Daniel Radcliffe Shares Poignant Story Of Meeting Maggie Smith For The First Time

When we hear "Daniel Radcliffe" and "Maggie Smith" together in a sentence, most of us of think about their shared screentime in the magical world of Harry Potter.

But that wasn't the first time the two actors met, despite Radcliffe's young age at the start of the magical franchise. The first time they met was when he was nine years old, starring in the BBC production of David Copperfield.

Like countless others, Radcliffe is currently grieving the late Dame Maggie Smith, who passed on September 27, 2024, and remembering how they met and what she meant to him over the years.

Radcliffe reflected:

"The first time I met Maggie Smith, I was nine years old, and we were reading through scenes for David Copperfield, which was my first job."

"I knew virtually nothing about her, other than that my parents were awestruck at the fact that I would be working with her."

Then Radcliffe shared the first question he ever asked Smith, perfect for a child.

"The only other thing I knew about her was that she was a Dame, so the first thing I asked her when we met was, 'Would you like me to call you 'Dame'?"

"She laughed and said something to the effect of 'Don't be ridiculous!'"

"I remember feeling nervous to meet her and then her putting me immediately at ease. She was incredibly kind to me on that shoot, and then I was lucky enough to go on working with her for another ten years on the Harry Potter films."

Radcliffe had nothing but praise for Smith.

"[She had] a fierce intellect, a gloriously sharp tongue, she could intimidate and charm in the same instant, and was, as everyone will tell you, extremely funny."

"I will always consider myself amazingly lucky to have been able to work with her, and to spend time around her on set. The word 'legend' is overused, but if it applies to anyone in our industry, then it applies to her. Thank you, Maggie."

Fans of Maggie Smith shared countless tributes online to the late star.

Fans of Maggie Smith will see nothing that Radcliffe said as a surprise, based on the characters that Smith portrayed in her lifetime.

For Millennials, especially, Smith was a vital part of any movie fan's childhood with her parts in Hook, The Secret Garden, Sister Act, and for some, David Copperfield. She went on to be a generation's professor and motherly figure in the form of Minerva McGonagall, followed soon after by the strong-willed but lovely Violet Crawley in Downton Abbey.

It's refreshing to know that the woman so many of us saw on screen lived up to—and exceeded—expectations in real life.