Daniel Radcliffe has shared a heartfelt tribute as he mourns the death of the Oscar-winning British actor Dame Maggie Smith, who died on Friday aged 89.
Radcliffe, famed for his titular role in the Harry Potter movie franchise that also starred Smith, recounted the first moment he met her as a young boy.
“The first time I met Maggie Smith I was 9 years old and we were reading through scenes for David Copperfield, which was my first job. I knew virtually nothing about her other than that my parents were awestruck at the fact that I would be working with her,” said Radcliffe in the written statement.
“The other thing I knew about her was that she was a Dame, so the first thing I asked her when we met was ‘would you like me to call you Dame?’ at which she laughed and said something to the effect of ‘don’t be ridiculous!’
“I remember feeling nervous to meet her and then her putting me immediately at ease. She was incredibly kind to me on that shoot, and then I was lucky enough to go on working with her for another 10 years on the Harry Potter films.”
