Daniel Radcliffe mourned the loss of his “Harry Potter” co-star Dame Maggie Smith after the actress passed away on Friday.
“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 tells in a statement on Friday.
The “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” actor, 35, said that he didn’t know much about her at the time but that his parents were “awestruck” that he would get to work with her.
“The 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?’ at which she laughed and said something to the effect of ‘don’t be ridiculous!’ he recalled.
Radcliffe remembered feeling “nervous” to meet her, only to immediately be put “at ease” by her warm nature.
“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,” Radcliffe said.
The “Equus” star called the late “Downton Abbey” alum a “fierce intellect” with a “gloriously sharp tongue.”
“[Maggie] could intimidate and charm in the same instant and was, as everyone will tell you, extremely funny,” he said.
For more you love…
“I will always consider myself amazingly lucky to have been able to work with her, and to spend time around her on set,” Radcliffe shared. “The word legend is overused but if it applies to anyone in our industry then it applies to her. Thank you Maggie.”
Want more celebrity and pop culture news?
Start your day with Daily.
Thanks for signing up!
Radcliffe starred as the lead character Harry Potter while Smith played the role of the beloved Professor Minerva McGonagall in all eight of the film adaptations of J.K. Rowlings’ book series from 2001 to 2011.
Smith’s family confirmed that she had passed away “peacefully in hospital” at the age of 89 — though they did not reveal her cause of death.
“It is with great sadness we have to announce the death of Dame Maggie Smith,” her sons, Toby Stephens and Chris Larkin, whom Smith shared with ex-husband Robert Stephens, wrote in a statement.
“An intensely private person, she was with friends and family at the end,” they said, adding that her sons and five grandchildren are “devastated by the loss of their extraordinary mother and grandmother.”
Smith left her mark on the film and theater industry, winning three Emmys for her role in “Downton Abbey,” as well as two Academy Awards, three Golden Globes. and one Tony Award.
In 1990, Queen Elizabeth II appointed Smith a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire.
Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.
