UPDATED with the latest: Several Harry Potter cast members have paid tribute today to their costar Maggie Smith, who died this morning at 89. “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,” Daniel 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 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. RELATED: Hollywood & Media Deaths In 2024: Photo Gallery & Obituaries “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.
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