Daniel Radcliffe and Robert Pattinson are the stars of two of the biggest YA movie franchises in history thanks to their turns as The Boy Who Lived in Harry Potter and Edward Cullen in Twilight, respectively. But before Pattinson was sparkling in the sun as the heartthrob vampire, he appeared in the Wizarding World as the ill-fated Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry’s fellow Triwizard Tournament champion.
On screen, they played rivals, and off of it, their two franchises competed against each other. Yet in real life, Radcliffe has admitted that he and Pattinson have a “very strange relationship.” While speaking on The Jonathan Ross Show, the Potterverse icon revealed that he hasn’t actually seen Pattinson in years, shattering fans’ image of the pair as “great mates,” although he stressed that they did get along back when they made Goblet of Fire many years ago.
“Literally the first, I was in New York about to do Equus, and I was on the West Side Highway and I turned around and saw this billboard and I was like, ‘What, I know that guy!'” Radcliffe explained. “I hadn’t heard of the Twilight books at the time; I hadn’t been aware of that phenomenon. And so yeah, it’s odd. We have a very strange relationship now where we basically only communicate through journalists. We haven’t seen each other in ages. Because everyone assumes we’re kind of great mates, but I’ve met him, he’s a lovely guy when I worked with him.”
Pattinson might not be part of the close-knit Harry Potter cast family, but he stills regards his time at Hogwarts with a lot of affection. A couple of years ago, the future Batman actor gushed that shooting Goblet was a “really special” experience for him and he credits landing that gig as the reason he’s still in the industry today. Pattinson added that the set was “a really nice environment,” praising the way the young cast members were “very protected” and well-treated.
Although Radcliffe hasn’t seen Pattinson in years, he’s about to reunite with everyone else from the Potter movies in HBO Max’s upcoming Harry Potter reunion special, celebrating the 20th anniversary of the movie series, which is set to premiere on the streaming platform this New Year’s Day. The lineup of stars taking part includes Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Tom Felton, Helena Bonham Carter, Robbie Coltrane, Ralph Fiennes, Gary Oldman and many more.
