&34;This is a bad idea and it should not be made,&34; the actor remembered thinking. Daniel Radcliffe reveals the 'worst' movie idea he was ever pitched during his Harry Potter days &34;This is a bad idea and it should not be made,&34; the actor remembered thinking. By Mekishana Pierre :maxbytes(150000):stripicc()/MekishanaPierreauthorphotoed08906b8105488ca1e991de8ac00dec.jpg) Mekishana Pierre Mekishana Pierre is a news writer at . She has been working at EW since 2025. Her work has previously appeared on Entertainment Tonight and Popsugar. EW's editorial guidelines February 19, 2026 12:35 p.

"This is a bad idea and it should not be made," the actor remembered thinking.

Daniel Radcliffe reveals the 'worst' movie idea he was ever pitched during his Harry Potter days

"This is a bad idea and it should not be made," the actor remembered thinking.

By Mekishana Pierre

Mekishana Pierre

Mekishana Pierre is a news writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2025. Her work has previously appeared on *Entertainment Tonight* and Popsugar.

EW's editorial guidelines

February 19, 2026 12:35 p.m. ET

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Daniel Radcliffe in 2025. Credit:

Bruce Glikas/WireImage

Daniel Radcliffe is not trying to go down any yellow brick roads, anytime soon.

While chowing down on scorchingly spicy wings during Thursday's episode of First We Feast's *Hot Ones*, host Sean Evans asked the 36-year-old the actor to share the "most bizarre or unique pitch" he's ever said yes to. Instead, Radcliffe recalled what he dubbed "one of the worst ideas I've ever heard," which turned out to be a film idea involving his former *Harry Potter *costars, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson, in an...interesting remake of *The Wizard of Oz*.**

"Somebody came to us and I think asked, like they wanted to cast all three of us, me, Emma and Rupert, as, in a remake of *Wizard of Oz*, where Emma was Dorothy, I can't remember what Rupert was, and I just remember that I was gonna be the lion but also he knew karate," Radcliffe told Evans, which kicked off bout of laughter from the veteran host. "I was like a karate-kicking cowardly lion."

Rupert Grint, Daniel Radcliffe, and Emma Watson on the set of 'Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire'.

Murray Close/ Getty

*The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins* star quipped that even though he was young, he was old enough to have reservations. "I was like 14 or 15, and I was like, 'I don't know a lot about the world, but this is a bad idea and it should not be made.'"

Radcliffe previously shared the tidbit at a press junket for his 2014 romcom, *What If *(released in some countries as *The F Word*). At the time, he recalled that Grint had been suggested for the roles of either the Tin Man or Scarecrow.

"I remember thinking, 'That person is the laziest, craziest person in the world,'" he said, adding that it was "quite funny," per *The Independent*.**

***Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and what to watch with our EW Dispatch newsletter.***

Radcliffe has been taking frequent trips down memory lane recently, especially as he and his former castmates get ready to pass the baton to a new trio of* *actors taking over their former roles as Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger.

In a recent interview with PEOPLE, the father of one shared that the original Golden Trio has been in contact with each other as the HBO Max TV adaptation began production in July. The upcoming adaptation of J.K. Rowling's young adult series will star newcomers Dominic McLaughlin, Alastair Stout, and Arabella Stanton as the Boy Who Lived, everyone's favorite redhead, and the cleverest witch of her age, respectively.

Daniel Radcliffe urges 'Harry Potter' fans to stop asking new cast about original stars

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Radcliffe told the outlet that he, Grint, and Watson have been discussing "how surreal [it is] to watch people starting off on that journey, all those years later."

"It's one of those where I think we all just know how the others feel, because we're also feeling it," he shared, noting that he and his former costars haven't had "a ton of communication about the show specifically," but they're all feeling similar emotions. "You just see the pictures of these kids, and you just want to grab them and hug them. That's the impulse that I think that we, mainly, all have."

Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson.

Valerie Terranova/FilmMagic; David M. Benett/Hoda Davaine/Dave Benett/WireImage; Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty

The series is set to debut in 2027 with showrunner Francesca Gardiner and director Mark Mylod at the helm. It has been billed as a faithful adaptation, expanding each of Rowling's seven books into individual seasons.

Other cast members of the star-studded ensemble include: John Lithgow as Albus Dumbledore, Paapa Essiedu as Severus Snape, Nick Frost as Rubeus Hagrid, Lox Pratt as Draco Malfoy, Johnny Flynn as Lucius Malfoy, Janet McTeer as Minerva McGonagall, Rory Wilmot as Neville Longbottom, Amos Kitson as Dudley Dursley, Louise Brealey as Madam Hooch, and Anton Lesser as Ollivander.

Franchise alum Warwick Davis, who played Professor Filius Flitwick across all eight *Harry Potter* films, is reprising his role for the HBO series.**

Watch Daniel Radcliffe on *Hot Ones *above.**

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Published: February 19, 2026 at 01:00PM on Source: PRIME TIME

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