Daniel Radcliffe visits John Lithgow backstage at Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

• Radcliffe visited Lithgow backstage at the Lyric Theatre in New York City
• Lithgow won the Tony for best actor, beating Radcliffe in the same category
• John Lithgow is set to play Dumbledore in the HBO Harry Potter series
  

John Lithgow has been keeping Daniel Radcliffe in the loop about the forthcoming HBO adaptation of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter novels — and the pair have already shared a warm backstage reunion on Broadway.

Radcliffe praises Lithgow at the Tonys

Speaking to PEOPLE at the 79th annual Tony Awards on Sunday, Radcliffe revealed that he had recently paid a visit to Lithgow at Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, currently running at the Lyric Theatre in New York City.

"I went to see his show the other day and he's incredible in it."

The British actor, 36, also expressed his hopes for Lithgow's evening at the ceremony.

"And I hope I get to cheer him when he wins tonight."

That hope came to pass — though with an ironic twist. Lithgow went on to claim his third Tony Award in the category of best actor in a leading role for his portrayal of Roald Dahl in Giant, beating Radcliffe in the very same category.

A fond backstage exchange

Radcliffe, speaking about the veteran actor, described the backstage visit warmly. The Jungle star said the two had not gone into specific detail about the HBO project but that Lithgow had shared encouraging updates about how the production was progressing and how much affection he had developed for the younger members of the cast.

"I got to go backstage, and he was so lovely. We didn't really talk about details particularly. But he was telling me about how well it's going and how fond he is of the kids."

Lithgow as Dumbledore — and those who came before

Lithgow is set to play Albus Dumbledore in the upcoming HBO television adaptation of the Harry Potter series. It is a role steeped in history: the late Richard Harris first brought Dumbledore to the screen across two films before his death in October 2002, after which Michael Gambon was cast in his place and went on to portray the beloved headmaster for the remainder of the film franchise.

Radcliffe, of course, played the titular role of Harry Potter across all eight of the original films, starring alongside Emma Watson, who portrayed Hermione Granger.