Daniel Radcliffe paid tribute today to his Harry Potter costar Maggie Smith, who died this morning at the age of 89.
The two actors actually met on a job prior to the Potter franchise, when both were cast in a 1999 BBC adaptation of David Copperfield. Radcliffe played the young Copperfield, and Smith his great-aunt Betsey Trotwood.
“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 to the press today. “I knew virtually nothing about her other than that my parents were awestruck at the fact that I would be working with her.
“The other thing I knew about her was that she was a Dame,” he continued, “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!’ 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 10 years on the Harry Potter films. She was a fierce intellect, a gloriously sharp tongue, 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.”
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