Daniel Radcliffe Says Scrapped ‘Wizard of Oz’ Pitch Starring the ‘Harry Potter’ Trio Was “One of the Worst Ideas” He’s Ever Heard

Post-Harry Potter fame, Daniel Radcliffe has built a career on delightfully offbeat choices — from playing a flatulent corpse to dual-pistol chaos — but even he has his limits. And apparently, one long-ago pitch crossed the line.

While appearing on Hot Ones to talk about his Broadway return in Every Brilliant Thing and the upcoming comedy The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins, Radcliffe was asked about the strangest ideas he’s ever been approached with. His answer? A truly wild reimagining of a classic — starring the original Hogwarts trio.

“One of the worst ideas that I’ve ever heard: During Potter, somebody came to us and, I think, asked — like they wanted to cast all three of us — me, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint — in a remake of The Wizard of Oz, where Emma was Dorothy, I can’t remember what Rupert was and I just remember I was going to be the lion, but also, he knew karate. I was like a karate-kicking Cowardly Lion,” Radcliffe said.

Even as a teen, he could tell it wasn’t a winner.

“I was like 14 or 15, and I was like, ‘I don’t know a lot about the world, but this is a bad idea. This should not be made.’”

These days, Radcliffe’s résumé is a little more traditional — at least comparatively. He most recently appeared in Merrily We Roll Along alongside Jonathan Groff and Lindsay Mendez, continuing his run of stage-to-screen projects.

Meanwhile, as production ramps up on the new Harry Potter TV reboot, Radcliffe has officially passed the wand to newcomer Dominic McLaughlin — and offered some supportive words from afar.

He explained he didn’t “want to be a specter in the life of these children,” but still reached out with encouragement:

“‘I hope you have the best time, and an even better time than I did — I had a great time, but I hope you have an even better time.’”

Karate-kicking lions aside, it’s safe to say Radcliffe’s post-Potter instincts have served him well.