'Makes me really sad': Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe reveals his thoughts on controversial author J.K Rowling

Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe has doubled-down on publicly distancing himself from author J.K Rowling.

In a new in-depth interview with The Atlantic, Radcliffe, 34, acknowledged that he owes his fame and success to Rowling for penning the Harry Potter series, but insisted he doesn't "owe the things you truly believe to someone else for your entire life".

"It makes me really sad, ultimately," Radcliffe told the publication.

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The best-selling author, 58, has been labelled a transphobe and trans-exclusionary radical feminist (TERF) by activists for her divisive views on gender.

"Because I do look at the person that I met, the times that we met, and the books that she wrote, and the world that she created, and all of that is to me so deeply empathic."

The actor added: "Jo, obviously Harry Potter would not have happened without her, so nothing in my life would have probably happened the way it is without that person.

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"But that doesn't mean that you owe the things you truly believe to someone else for your entire life."

Just a few weeks ago, Rowling challenged police in Scotland to arrest her when she returns to the country over a series of inflammatory social media posts.

Rowling shared a series of messages to her 14 million X (formerly Twitter) followers where she described several prominent transgender women as men in response to the new Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act, which came into effect on April 1.

Misgendering people, under the new law in some circumstances, could be an offence. The maximum sentence for some offences under the new law is seven years in prison.

Rowling claimed in her posts that "freedom of speech and belief are at an end" in Scotland as a result of the law's implementation.

Since 2020, Rowling has routinely been criticised for her public commentary against the transgender community.

Radcliffe was one of the cast members call out Rowling, first speaking out in an essay posted on the Trevor Project website in June 2020.

"Transgender women are women," he wrote at the time.

"Any statement to the contrary erases the identity and dignity of transgender people and goes against all advice given by professional health care associations who have far more expertise on this subject matter than either Jo or I."

Co-stars Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Katie Leung, Evanna Lynch, Chris Rankin and Bonnie Wright are also among the celebrities who have disavowed Rowling's statements.

Harry Potter alum Ralph Fiennes, Helena Bonham Carter and the late Robbie Coltrane, however, publicly supported Rowling.

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