During an appearance on Watch What Happens Live Monday, Daniel Radcliffe revealed to host Andy Cohen his reaction over finding out that his H arry Potter co-star, Rupert Grint, had become a father, per E! Online . Grint’s girlfriend, Georgia Groome, welcomed a baby girl earlier in May, releasing a statement confirming the news and requesting privacy. Grint and Groome have been dating for nine years.
While joined by Ellie Kemper — and promoting the forthcoming Netflix special Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs. the Reverend — Radcliffe said that he had spoken to Grint to offer congratulations. He also admitted that he had to wrap his head around the fact that someone he had grown up with had reached such a milestone in life.
“Yes, I texted him the other day. I’m so happy for him. It’s very, very cool. It’s also, like, super weird for me to think that we are all at the age where we are having children but we definitely are.”
Grint is the first central actor in the Harry Potter film series to become a parent. Having gone through this moment — one that made him realize he was getting older — Radcliffe recalled when he turned 30 and how that news affected those around him. The actor said that people would feel “depressed” when they realized how old Radcliffe had become.
Radcliffe also addressed a false rumor from March that alleged he was one of the first celebrities to have caught the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). The Harry Potter actor revealed the rumor put him in an awkward situation with the producers of a show he was working on, as he had to reassure them that he did not have the virus.
The rumor that Radcliffe had coronavirus was spread on Twitter through a fake BBC News account and went viral, forcing the actor’s publicist to issue a formal denial. At the time, Radcliffe took the rumor in stride, saying he was “flattered” to be a target while joking that his pale complexion may have caused people to think he was ill.
Cohen was curious about what celebrities reached out to him after the rumor began to circulate, which caused Radcliffe to begin questioning what the reaction would be if he were to eventually get the virus.
“Actually, I feel like my girlfriend [Erin Darke] got more texts about it than I did. But, like, that was very, very strange. Who knows? I might still get it and now no one will care ’cause that’ll just be like, ‘Well, you had it. He’s fine. He had it once. He’s got antibodies.’”
