“We’ve always encouraged people to have a break with KitKat. But it seems thieves have taken the message too literally.”
25 years ago, three children sat in front of a room full of cameras and journalists — and gave the world its first glimpse of the Harry Potter kids who would become some of the most famous faces on the planet.
Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint were just 11 years old. Emma Watson was just 10.
If your own children are around that age right now, discovering the wizarding world through dog-eared paperbacks or family movie nights, this story might hit a little differently.
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Because on August 23, 2000, at a London press event where the trio were officially introduced to the world as Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, they were still just kids — nervous, chatty and wonderfully unpolished.
The first film in the series, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, was released one year later on November 16, 2001.
‘Harry Potter’ Kids Answer a Now-Viral Question
On that day in 2000, these three kids had no idea how much their lives were about to change over the next 25 years and beyond.
During the documentary Creating the World of Harry Potter, Radcliffe confirmed that the press event was the first time the trio had properly met.
Watson recalled being “terrified” and “so nervous” that she thought she would be sick as she walked into that room. Radcliffe described Grint as the “really chatty one” in those days, while describing himself as “very quiet.”
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Then someone asked the question that has since gone viral: What would they spend their first paycheck on?
Their answers were strikingly age-appropriate — and, for any parent watching, genuinely endearing.
“I’m afraid I’m really going to bore you all,” Watson said, “but I’m going to stick it in a bank until I’m 21.”
A 10-year-old girl, sitting under bright lights in front of the world’s press, and her instinct was to save. For parents trying to model smart money habits for their kids, Watson’s response remains a remarkably grounded moment.
When asked if he would be a “saver,” Radcliffe — who was struggling to make eye contact with the press — said, “probably.”
“Um, I… No, I don’t have any idea,” Radcliffe added.
Grint provided the most Harry Potter-esque answer of the three.
“Well, speaking as a Wizard, uhm, we’re going to get paid muggle money and I don’t really understand it,” he said into the mic.
The children were also asked how much they resembled their characters. Their answers were just as charming.
“I think I’m a tiny, tiny bit like Harry… because… I’d like to have an owl,” Radcliffe said before someone else joked that “he can’t fly on a broomstick yet.”
Grint saw a deeper connection. “I think I’m a scary bit like my character,” he said. “I live in a family of seven, I’ve got a red-headed sister and I live in a burrow.”
What Daniel Radcliffe Says About That Money Now
For parents curious about how all that childhood wealth shaped these kids as adults, Radcliffe’s later reflections are worth sharing around the dinner table.
He reportedly made around $96 million from the Harry Potter franchise, but says he barely touches it.
“I don’t really do anything with my money,” he told The Telegraph in 2016. “I’m very grateful for it, because having money means you don’t have to worry about it, which is very lovely freedom to have. It also gives me immense freedom career-wise.”
In 2012, he told Parade that he almost feels guilty for how much he made.
“I got paid so well for doing the Harry Potter films, it’s ridiculous. If somebody asked me, ‘Did you think you deserve that money?’ No, of course I didn’t,” he told the outlet.
Parade estimates Radcliffe’s net worth at $110 million, with Watson at $85 million and Grint at $50 million.
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But what stands out most, all these years later, isn’t the dollar amounts. It’s the picture of three ordinary children — the same age as the kids reading the books today — being themselves on the biggest stage imaginable.
