Daniel Radcliffe has made an unsuccessful guest appearance at the Off-Broadway revival of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.

The Harry Potter star shocked theatregoers when he was plucked from the audience to appear onstage as one of the show's rotating guest spellers.

Radcliffe jumped in on the fun, joining Broadway vets including Jasmine Amy Rogers, Justin Cooley, Lilli Cooper, Philippe Arroyo and Glee alum Kevin McHale in the Tony-winning musical comedy.

The Harry Potter star was eliminated on his very first word: theatre.

Radcliffe asked Vice Principal Douglas Panch (played by Jason Kravits) to use the word in a sentence, to which he was told, "After achieving his wildest dreams of fame and fortune in the cinema, the young actor decided to throw it all away and take a vow of poverty to pursue a life in the theatre."

Radcliffe, a London born-and-raised actor, looked nervous and confirmed, "We are in America?" before spelling out T-H-E-A-T-E-R, only to be told, "I'm sorry, we are looking for the British spelling."

Video of Radcliffe's appearance was posted to the production's official social media account.

One his way out, Radcliffe was given a juice box and sent back to his seat.

Radcliffe is set to return to the stage next year in the Broadway premiere of Every Brilliant Thing. Opening night is set for 12 March.