Actress and author Jamie Lee Curtis loves to kvell. The Jewish mom of two loves to kvell — the Yiddish word for boast — about her daughters, Annie and Ruby Guest. She loves to kvell about her two godchildren, Maggie and Jake Gyllenhaal.
And, it turns out, she loves to kvell about her former onscreen children — particularly one menschy Jewish actor (and dad!), Daniel Radcliffe.
Last week, Curtis was on the “Today” show to promote her new show “Scarpetta” when she brought out the actor to join her on the couch. Radcliffe was there behind the scenes preparing for his own segment to promote his show “The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins” and Broadway play “Every Brilliant Thing.”
Host Hoda Kotb told Curtis they all saw the two hugging backstage and were wondering how they knew each other. Turns out, they were in a movie called “The Tailor of Panama” together all the way back in 2001. Curtis played Radcliffe’s mom.
“I haven’t seen Daniel since he was… how old were you?” she asks Radcliffe as he hugs him on the couch.
“Ten,” he responds.
“And he had a fake tan because he was very pale, and we were supposed to be in Panama,” Curtis says.
“Unbelievable, so much has changed,” Radcliffe jokes, pointing to his still pale complexion.
“All the kids were in the pool. He couldn’t go in the pool because he had a fake tan,” Curtis continues,. “And I remember he was sitting by the pool and I looked up at him at one point and I went, ‘Wait, you know, you look like that kid who is on the cover of that book!'”
The book she was referring to was, of course, “Harry Potter.” Back when “The Tailor of Panama” was shooting, director Chris Columbus had likely already decided that Radcliffe was a top contender for the titular role of the J. K. Rowling book series film adaptation. But Radcliffe didn’t know that yet.
“His mom was a casting director, and she was like, ‘Yes, they already called us,’ and it was too big of a… what was it, was it too big of a commitment?” Curtis tries to remember.
“It was, at that point, to sign for seven films. I don’t think I knew about it at this point. I think my mom was probably like, ‘No no no, don’t mention it to him!'” Radcliffe recalls. He would be cast in the role in 2001.
Curtis, of course, had to continue kvelling. “And since then, he’s not only done that, but now he’s doing this work, and so he reminds me of Michelle Williams — people who are committed to the art of what they do. She was on ‘Dawson’s Creek,’ now she’s in that fantastic show, ‘Dying for Sex,’ on Broadway, singing, dancing, doing monologues, doing something very important.”
It should be mentioned that Jamie Lee Curtis also starred with Michelle Williams in the 1998 “Halloween H20: 20 Years Later,” so she got two former co-star kvells for the price of one talk show segment. It is just beautiful to see how naturally Curtis goes into kvell mode, and how moved Radcliffe seemed by her words. She’s truly the compliment-loving bubbe I want to be when I grow up.
Hoda couldn’t help but point that out, either. “Can I just say something about Jamie? This was Jamie’s segment. You have one coming up,” she said fondly to Radcliffe.
“I know, talk about your show!” a still somewhat verklempt Radciliffe then implores to Curtis. “Everyone watch ‘Scarpetta!'”
Hoda then asks Curtis for a hug, and the actress happily obliges. “We all need a hug,” she says, then adds Radcliffe into the embrace. She then tells the “Today” show family, which is dealing with the terrible unsolved kidnapping of host Savannah Guthrie’s mother, “We are with all of you.”
If that’s not enough for Jamie Lee Curtis to win over your heart, she ends the segment by giving her former onscreen son a loving kiss on the keppie. My heart just about melted.
It’s clear we all need a Jamie Lee Curtis in our lives.
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