Daniel Radcliffe returned to the world of ‘Harry Potter’ to read the first chapter of ‘Harry Potter and The Philosophers Stone’.
The 30-year-old star – who played the titular wizard in the blockbuster movies based on J.K. Rowling’s iconic children’s books – has recorded himself reading ‘Chapter One: The Boy Who Lived’ from the first tome, which was released back in 1997, for the author’s new online ‘Harry Potter At Home’ website.
The aim is to provide some entertainment for children and parents during the coronavirus pandemic.
Other narrators, include Eddie Redmayne, the star of the spin-off films ‘Fantastic Beasts’, which are set before the books, and see the 38-year-old actor play the leading role of Newt Scamander.
Claudia Kim – Nagini in the Fantastic Beasts’ – and Noma Dumezweni, who took on Emma Watson’s role as Hermione Granger in the stage show ‘Harry Potter And The Cursed Child’, are also set to read a chapter.
Stephen Fry – who narrated the ‘Harry Potter’ audiobooks on Audible – and retired soccer ace David Beckham’s Potter-mad daughter Harper, eight, and Dakota Fanning have also recorded parts of the story.
As well as being available via harrypotterathome.com, the audio clips will be published on Spotify, for both free and Premium users, and on the new standalone Spotify Kids app that’s exclusively available to Premium Family subscribers in select markets.
Daniel kicked things off with the first reading today (05.05.20), available now.
More will be added each week between now and the end of June.
The ‘Harry Potter At Home’ hub is just one of the ways author J.K. – who revealed she had suffered some of the symptoms of the deadly respiratory virus – is helping out amid the pandemic.
The award-winning writer recently revealed she has donated £1 million to help domestic abuse victims and the homeless during the health crisis.
She wrote on Twitter: "Today’s the 22nd anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts, but I’m going to be honest and say that it feels inappropriate to talk about fictional deaths today. Too many people are losing loved ones in the real world. So on this anniversary of a great wizarding victory, I’m thinking of the people who’re out there doing their jobs to protect us and our way of life. I have 3 key workers in my immediate family, and like all such relatives, I’m torn between pride and anxiety. As ever in a crisis of this sort, the poorest and most vulnerable are hit hardest, so in honour of the Battle of Hogwarts, I’ll be making a donation of £1m, half of which will go to https://crisis.org.uk, who’re helping the homeless during the pandemic and half of which will go to https://refuge.org.uk, because we know that domestic abuse has, sadly, increased hugely during the lockdown."
Daniel Radcliffe returns to wizarding world to read a chapter from Harry Potter
