Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe mourns the death of Maggie Smith
Daniel Radcliffe, star of Harry Potter, is devastated by the loss of Dame Maggie Smith, his co-star. Radcliffe’s acting career began with the Harry Potter series, in which the two featured. Smith’s long-standing health problems finally claimed her life on Friday at the age of 89.
Radcliffe laments Smith’s demise.
Reminiscent, the 35-year-old actor spoke about the first moment he learned that Smith would be starring with him. “The first time I met Maggie Smith, I was 9 years old and we were reading through scenes for David Copperfield, which was my first job,” Radcliffe said in a statement sent to Page Six on Friday. He said that at the time, he was ignorant about his co-star’s career. But when Radcliffe said he wanted to collaborate with her on his first movie, his parents were “awestruck.”
“The first thing I asked her when we met was ‘Would you like me to call you Dame?'” he remembered. “The other thing I knew about her was that she was a Dame.” She laughed and responded, saying something along the lines of, “Don’t be ridiculous.”
The Woman in Black star recalled how, despite his initial “nervousness,” Smith’s words and presence instantly made him feel “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 10 years on the ‘Harry Potter’ films,” he said to the media source.
He called the star of Downtown Abbey a “gloriously sharp tongue” lady with “fierce intellect.” “[Maggie] could charm and intimidate in the same instant and was, as everyone will tell you, incredibly funny,” Radcliffe said.
“I will always consider myself amazingly lucky to have been able to work with her and to spend time around her on set,” Radcliffe said in his thank you speech for the late actor. Although the term “legend” is overused, she fits the description if it applies to anybody in our field. I’m grateful, Maggie.
The adored Professor Minerva McGonagall from Harry Potter
The late actor portrayed Professor Minerva McGonagall in all eight of the Harry Potter films, which were based on the fictitious books of the same name by author J.K. Rowling. Her cause of death was not disclosed, however her family did acknowledge that she died “peacefully in hospital.”
In a statement, her sons Toby Stephens and Chris Larkin—whom she shares with her ex-husband, Robert Stephens—said, “We must announce the passing of Dame Maggie Smith with deep sadness.” She was a very private lady who was at the end with friends and family. Smith’s five grandkids and sons are “devastated by the loss of their extraordinary mother and grandmother,” they said.
Her three Emmy Awards from her performance in Downtown Abbey made her well-known. In addition, she received one Tony Award, three Golden Globes, and two Academy Awards. Smith was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II in 1990.
