With a brand-new cast set to reimagine Harry PotterDaniel Radcliffe revealed what he told his replacement in a private letter. Fourteen years after the final movie, production got underway on a new TV show remake of Harry Potterwith Dominic McLaughlin, Alastair Stout, and Arabella Stanton stepping into the roles made famous by Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson.

During an interview on Good Morning America to promote his next Broadway show, Every Brilliant ThingRadcliffe opened up about the kind words he sent to McLaughlin in a letter after he was cast as Harry Potter in the TV show.

The Tony winner told the 11-year-old that he hopes he has “the best time“and an”even better time than I did.” McLaughlin ended up writing a “very sweet note” back to Radcliffe, who did not share the contents of the young actor’s reply.

Radcliffe added that he’s seen the photos that have been released of McLaughlin, Stout, and Stanton, and just wants to give all of them a hug because they “seem so young.” He still can’t believe that he was in their shoes at that age. Check out Radcliffe’s additional comments below:

I wouldn’t say that anyone who is going to play Harry has to (reach out). I know a few people who are working on the production, so I wrote to Dominic and I sent him a letter, and he sent me a very sweet note back. I just wanted to write to him to say, ‘I hope you have the best time, and an even better time than I did — I had a great time, but I hope you have an even better time. And I do, I just see these pictures of him and the other kids and I just want to hug them. They just seem so young. I just look at them and say, ‘Oh it’s crazy I was doing that.’ But it’s also incredibly sweet and I hope they’re having a great time.

Radcliffe starred in all eight Harry Potter movies as the titular character. The films grossed over $7 billion at the box office and made him, Grint, and Watson household names.

After the films ended, Radcliffe got his movie and TV career going strong with projects like The Woman in Black, Kill Your Darlings, Victor Frankenstein, Swiss Army Man, Now You See Me 2, The Lost City, Weird: The Al Yankovic Storyand Miracle Workers.

The 36-year-old has also taken the Broadway world by storm, with starring roles in Equus, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, The Cripple of Inishmaan, The Lifespan of a Factand Merrily We Roll Along (which earned him a Tony Award win).

After experiencing huge success and fame at a young age, Radcliffe knows what McLaughlin is about to experience when the Harry Potter TV show debuts in 2027. McLaughlin has already been spotted filming the first season with Nick Frost, who’s playing Ruby Hagrid, and the Dursleys, played by Daniel Rigby, Bel Powley, and Amos Kitson.

Other Harry Potter TV show cast members include John Lithgow as Albus Dumbledore, Janet McTeer as Minerva McGonagall, and Paapa Essiedu as Severus Snape. Warwick Davis is the only cast member from the Harry Potter films to reprise his role for the TV show, where he will once again play Professor Flitwick.

After the box office success of the movies, it was inevitable that Warner Bros. would attempt to extend the franchise, which it did with the Fantastic Beasts prequels. While that series started off strong, it eventually ended with a whimper amid mediocre reviews and Johnny Depp’s scandal, which forced the filmmakers to replace him with Mads Mikkelsen.

Warner Bros. decided to go back to the drawing board by re-adapting the original seven novels. This time around, the TV show plans to be much more faithful to the source material than the movies were.

McLaughlin, Stout, and Stanton might become household names like Radcliffe, Grint and Watson are, and Radcliffe’s letter to the new cast proves that everyone involved with the franchise, past and present, only wants the best for these young stars, who are about to experience fame like they’ve never had to deal with before.

The Harry Potter The TV show is slated to premiere in 2027 on HBO and HBO Max.

Cast

Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Tom Felton, Alan Rickman, Matthew Lewis, Bonnie Wright, Evanna Lynch, Maggie Smith, Michael Gambon, Richard Harris, Ralph Fiennes, Helena Bonham Carter, Alfred Enoch, Harry Melling, Gary Oldman, Robert Pattinson, Warwick Davis, Oliver Phelps, James Phelps, David Bradley, David Thewlis, Katie Leung, Jason Isaacs, Imelda Staunton, David Tennant, Jamie Campbell Bower, Timothy Spall, Robbie Coltrane, Eddie Redmayne, Jude Law, Katherine Waterston, Ezra Miller, Dan Fogler, Alison Sudol, Johnny Depp, Mads Mikkelsen

Movie(s)

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore

Harry Potter is a multimedia franchise about an orphaned boy who enrolls at Hogwarts School of Wizardry, where he learns the truth about himself, his family, and the terrible evil that haunts the magical world. Adapted from the novels, Harry Potter is an eight-episode film saga that follows the journey of Harry Potter and his friends, Hermoine Granger and Ron Weasley, as they navigate the tricky world of growing up, school life, and magic. Starting from year one and moving to their seventh year, the films chronicle the students’ time at Hogwarts while unfolding a sinister plot that centers around the unsuspecting Harry. With the return of the dark wizard, Voldemort, the students and professors at Hogwarts will fight to carry on as the world around them may change forever. Harry Potter has expanded beyond the world of its films and novels with several video games, a spin-off film series titled Fantastic Beasts, and even attractions at Universal Studios.