Daniel Radcliffe spent more than a decade playing the Boy Who Lived, but that doesn’t mean he always knew what was happening behind the scenes of the Harry Potter Universe. In fact, the actor recently called out a pretty funny gaffe in The Devil Wears Prada. And once you hear his explanation, it’s hard not to laugh.
During a recent conversation about books and reading habits, Radcliffe reflected on how closely the cast of Harry Potter was kept in the dark about upcoming storylines. In a new interview with Bustle, the actor remembered a specific subplot from The Devil Wears Prada where someone in publishing could get their hands on an early copy of a new Harry Potter book. He said the cast had a very different reaction when they saw that moment in the film:
I remember in the movie The Devil Wears Prada, there's a subplot that is like she has to find a version of Harry Potter before publishing. I remember we all saw that, and we were like, ‘Good luck.’ I think, famously, Alan Rickman was the only person from the cast who was told anything in advance. And certainly we didn't get anything.
For anyone who remembers watching the iconic 2006 fashion movie, Radcliffe is talking about the storyline involving Anne Hathaway’s character scrambling to obtain the unpublished manuscript of the next Harry Potter book for Miranda Priestly’s daughters. In the film, landing that manuscript is portrayed as the ultimate impossible task. According to the Swiss Army Man star, though, it was even more impossible than the movie suggested.
Article continues belowThe actor explained that most of the cast had no idea what was coming in the books. Despite starring in the book-to-screen adaptations, they weren’t given special access to upcoming plot points. That secrecy became something of a legend around the franchise, particularly as the later books contained huge twists fans were desperate to keep unspoiled.
The one notable exception was the late Alan Rickman, who spent the series absolutely crushing the villainous performance—until the story revealed there was much more going on beneath the surface. As Daniel Radcliffe noted, Rickman was famously given key information about his character’s long-term arc by author J.K. Rowling early in the process. That insight subtly shaped his performance across the films, something many fans came to appreciate once the franchise’s biggest revelations finally came to light.
But for the rest of the cast, things were much more mysterious. Radcliffe has previously said that reading the books was a major part of his childhood and that the series helped fuel his love of reading. However, that didn’t mean he had a backstage pass to the story as it was unfolding. Like millions of fans around the world, he often discovered major plot developments simply by reading the books when they were released.
Which makes his reaction to The Devil Wears Prada even funnier in hindsight. According to Radcliffe, the idea that anyone outside the author’s closest circle could get early access was basically laughable, even for the people starring in the beloved movies, which are available to stream with an HBO Max subscription.
The Potter franchise wasn’t just a series of blockbuster movies; it was one of the most carefully guarded literary events in modern publishing. And apparently, even Harry Potter himself had to wait in line to find out what happened next.
These days, Radcliffe is busy with new projects. He currently stars in the new NBC comedy The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins, which premiered in early 2026. The single-camera mockumentary was created by 30 Rock veterans Tina Fey, Robert Carlock, and Sam Means, with new episodes airing Mondays at 8:30 p.m. ET on NBC and streaming the following day for viewers with a Peacock subscription.
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