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Both actors were tentpoles of the Harry Potter franchise, with Daniel playing Harry and Maggie playing Hogwarts professor Minerva McGonagall.
Maggie appeared in eight of the nine films, beginning with The Sorcerer’s Stone in 2001 and ending with Deathly Hallows — Part 2 a decade later. However, the two actors had previously worked together on an entirely different project.
As Daniel recalled in a statement published by the Associated Press and Variety on Friday, they first met after being cast in BBC’s 1999 two-part TV production of David Copperfield. In the adaption of Charles Dickens’s novel, Daniel made his acting debut as a young David Copperfield, while Maggie played David’s great-aunt Betsey Trotwood.
“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,” Daniel said in his statement. “I knew virtually nothing about her other than that my parents were awestruck at the fact that I would be working with her.”
Then Daniel shared an adorable story about the first question he asked Maggie after meeting. “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!’” he said.
“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,” he continued.
Daniel went on to say Maggie had “a fierce intellect, a gloriously sharp tongue, could intimidate and charm in the same instant and was, as everyone will tell you, extremely funny.”
“I will always consider myself amazingly lucky to have been able to work with her, and to spend time around her on set,” he continued. “The word legend is overused but if it applies to anyone in our industry then it applies to her. Thank you Maggie.”
