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Daniel Radcliffe opens up about emotional and 'crazy' first year with baby son with Erin Darke

The Harry Potter actor has been with Erin for over a decade

Ahad Sanwari
Ahad Sanwari - New York
Senior WriterNew York
May 22, 2024
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Daniel Radcliffe is still living his best life when it comes to being a parent, after welcoming a son with his longtime girlfriend Erin Darke last year.

The 34-year-old actor spoke with E! News at the Drama League Awards on May 17 and gushed about the upcoming Harry Potter series on Max and fatherhood.

When asked what being a parent had taught him, he joked: "Honestly, that I cry a lot more now than I did before, I never thought it would be possible for a creature to make me so tired and me still just love that thing so much."

He added, though, that he loved being a dad. "It's the best!…It's been a crazy year." Daniel emphasized that the biggest lesson he'd learned over a year of parenthood was the power of women and mothers.

"It's taught me that women are incredible," he gushed. "That my partner Erin is incredible. Everything that she has done for him, becoming a [mom] over the last year, has been the most beautiful part of watching this whole thing so far."

And speaking of the Harry Potter reboot, which won't drop till 2026, while fans of the franchise may be excited to see the original Boy Who Lived return, that may not be the case.

Erin Darke and Daniel Radcliffe© Shutterstock
Daniel and Erin welcomed their first child together in April 2023

"I don't think so," he told E!. "I think they very wisely want to [have] a clean break. And I don't know if it would work to have us do anything in it…I'm very happy to just watch along with everyone else."

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He did tease, however, that his future with the franchise may not be decided just yet. "I'm gonna be a politician about this," he joked. "And not deal in hypotheticals."

Daniel Radcliffe and Erin Darke join the picket line In New York City on July 21, 2023 in New York City. Members of SAG-AFTRA, Hollywood's largest union which represents actors and other media professionals, have joined striking WGA (Writers Guild of America) workers in the first joint walkout against the studios since 1960. The strike could shut down Hollywood productions completely with writers in the third month of their strike against the Hollywood studios.© Getty Images
"Honestly, I cry a lot more now than I did before!"

The actor is currently making waves off the screen, though, starring in the Broadway production of Merrily We Roll Along alongside Jonathan Groff and Lindsay Mendez, earning his first Tony nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Musical.

MORE: Daniel Radcliffe leaves baby at home with girlfriend Erin Darke for special wedding appearance

Daniel and Erin have been together for over a decade, meeting on the set of their movie Kill Your Darlings and embarking on a relationship in 2012. They welcomed their son in April of last year.

Daniel Radcliffe in a tuxedo and Erin Darke in a blue dress with red lipstick© Shutterstock
Daniel and Erin have been together since 2012, meeting on the set of the film "Kill Your Darlings"

In a previous interview with E!, six months after welcoming his son, he gushed: "He's great, it's amazing! There's a short answer and a long answer to that. And the short answer is it's awesome and he's the best thing that's ever happened."

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The long answer is "it's frankly terrifying to have a human being in the world that I care this much about and that everything he does is going to affect how I feel about my life for the rest of my life. So, you know, that's intimidating."

daniel radcliffe erin darke the lost city screening 2022© Getty Images
"There's a short answer and a long answer to that. And the short answer is it's awesome and he's the best thing that's ever happened."

One of the first things he learned about was the baby's sleep schedule and tailoring his own to match, saying: "There's no relation to what we need for sleep. The less I sleep, the more I sleep at night. But the less they sleep, the less they sleep! And the more they sleep, the better they sleep! It makes no sense, but it is apparently how they work."

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