Will Daniel Radcliffe Attend J.K. Rowling's 'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child' Play?

Daniel Radcliffe became an international star when he was just a little kid, playing boy wizard Harry Potter in all eight film adaptations of the book saga written by J.K. Rowling. However, he might be taking a step back when it comes to seeing what happens next with the character: he's not watching the West End play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child ... but why?

The Harry Potter play, set nearly 20 years after the events of the last book (without counting the epilogue), just began its previews on the London stage earlier this week, and many were surprised to notice the actor who played the role for a decade wasn't among the first viewers. And there's a good reason for that.

"It would be a weird one. I could be completely wrong in this, but I feel like if I went to see it that night, there's going to be a lot of Harry Potter fans there in the audience obviously and would that then become a thing?" Radcliffe told E! News earlier this week, as he was attending the premiere of his latest film, Now You See Me 2. "Would it be more about them watching me watch the show or would it take away from the show. I would never want to do anything that would distract or take away from the show."

He probably has a point there. The play marks the biggest thing to happen in the Potterverse since the release of the last film, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II, all the way back in 2011, and it might become a bigger event in itself for fans to see the actor visit the play.

In the years since Harry Potter ended, Radcliffe has taken a turn towards smaller, independent productions, starring in many quirky movies like the fantasy thriller Horns, the romantic comedy What If and most recently the Sundance film, Swiss Army Man, where he actually plays a magical corpse. He's also done a lot of stage work, from Equus to the lead role in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.

Cursed Child is one of two major revivals the Harry Potter franchise is getting this year: Warner Bros. is also releasing a new prequel of sorts called Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, starring Eddie Redmayne as a magical zoologist in the same universe.