Harry Potter and the Cursed Child's James Snyder on Keeping the British Accent & Joining TikTok

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child star James Snyder wishes he could use his onstage powers in real life. While staying at home with his family in quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic that caused Broadway to shut down, Snyder has become quite the handyman, leaving him yearning for the Accio enchtantment, which summons objects, to be real. Snyder checked in with Paul Wontorek in a recent episode of Broadway.com's #LiveatFive: Home Edition to chat about spending time away from Hogwarts and his viral TikToks.

"We had just finished teching the year three cast into the show when we got the announcement," Snyder said. "Many of these kids were about to make their Broadway debuts. Once a week we've been going through an act of the show on Zoom, which is great because I'm just sitting in my living room with a glass of wine going through the lines. It's actually the accent that goes quickly. My mouth doesn't quite wrap around the words as it needs to anymore." Although the previously announced new cast hasn't been able to perform together yet, Snyder assures us that they already have a magical bond. "We actually had 10 weeks of rehearsal before this," he said. "I was doing double duty of both rehearsal and the show—I was exhausted. It's a great group of people, and I can't wait to be back."

On top of dreaming about a return to the Lyric Theatre, Snyder is also dreamcasting a Cursed Child screen treatment, starring the movie series' original trio. "The play is great onstage; I can't imagine what it would be like if they could do it on screen," he said. "Although, it should be a miniseries or something considering how epic the story is. I would love that."

While it may be a while before we can see Snyder take on the Wizarding World once again, you can find comfort in watching his videos on TikTok. Having joined the app pre-quarantine, Snyder spent his time offstage doing dances and dares with his castmates, some even reached over 2 million views. "I was full steam ahead [on TikTok] when we were doing the show," he said. "Rallying the troops to do dances with me here is a little more difficult because my kids are like, 'No, this is stupid.' They love watching but just don't want to perform with me." If only we had Floo powder to do a TikTok duet with him, from over six feet away, of course!

Watch Snyder talk about the possibility of an If/Then reunion and more in the full episode below!