Every The Simpsons Character Voiced By Harry Potter Star Daniel Radcliffe
"The Simpsons" is well-known for its wide array of surprise celebrity guest stars. These actors stop by the show for a lot of reasons, ranging from "It's an easy gig" to "I'm friends with the producers." With Daniel Radcliffe, who famously played Harry Potter for eight movies in a row, it seems he joined the show simply because he liked the series — that and because he was famous enough that the series liked him back.
"I feel like for a lot of people growing up in England, there are things I know about America and American culture," Radcliffe explained on "The Kelly Clarkson Show" in 2022. "Like, by the time I was eight years old, I was like, 'Bismarck is the capital of North Dakota.' And I know that because of 'The Simpsons.'" He went on to add:
"There's a ton of movie stuff and references to things that I did not understand when I was watching the show. And then I saw those movies 10 years later and I was like, 'Oh, 'A Clockwork Orange' or like 'Indiana Jones.” Like, 'Oh, that was what that was.'"
Putting a fine point on it, Radcliffe noted, "If you came to Earth tomorrow and had to quickly educate somebody about the last 30 years of American culture, you could do worse than doing 'The Simpsons.'"
Radcliffe's respect for the series is reflected in his multiple guest star appearances on it. After showing up in a 2010 episode of "The Simpsons" (almost a year before the final "Harry Potter" film released in theaters), he stopped by two more times afterward, each time playing different characters. It's a feat that few of his "Harry Potter" co-stars can tout. But of his three "Simpsons" appearances prior to 2025, which of them was the best?
Radcliffe's first role was in a Twilight parody
Season 22's "Treehouse of Horror XXI" (which aired in October 2010) featured a segment called "Tweenlight," in which Lisa (Yeardley Smith) falls in love with a mysterious vampire who shares a striking resemblance to Edward Cullen. This Cullen homage is named Edmund Dracula, as played by Daniel Radcliffe. There's a fun meta quality to this casting as well, given that the guy who actually played Edward, Robert Pattinson, briefly starred alongside Radcliffe in "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire."
As for the segment itself? It's fairly middle of the road so far as "Treehouse of Horror" segments go. There are a lot of fun "Twilight" references, including Milhouse (Pamela Hayden) playing a much sadder version of Jacob Black. However, probably the most interesting part is the way the segment takes advantage of its characters' age. Here, Edward and Bella aren't teenagers played by actors in their early 20s; they're only eight years old, which means that Radcliffe's Edmund still needs to have his dad, Count Dracula (Dan Castellaneta), chaperone him around.
Their age also throws a wrench into Lisa's desires to become a vampire. Whereas Bella actually becomes one at the end of the "Twilight" saga (and appears to have a great time with it), Lisa changes her mind once she realizes she'll be stuck as an 8-year-old forever. "I can't spend eternity using kid scissors," she says. "They barely cut anything."
Radcliffe's other appearances include Digby and as himself
Whereas Radcliffe's first appearance on "The Simpsons" pairs him up with Lisa, his second one gives him a storyline with Bart (Nancy Cartwright). In season 25's "Diggs" (which aired in 2014), Radcliffe voices a pale, older boy named Digby Diggs who's super into falconry. Part of what sets this appearance apart from Radcliffe's first one is that now he's using an American accent, and he's pretty good at it; if you didn't know ahead of time that Radcliffe was voicing Digby, you'd probably never even notice it was him.
As for the episode itself? It's not that memorable. It's hardly the worst episode of latter-day "Simpsons," but it drew some criticism from fans and critics for being sort of dull. The basic structure of the episode is sound, it's just that the jokes simply don't land that well. They'll make you occasionally snort air out of your nose, but they won't make you actually laugh.
Radcliffe's final appearance (as of February 2025 at least) was in the season 29 episode "No Good Read Goes Unpunished," which aired in 2018. There, he plays himself as he attends a video game convention "incognito" to avoid being recognized and swarmed by fans. Homer (Castellaneta), of course, doubts that would happen and pulls off his mask, only for Radcliffe to get mauled (to death?) by a group of excited "Harry Potter" fans.
Radcliffe's only in the episode for 15 seconds, which is probably for the best since "No Good Read Goes Unpunished" wasn't well-received by fans or critics either. I'm a big defender of post-classic era "Simpsons," and (like plenty of us here at /Film) believe that there's been no shortage of good episodes in recent years; tragically, though, Radcliffe hasn't been included in any of them. On the bright side, he can potentially return to the show at any moment. Perhaps fourth time will be the charm.