Daniel Radcliffe told “Hot Ones” on Thursday that late actor Michael Gambon had a vulgar nickname he jokingly titled the end of “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.”
Radcliffe was reflecting on his years working with some of cinema’s most prestigious actors during the film series, including Maggie Smith, Gary Oldman and more. “Hot Ones” host Sean Evans then asked what was the best acting he witnessed while on the “Harry Potter” sets.
The star said that he appreciated actors who “make it look easy,” and that’s when he shared a couple of anecdotes about Dumbledore actor Gambon and his sense of humor.
“He f— ked around all the time, like, he would never stop … until action had been said,” Radcliffe explained. “Sometimes he would be trying to make me laugh … Some actors love to dress the whole process up in mystique and being an enigma. Michael Gambon, you’d get to set and he’d be like, ‘What’s the shot?’ And you’d be like, ‘Oh, it’s camera’s here, Michael. So you’re there but you’re looking that way.’ And he’d say, ‘Oh, what is this, B-O-H-N-A-R? I was like, ‘Sorry, what’s that?’ He’s [like,] ‘Back of head, no acting required.’ And it’s like, ‘Yes, yes it is.’”
He went on to share that even during the climax of the sixth installment of “Harry Potter,” Gambon wouldn’t let up on the gags.
“We were like in this boat, I can’t remember the details, but we’re in this little boat going over to this island surrounded by bad stuff, and he’d be like, ‘What’s this, T-T-I-A-B?’ And I was like, ‘What?’” Radcliffe recalled. “‘Two twats in a boat.’”
He concluded his walk down memory lane by further praising the actors who didn’t take the job too seriously, specifically pointing out how personable his former co-star Imelda Staunton was.
“Imelda would be chatting to everybody about anything, and then when actions gets said, she’s locked in and so good,” Radcliffe said. “It’s the people who can do the work without making you constantly aware of how hard they’re working, are always the people that seemed the coolest.”
