Daniel Radcliffe was mortified doing 'nerdiest thing possible' next to Rihanna

Daniel Radcliffe says he still feels ‘mortified’ after doing the ‘nerdiest thing possible’ while sat beside Rihanna on the The Graham Norton Show. You can relive his embarrassment here, if you fancy:

The Harry Potter star appeared on the show back in 2010 and was lucky enough to be sat beside Rihanna and Colin Farrell.

However, the 33-year-old admits that even years later he’s left haunted by the ‘surreal experience’ when he thinks back - but that being a ‘nerd’ on TV actually turned out to be a smart career move.

During an interview with the Guardian, Radcliffe recalled that while being sat beside the two mega-stars he pulled off a flawless rendition of Tom Lehrer's 1959 song The Elements. To be fair, mate, I reckon Hermione would be very proud of you.

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For those unfamiliar with the song, it's a bit of a tongue twister that somehow manages to cram each and every element of the periodic table in and Radcliffe smashed it, to be fair to him.

He said: “My most surreal experience was sitting next to Rihanna and Colin Farrell on Graham Norton and doing the Elements song.

“Now, I’m mortified. ‘You did the nerdiest thing possible next to two of the coolest people on the planet. What were you thinking?’ But doing that and Alphabet Aerobics [on Jimmy Fallon] have both got me jobs.”

So while he may still be internally cringing, Radcliffe says the performance was one of the things that brought him to the attention of ‘Weird’ Al Yankovic, adding: “Sometimes doing something really nerdy on a chat show will work out for you, years later.”

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Yep, I’d bet anything you like that Rihanna remembers it to this very day, too.

Radcliffe played Yankovic in Weird: The Al Yankovic Story - fictionalised and exaggerated story based on Alfred Matthew Yankovic - or Weird Al, as he’s better known.

The musician is best known for his parody songs including Amish Paradise (a riff on Gangsta’s Paradise) and Eat It (in the style of Michael Jackson’s Beat It).

During an interview with NME, Yankovic confirmed that after seeing Radcliffe recite the song without messing up he realised he was a ‘kindred spirit’ and would be perfect for the role.

Yankovic said: “He performed The Elements Son’ by Tom Lehrer.

“You have to be kind of a big nerd to memorise that. I thought: ‘Here’s a kindred spirit. This guy gets it.’”

I think there’s a compliment in there somewhere, Daniel.

Topics: Celebrity, Harry Potter, Rihanna, TV and Film

Claire Reid

Claire is a journalist at LADbible who, after dossing around for a few years, went to Liverpool John Moores University. She graduated with a degree in Journalism and a whole load of debt. When not writing words in exchange for money she is usually at home watching serial killer documentaries surrounded by cats. You can contact Claire at [email protected]