Daniel Radcliffe explains why he didn't attend Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
BY EVAN SLEAD

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
Posted June 7 2016 — 11:35 PM EDT

It seems the only thing missing from the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child preview performances Tuesday in London was Harry Potter himself — well, Daniel Radcliffe, that is.

The franchise that launched Radcliffe’s career has received a new installment, and theatergoers who saw Tuesday’s preview took to Twitter to sing its praises, but don’t expect to see Radcliffe among them. The “boy who lived” shared an honest and heartwarming explanation as to why he wasn’t in attendance to cheer the new entry.

“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,” said Radcliffe in an interview with E! News. “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.”

Leave it to Mr. Potter to make us feel warm and fuzzy inside even when he’s not donning the black-rimmed glasses and lightning bolt scar.

The Cursed Child officially opens July 30, and the text of the play will be released on July 31.

Fans of Radcliffe can catch him in Now You See Me 2, which is now playing in theaters nationwide, and Swiss Army Man, July 1.