With the TV special Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts set to air on HBO Max on New Year’s Day, Potter fever has returned with a vengeance.
Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson, the three stars who played Harry, Ron and Hermione, are all set to share their memories of the pop culture phenomenon, and so naturally interest has grown in what the actors are up to now.
While the franchise made household names of the three, other actors who appeared in the films have gone on to enjoy success in front of and behind the camera, including Alfred Enoch, who played Gryffindor Dean Thomas, and Ginny Weasley, played by actress Bonnie Wright, who is now a successful producer and director.
Most successful of all, however, was the actor who only starred in one film, Goblet of Fire. Robert Pattinson, who played murdered schoolboy Cedric Diggory, went on to star in the hugely successful Twilight films and will soon be on the big screen as the new Batman.
Here's what happened to the stars of Harry Potter...
Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter)
Estimated to have earned about $100 million for his role as Harry Potter in the franchise’s eight films, Radcliffe could have retired at 22, his age when Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 came out in 2011.
But winning the role at the age of 11 ensured the British star was bitten by the acting bug, and he has gone on to star in more films, and appear onstage.
Radcliffe, now 32, has appeared in the big screen adaptation of The Woman in Black, as well as Now You See Me 2 and indie project, Horns.
On stage he’s stared in Equus and How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying on Broadway, and most recently appeared as Ezekiel Brown in the TV series, Miracle Workers.
Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley)
Grint, 33, also made his acting debut when he won the role of Harry Potter’s calamity-prone best friend.
His role choices between Potter films leaned towards smaller, independent films, such as Cherrybomb and Instruments of Darkness.
Moving into television, he starred as rich boy Charlie Cavendish in Snatch and most recently in TV show Servant. In 2020, he welcomed his first child, daughter Wednesday, with his actress partner, Georgia Groome.
Emma Watson (Hermione Granger)
The English actress parlayed her Potter success into a well-respected film career, starring in big budget films such as 2019’s Little Women, as well as smaller fare, such as The Perks of Being a Wallflower.
Her 2017 turn as Belle in Disney’s live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast saw the film earn more than $1 billion at the box office.
In 2009 she took a break from acting to go to university, studying English literature at the prestigious Brown University in the US, graduating in 2014.
Off screen, Watson's role as a UN Goodwill Ambassador has seen her advocate for women’s issues such as education and health care across the world.
Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy)
He has a $20 million fortune, but the actor has revealed he almost went bankrupt after spending his Harry Potter salary on “typical teenage stuff".
Felton, 34, who played Potter’s arch-enemy Draco Malfoy in the films, went on a spending spree, telling the Daily Mail: “I wasted a lot of money on cars – BMWs mostly – for myself and my family. My mum told me: 'You have worked hard for it so get what you want, but beware, you will lose money on cars'. And she was right.”
A huge tax bill and bailiffs at the door persuaded the actor to get his finances in order and he’s been working steadily in TV and film since, with no fewer than five new projects on the go.
Matthew Lewis (Neville Longbottom)
Lewis was already something of a seasoned actor when he signed on to play the hapless yet brave Neville Longbottom in the films, having appeared in British TV series including Heartbeat and Dalziel and Pascoe.
His famous “glow-up” – the act of transforming from ugly duckling into swan – was revealed when he posed shirtless on Instagram and turned the buck-toothed actor into something of a heart-throb.
He went on to appear in the film Me Before You alongside Game of Thrones actress Emilia Clarke, and currently stars as Hugh Hulton in the British TV remake of All Creatures Great and Small.
In 2018, he married Angela Jones, who he met at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter where she worked as an event co-ordinator.
Bonnie Wright (Ginny Weasley)
Although she retains a love of acting, Wright, 30, has moved behind the camera in recent years to direct.
Founding her own production company, BonBonLumiere, her first directorial project was the 2012 drama Separate we Come, Separate we Go, featuring her Potter co-star David Thewlis.
She directed another of her co-stars, Jason Isaacs, who played Draco Malfoy’s father Lucius, in 2018’s Medusa’s Ankles, and has directed music videos for Pete Yorn and Scarlett Johansson.
A keen environmental activist, she is an ambassador for Greenpeace.
Evanna Lynch (Luna Lovegood)
Famously beating out than 15,000 hopefuls at an open casting call to win the role of Luna Lovegood the actress, now 30, has immersed herself in independent cinema and charity work since filming wrapped up in 2011.
Starring roles in 2015’s My Name is Emily and 2019’s Madness in the Method were followed by a stint on season 27 of reality-TV show, Dancing with the Stars, in which she came third.
Alfred Enoch (Dean Thomas)
The young actor came to Hollywood’s attention playing Dean Thomas in the movies, appearing in seven out of eight of the films.
Since wrapping up, the London-born star juggled continuing his education with landing film and TV roles.
Graduating from the University of Oxford, where he studied modern languages, he went on to appear in acclaimed British TV show Broadchurch, before landing the role of Wes Gibbins in How to get away with Murder.
Enoch, 33, has also taken to treading the boards, playing Romeo in a production of Romeo and Juliet at London’s Globe Theatre.
Robert Pattinson (Cedric Diggory)
Of all the stars in Harry Potter, Robert Pattinson has enjoyed the most success in Hollywood.
Fresh off appearing in the films, he landed the lead role of Edward Cullen in the film adaptation of Twilight, propelling him into the public consciousness and pop culture, where he has remained ever since.
Mixing independent films, such as Good Time and The Lighthouse, with big budget fare including the mind-bending Tenet, the face of Dior Homme will next appear on the big screen donning the bat suit as the next Batman in a rebooted series.
James and Oliver Phelps (Fred and George Weasley)
Although they had never acted before, the twins won the roles of Ron’s older brothers in the eight films, with Fred famously dying at the Battle of Hogwarts.
The pair have remained active in the Potter community, attending openings and conventions, as well as the grand opening of Universal Orlando’s new ride, Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure.
Their Normal not Normal podcast, in which they ponder what is and isn’t considered normal, started its third season in 2021.
Katie Leung (Cho Chang)
Winning the role of Cho Chang might have made the Scottish actress famous, but it also opened her up to widespread criticism and online racist attacks online for daring to date Harry Potter.
After Deathly Hallows: Part 2, Leung, 33, landed roles in the Trainspotting sequel and The Foreigner opposite Pierce Brosnan.
A move into television saw her star in The Nest, Roadkill and Annika, and she’ll next appear as Ash in the coming Amazon Prime series The Peripheral.
Clemence Poesy (Fleur Delacour)
The French actress made her mark in Goblet of Fire, reappearing in Deathly Hallows: Part 1 and Part 2, for her wedding to Bill Weasley and for house elf Dobby’s funeral.
Since leaving behind her role as a student at the Beauxbatons Academy of Magic, Poesy, 39, has worked solidly in films, with roles in 127 Hours, In Bruges and War and Peace as Natasha Rostova.
She teamed up with her Potter co-star Robert Pattinson in Tenet, and will next appear in TV series The Essex Serpent, based on the book by Sarah Perry.
