VIDEO EXCLUSIVE: Erik Christopher Peterson & Joel Meyers Discuss Their Roles In Broadway’s ‘Harry Potter & The Cursed Child’

Actors Erik Christopher Peterson and Joel Meyers reflected on their experience as leads in Broadway’s play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child in their new uInterview.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child was written by Jack Thorne from an original story written by J. K. Rowling, Thorne and John Tiffany, set 19 years after the events of the 2007 novel Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by Rowling.

As Peterson, who played Scorpius Malfoy, son of Harry Potter’s long-time bully Draco Malfoy, told uInterview founder Erik Meers, “It picks up [after the] epilogue of the last book leaves off, that’s the first scene of our play, and where it picks up… and we get to go on a pretty wild adventure together.”

Meyers, who played Albus Severus Potter, Harry’s middle child, explained his character’s struggle as the son of a celebrity: “Albus… is a lot like his dad, and that’s not always a good thing.”

He continued, “It’s hard to live in your dad’s shadow when your dad is the savior of the Wizarding World…so Harry and Albus sort of butt heads over that at the beginning of the show, and it’s an adventure of father and son finding their back to each other, and then two friends from dads also don’t like each other kind of building this friendship in spite of the last generation’s differences.”

The Harry Potter franchise has spanned many platforms, and over the years the wizarding world and characters have appeared in movies, video games, spin-offs and more.

Reflecting on what it means to represent such a beloved story, Meyers said, “It’s nice to have that world built but also get to then help create these new characters every night for the first time for the audience – that’s, you know, that’s such a fun sandbox to play in, in the world.”

Peterson noted, “I think that the show holds a lot for people of all ages. I hope that there’s a sense of vulnerability and connection that people can take away – the approval to be vulnerable, the approval to connect and show how much you care about the people that you love.

He added, “I hope people walk away and hug their dads, hug their kids. And I hope people walk away saying, ‘Wow that was so much fun!’”

Meyers agreed with Peterson and expressed his deep love of the theater that began in childhood. Remembering his own experiences of plays in his youth, he said, “I always hope that every night there’s a kid in the audience having that same experience with the show, and receiving… all the heart that is in Harry Potter through that experience of like, ‘Wow this show is so cool, there’s so many colors, and I’m feeling it too.’”

Harry Potter And The Cursed Child is now playing on Broadway. Get tickets here.