J.K. Rowling rocked the "Harry Potter" fandom last week when she announced that American wizards do not use the term "muggle" to describe someone with non-magical abilities; instead, they use the term "no-maj." Now, Harry Potter himself, Daniel Radcliffe, has chimed in on the controversy and said that he did not understand what the big deal was.
"I have no strong opinions about this," Radcliffe told Mashable. "We have different words in England, so it makes perfect sense that there should be a different word for it in America."
Radcliffe is currently making the media round to promote his new film "Victor Frankenstein" with James McAvoy, who, unlike his co-star, did have an opinion about the revelation.
"You have no strong feelings about this? It doesn't keep you up at night? I'm outraged," McAvoy said. "I'd be more excited to see what wizards from America and wizards from the U.K. [fight about], like coriander versus cilantro."
The actor previously opened up about his excitement for the upcoming film "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them," which will expand the wizarding world of "Harry Potter," as HNGN previously reported.
Radcliffe is not the only famous actor to respond to all the fuss about "muggle" vs. "no-maj" (pronounced no-madge). "Fantastic Beasts" star Eddie Redmayne also voiced his opinion and told fans that the word "muggle" has not been changed.
"This is the important thing, the word 'muggle' has not been changed, the word 'muggle' still exists. It's just different nationalities. The word 'muggle' will definitely be in 'Fantastic Beasts,' I can put it that way."
The new phrase was coined by "Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling herself, who wrote the screenplay for "Fantastic Beasts." She created the new phrase to show the different wizarding cultures.
