Jamie Parker Casts a Spell on The Tonight Show

May 11, 2018

Posted by: Kim McChesney

Actor Interviews, Broadway, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Interviews, News, Television Programmes, Theater

Cursed Child’s Jamie Parker made his first appearance on late night TV when he dropped by The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon yesterday. Parker, who was recently nominated for a Tony for his role as the grown up Harry Potter, spent a few minutes catching up his host on the amazing transfiguration of the Lyric Theatre, filling the shoes of his iconic character, and even sharing a bit of his own magic.

Fallon started the interview holding up playbills for each of the play’s two parts to which Parker responded, “It’s not eight hours,” confirming for anyone a little apprehensive about the show’s length, that it runs just over five with a break every hour or so. Parker also gushed about the magnificent renovation of Cursed Child’s Broadway home, the Lyric Theatre and thanks in part to award-winning set designer Christine Jones, and the experience of the play beginning when visitors walk through the door,

“The whole world of the play comes out into the house.”

In the interview Fallon asked Parker if he felt pressure playing this incredibly iconic role to which he said,

“You can go a bit mad with the ‘iconic’ thing pretty quickly. If you want to do good material and you’re lucky enough to get a chance to do it, then chances are probably somebody pretty nifty will have been there before you. When I got the job on Cursed Child, I was doing another show in the West End and I was playing a part that Marlon Brando had played.”

When Fallon asked if Daniel Radcliffe had been to see the play yet Parker responded with a tidbit that made for a collective “Awwwwww” heard across the fandom,

“No, he hasn’t been in yet. We’ve been trading bunches of flowers at the moment. Whenever he opens a play or I’m opening something, we’re sort of outdoing each other with goodwill[…]about the most English thing you’ve ever heard.”

“But I understand why he might be a bit circumspect about sitting in a confined space with 1,600 Potterheads,”

to which Fallon suggested Radcliffe wear an invisibility cloak.

Parker mentioned playing pitcher in the Broadway Softball League with Cursed Child team, the Fizzing Whizbees on their days off and revealed this about his teammates and his own knowledge of the sport,

“Half of which are British and don’t know the rules of softball.”

Parker was gifted a new autographed bat by fellow late night guest, former MLB star A-Rod, Alex Rodriguez, so maybe the actor will up his game!

The late night newbie also brought some of his own witchcraft and wizardry to The Tonight Show. Take a look at the magic below:

The trick may have cost him his freedom, however, as playwright Jack Thorne and J.K. Rowling herself weighed in on the implications of his actions, and the technicalities of the statute of secrecy. It’s an amazing thread on Twitter involving the writers and the cast of Cursed Child, so be sure to read the whole thing below:

Poppy Miller (Ginny Weasley) also weighed in:

But nothing compares to a threat of incarceration from J.K. Rowling herself!

Congratulation to Jamie Parker on his first late night talk show appearance. We’ll be rooting for him on the softball field and at the Tony Awards, June 10 at 8p ET live on CBS!





The Leaky Cauldron is not associated with J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros., or any of the individuals or companies associated with producing and publishing Harry Potter books and films.