Daniel Radcliffe explains how Minecraft & Olivia Rodrigo made him realize he was old

Jacob Hale
Daniel Radcliffe on Minecraft and Olivia Rodrigo

Daniel Radcliffe was the face of Harry Potter and, to many people of a certain age, a symbol of their youth — but those days are gone now, and Radcliffe has explained how Minecraft and pop sensation Olivia Rodrigo made him realize it.

At the age of 31, Radcliffe isn’t exactly ‘old,’ but considering he was the face of one of the most popular fictional series’ in history at the age of 11, it’s hard for many to imagine him outside of the realms of Hogwarts and his adolescence.

That said, he’s now fast approaching the age Harry was at in the prologue of the final Harry Potter book, which fast-forwarded 17 years to when he was 35, a stat sure to throw lifelong Potter fans in a loop.

Radcliffe has aged, and he’s become painfully aware of it in recent years thanks to two relatively new phenomena: Minecraft and Olivia Rodrigo.

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Minecraft has evaded Daniel Radcliffe’s understanding.

During an interview with WIRED, where he answered questions suggested by Google auto-complete, a question about Minecraft came up and Radcliffe had to admit that the blocky sandbox game confused him.

“Minecraft and Olivia Rodrigo have been two of the ‘Oh, I’m old’ moments of recently,” he admitted. “Minecraft obviously, a few years ago, I was playing with my godson, and I was saying all the old person things… It seems very cool, I just can’t do it.”

He continued: “And then, Olivia Rodrigo was at the White House and I was like ‘Oh, you’re famous enough to be at the White House, and this is the first time I’m hearing about you!’ But I completely accept that that is on me, not anyone else.”

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Admitting that they have been “real watershed moments” for him, Radcliffe’s insistence over the years to stay away from social media has clearly had a bit of an impact on his knowledge of new trends.

Though he has claimed to be a gamer in the past, perhaps his tastes grew somewhere outside of the Minecraft realm over the years.

As for Rodrigo, she’s fast becoming one of the most popular pop stars on the planet, so he’ll definitely be hearing more of her over the coming years.

About The Author

Jacob is Dexerto’s UK Editor and Call of Duty esports specialist. With a BA (Hons) in English Literature and Creative Writing, he previously worked as an Editor at Ginx TV. Jacob was nominated for Journalist of the Year at the 2023 Esports Awards. Contact: jacob.hale@dexerto.com.