"They warned me, 'you're going to be doing the screen test with Daniel Radcliffe a week after the audition.' And then in the hair and make up department, he walked up behind and scared me. But you get used to him quickly because he tries to make you feel very welcome and at home"
About this Quote
The most revealing detail here isn’t Daniel Radcliffe’s prank; it’s the machinery surrounding him. Lynch’s story opens with “They warned me,” a phrase that captures the weird ecology of fame on a major set: Radcliffe isn’t just a coworker, he’s a weather system people brief you on. The quote lets us feel the intimidation of entering a franchise as an outsider, especially for an actor still in the proving-it phase. A “screen test” a week after an audition sounds clinical, but the emotional reality is closer to being called into the principal’s office with the school’s most famous student waiting inside.
Then Radcliffe appears not as a distant icon but as a body in a hallway, leaning into a cheap, human gag - sneaking up to scare her. That choice matters. It punctures the “Harry Potter” aura with something deliberately ordinary, a reset button on hierarchy. It also functions as a test of its own: can the newcomer relax, laugh, belong?
Lynch’s pivot - “you get used to him quickly” - is doing diplomatic work. It reassures the audience that the star isn’t a tyrant, while quietly acknowledging the initial shock of proximity to celebrity. The final clause, “he tries to make you feel very welcome and at home,” reframes power as caretaking. It’s a small masterclass in set culture: the lead sets the temperature, and the fastest way to build an ensemble is to make the myth approachable.
Then Radcliffe appears not as a distant icon but as a body in a hallway, leaning into a cheap, human gag - sneaking up to scare her. That choice matters. It punctures the “Harry Potter” aura with something deliberately ordinary, a reset button on hierarchy. It also functions as a test of its own: can the newcomer relax, laugh, belong?
Lynch’s pivot - “you get used to him quickly” - is doing diplomatic work. It reassures the audience that the star isn’t a tyrant, while quietly acknowledging the initial shock of proximity to celebrity. The final clause, “he tries to make you feel very welcome and at home,” reframes power as caretaking. It’s a small masterclass in set culture: the lead sets the temperature, and the fastest way to build an ensemble is to make the myth approachable.
Quote Details
| Topic | Friendship |
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