, and I just wish I had been born 10 years earlier. I might [have had] a chance. Lots of love and thanks for being cool.”

Daniel Radcliffe Has Read Steamy Harry-Draco Fan Fiction

Daniel Radcliffe.ANGELA WEISS/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

When asked about the strangest story he has read about his character, Radcliffe nodded to fan-written love scenes between Harry and his ultra-blond enemy (which often veer into very graphic romantic territory). “I’m obviously aware there’s a lot of like shipping of Harry and Draco as characters together. So, I’ve read some of that,” the Broadway star said.

“Shipping,” as Radcliffe explained to Groff, “is like when you want two characters to get together, for a relationship.”

Tom Felton and Emma Watson Weren’t Always Best Friends

Emma Watson, Tom Felton friendship. BRIAN RASIC/GETTY

Felton goes on to say that he eventually realized that Watson had the “most to deal with” being the youngest and only female cast member during their earliest years of fame. “I’m glad that our friendship did not founder on the rocks of my insensitivity,” he said in his book, for which Watson wrote the foreword.

Tom Felton and Emma Watson Had a Romantic ‘Spark’

Emma Watson, Tom Felton. EMMA WATSON/INSTAGRAM

Despite their rough beginnings, Felton and Watson have both admitted to strong feelings since. The actor behind Draco Malfoy said there was definitely a “spark” between them at time, but it was never too serious.

“I don’t think I was ever in love with Emma, but I loved and admired her as a person in a way that I could never explain to anybody else,” he wrote.

Watson has previously admitted to having a crush on Felton, but in her foreword for Beyond the Wand, she said she “always struggle(s) to explain to people the nature of our connection and relationship.” Their connection, she explained, goes “far deeper” than the average friendship.

“For more than 20 years now we’ve loved each other in a special way,” the actress wrote. “We’re soulmates. It makes me emotional to think about it.”

Tom Felton Was Intimidated to Work with Alan Rickman

Tom Felton and Alan Rickman. WARNER BROS./COURTESY EVERETT COLLECTION

In 2021, Felton hosted a Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone watch party on Peacock’s TikTok account and answered some fan questions about his time on set. When one fan asked what it was like to work with the late Alan Rickman, who died at age 69 in 2016. Felton admitted it could be “scary” to share a set with the award winner.

“He was the only actor I knew and [he was] terrifying in the most pleasant way,” Felton said. He added that Rickman, who played Severus Snape in the films, was “very, very kind” and had a “wicked sense of humor.” Felton called it “a privilege” to work with Rickman, even if it was a little intimidating.

“I met him when I was 12 so it took me a few years to have enough courage to say more than ‘Hi,'” Felton noted on TikTok.

Alan Rickman Knew Snape’s Backstory Before Everyone Else

Alan Rickman. WARNER BROS./COURTESY EVERETT COLLECTION

During Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts, Radcliffe shared that Rickman knew his character Snape’s backstory long before his castmates. The young star explained that the late actor approached J.K. Rowling “very very early” on and asked for more information to aid his portrayal of the sinister-seeming Hogwarts professor.

Radcliffe added, “[Director Chris Columbus] would literally say to him, ‘Why are you doing that?’ [and Rickman would say], ‘I’ll tell you later.'”

Emma Watson Almost Left the Franchise

JAMIE MCCARTHY/GETTY

“I think I was scared,” Watson told Grint during HBO’s 20th anniversary special. “I don’t know if you ever felt like it got to a tipping point where you were like, ‘This is kind of forever now.'”

Jason Isaacs Didn’t Want to Play Lucius Malfoy

Jason Isaacs and Tom Felton. ALAMY STOCK PHOTO

“I was about to play Captain Hook in Peter Pan and I thought, ‘Well, I don’t want to play two children’s villains,'” Isaacs explained in the Return to Hogwarts reunion special. But upon director Chris Columbus’ request, the actor reluctantly read for Lucius as well. ” Unfortunately (or fortunately!) for him, his take on the character through “gritted teeth” fit the part perfectly and he nabbed the role.

Emma Watson Said Her Kiss with Rupert Grint Felt ‘So Wrong’

Rupert Grint and Emma Watson. WARNER BROS.

“Kissing Rupert is one of the hardest things I have ever had to do,” Watson said during the Harry Potter reunion in 2021. “It just felt wrong, so wrong on every level because Dan, Rupert, and I are so much siblings.”

It didn’t help that Radcliffe teased his costars about the scene before they shot it. “I was like, ‘I’m gonna come on set and watch you guys kiss,'” he recalled, to which Watson added that “everyone wanted to be on set” for the kiss. Director David Yates even joked that it felt like “prepping them for a major sports event.”

Bonnie Wright Was Disappointed By Ginny’s Lack of Screen Time

Bonnie Wright. ENTERTAINMENT PICTURES / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO; AMANDA EDWARDS/GETTY

“I think what I maybe took, which I don’t take so much to heart now, is I kind of felt that maybe my anxiety was about like, ‘Oh, I’m going to be seen as badly portraying this character,’ rather than later realizing that I wasn’t really given the opportunity to do that,” Wright said on an episode of the Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum podcast.

She continued, “Sometimes that was a little disappointing, because there were parts of the character that just didn’t get to come through because there weren’t the scenes to do that. So that made me feel a bit anxious or just frustrated, I guess.”

Many Castmates Dated and Crushed on Each Other

Tom Felton, Emma Watson, Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Matthew Lewis. D DIPASUPIL/FILMMAGIC

“There was crushes and people went out with each other and broke up just like you do in school,” said Matthew Lewis, who played Neville Longbottom in all eight movies. “It was exactly the same environment but it was just in a Defence Against the Dark Arts class.”

Radcliffe claimed, “Every part of my life is connected to [Harry] Potter,” revealing that his first kiss and first girlfriends were people he met through work. “It all spirals out from the part of set somewhere,” he said. The former child star added that the fourth movie, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, was their “peak hormone” time.

Some Cast Flings Evolved Into Long-Term Romances

Jamie Campbell Bower and Bonnie Wright.IAN WEST/PA IMAGES VIA GETTY

Several on-set crushes turned into more serious relationships; Bonnie Wright and Jamie Campbell Bower (who played a young Gellert Grindelwald) were engaged in the early 2010s, and Evanna Lynch (who played Luna Lovegood) quietly dated Robbie Jarvis (James Potter) for nearly a decade.