‘Wouldn’t have been able to look myself in the mirror.’ Daniel Radcliffe opens up on why he denounced JK Rowling in his infamous open letter

Daniel Radcliffe has opened up on why he penned an open letter against ‘Harry Potter’ author JK Rowling in 2020. In a recent interview with IndieWire, the actor confessed that he would not have been able to face himself in the mirror had he not called out his former mentor for her insensitive remarks against the transgender community.

Radcliffe told the entertainment website, “The reason I was felt very, very much as though I needed to say something when I did was because, particularly since finishing Potter, I've met so many queer and trans kids and young people who had a huge amount of identification with Potter on that. And so seeing them hurt on that day I was like, I wanted them to know that not everybody in the franchise felt that way. And that was really important."

Radcliffe, who is an ardent supporter of LGBTQ rights, had been one of the patrons of The Trevor Project, a non-governmental organisation that runs the world’s largest suicide prevention hotline for queer youth. His long-term association with The Trevor Project was also one of the reasons the ‘December Boys’ star couldn’t keep mum. “It was really important as I’ve worked with the Trevor Project for more than 10 years, and so I don’t think I would’ve been able to look myself in the mirror had I not said anything,” he told the entertainment website.


For those who have not been living under a rock, since 2020, Rowling had made headlines for entirely wrong reasons, namely her offensive remarks against the trans community. In June 2020, the Harry Potter author retweeted an article that discussed the health issues of “people who menstruate.” She was miffed with the writer for not including the word “woman” in the story. ‘People who menstruate.’ I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?” she wrote.
Along with his Harry Potter co-star Emma Watson, Radcliffe had been one of the few stars from the movie franchise who spoke out against the author’s transphobic statements. In 2020, the ‘Lost City’ actor wrote a letter, publicly calling out Rowling for her incendiary remarks against the trans and gender non-conforming community. “It’s clear that we need to do more to support transgender and nonbinary people, not invalidate their identities, and not cause further harm,” wrote the actor. The letter was later published on The Trevor Project website.

The actor who shot to fame, playing Harry Potter, the bespectacled teen wizard, will next be seen in the epic musical satire, ‘Weird: The Al Yankovic Story’. The movie will premiere on The Roku Channel on Friday, November 4.