‘Harry Potter’ Cast: See the Kids of the Wizarding World Then and Now

For 10 years and eight movies the Harry Potter cast entertained millions of filmgoers from around the world, both those who had read the book series by J.K. Rowling or were discovering the saga for the first time on the big screen.

The series, based on Rowling’s seven novels, tracks young wizard Harry Potter from about the ages of 10 to 18, as he along with friends Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley become classmates at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

The throughline of the story is Harry’s growing conflict with Lord Voldemort, a dark wizard who murdered his parents, attempted to kill him as an infant (earning him the nick-name “the boy who lived”), and has plans to destroy the wizard governing body with the intent of subjugating all beings, magical and human (aka “Muggle”) alike.

One of the greatest things about the films is the opportunity we the audience get to actually watch the Harry Potter cast age before our eyes, a fairly unprecedented experience in the history of movies. At the same time, it made stars of those same cast members, primary among them Daniel Radcliffe as Harry, Emma Watson as Hermione and Rupert Grint as Ron, which is saying something when you consider they were surrounded by the legendary likes of Richard Harris, Dame Maggie Smith, Robbie Coltrane, Alan Rickman and many others.

In the book Scrapbook Memories of the Potterverse: An Unofficial Oral History of the Harry Potter Films, Daniel Radcliffe sums up the experience as follows: “I will never be able to watch one scene in any of these films without immediately connecting it to the memory of that day on set, or to the memory of what was happening in my life. I walk away with a wealth of experience that actors who go to drama school would kill for in terms of the people I’ve been able to work with and watch and learn from. And I walk away, most importantly, with a love of film, of film sets, and the most amazing group of friends anyone could wish for. And I’m not just talking about the cast; I mean so many of my best friends are in the crew, and these are people I will know forever now, and I feel very lucky.”

As a reminder, the films consist of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001), The Chamber of Secrets (2002), The Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), The Goblet of Fire (2005), The Order of the Phoenix (2007), The Half-Blood Prince (2009), The Deathly Hallows, Part 1 (2010) and The Deathly Hallows, Part 2 (2011).

And with that in mind, let’s take a look back at the younger members of the Harry Potter cast, then and now.

Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter

In a sense, Daniel Radcliffe, born July 23, 1989, had the most to gain and lose leading the Harry Potter cast. The approach taken by producer David Heyman was that the film adaptations of J.K. Rowling’s novels would have to pretty much cut everything that didn’t have a direct impact on the Boy Wizard. What this meant is that the films’ success would turn Daniel into a super star, but would simultaneously threaten him with typecasting and derailing his subsequent career. Very much aware of this, he began choosing roles between the HP films — and following them — carefully.

Between Order of the Phoenix and Half-Blood Prince, he starred in December Boys, about four orphan boys competing to be adopted by a particular family. During this period (from 2008 to 2009) he shifted over to Broadway to star in Equus, playing a young man with a pathological religious fascination with horses who is aided by a psychiatrist.

Then, following the two-part Deathly Hallows, and the conclusion of the film series, he returned to Broadway in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying and, in fairly rapid succession, The Cripple of Inishmaan (2013 to 2014), Privacy (2016), Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (2017), The Lifespan of a Fact (2018), Endgame/Rough for Theatre II (2020), Merrily We Roll Along (2022 to 2024).

Also after Deathly Hallows, he has starred in 17 films, among them the gothic supernatural film The Woman in Black (2012), the fantasy horror movie Victor Frankenstein (2015), the truly nutso action film Guns Akimbo (2019) and, most recently, the biopic (with many liberties taken), Weird: The Al Yankovic Story. One would say that he absolutely achieved the goal of breaking free of the figurative chains of Hogwarts. He’s also been in a relationship with Erin Darke since 2012 and they have one child. Daniel is 34.

Emma Watson as Hermione Granger

Emma Watson (born April 15, 1990) has had a quieter career, but is perhaps the most successful of the Harry Potter cast. Rather than focusing on finding additional roles apart from the franchise during the making of the series, she applied her energy to her education, graduating from Brown University with a bachelor’s degree in English literature. That year, 2014, she was also appointed a UN Women Goodwill Ambassador, helping to launch the UN Womencampign for HeForShe, advocating for general equality.

In addition to joining several other advisory boards, she’s worked as a model, lent her name to the People Tree clothing line, in 2020 she joined the board of directors of luxury brand group Kering as an advocate for sustainable fashion, while in 2023 she launched the gin brand Renais. And, oh yes, there has been additional acting beyond Hermione Granger,

Between 2011’s My Week with Marilyn and 2019’s Little Women, she has been in 10 films, including the live action adaptation of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, which went on to have a global box office gross of $1.3 billion. That kind of success, of course, would give an actress her choice of projects, but in Emma’s case, she’s chosen … not to act. She hasn’t appeared in a film in nearly five years and isn’t in a rush to do so.

Expressing her dissatisfaction concerning the industry with the Financial Times in 2020, she noted she will act again, but, “I’m happy to sit and wait for the next right thing. I love what I do. It’s finding a way to do it where I don’t have to fracture myself into different faces and people. And I just don’t want to switch into robot mode anymore.”

Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley

Speaking to Rupert Grint (born August 24, 1988) during the making of the Harry Potter films gave the impression that he was excited to be a part of the Harry Potter cast, but also pretty laid back about the whole thing. In the intervening years between the end of the series and now, things seemingly haven’t changed. Which doesn’t mean he hasn’t been keeping busy with acting work.

During production of the eight films he appeared in Thunderpants (2002), about a flatulent kid who becomes an astronaut; comedy drama Driving Lessons (2006), and the edgy drama Cherrybomb (2009), Since 2012, he’s been in seven films, most recently Knock at the Cabin (2013), directed by M. Night Shyamalan. Additionally, from 2019 to 2023 he’s starred in AppleTV+’s psychological horror series Servant, and he’s enjoyed success on the British stage.

Tom Felton as Draco Malfoy

Any time you’re dealing with a cast of kids, there’s always going to be one who’s so nasty that you wait for his butt to get kicked. Tom Felton‘s Draco Malfoy — bad boy of the Harry Potter cast — is that kid, though, like everyone else, he does evolve over the course of the films’ decade of production.

In 2010, he and a few others launched an independent record label called Six String Productions, for which he recorded his original song “Hawaii.” On top of that, he’s gone on to YouTube to launch a trio of music videos under the account Fallbeats, which see him performing portions of original songs.

He’s appeared in 24 non-Harry Potter films, though the one that has probably brought him the most mainstream attention is 2011’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes, the successful reboot of the original 1968 to 1973 film series. In 2012 he had a recurring role on the superhero TV series The Flash, and like other members of the Potter ensemble, he has performed on the stage, doing so in a May 2022 West End production of A Ghost Story.

Tom, who is 36 and an avid golfer, saw his memoir — Beyond the Wand: The Magic and Mayhem of Growing Up a Wizard — published In October 2022. The book actually debuted at No. 1 on The New York Times nonfiction best-seller list.

Bonnie Wright as Ginny Weasley

The girl who would ultimately capture Harry Potter’s heart is Ginny Weasley (sister of Ron) as played by Bonnie Wright. Born February 17, 1991, in 2012 she launched her BonBonLumiere film production company, through which she made her writing/directing debut on the short film “Separate We Come, Separate We Go.” Three additional short films would follow, as would several music videos.

She’s been in eight non-Harry Potter films between 2013’s The Sea and the still-to-come Those Who Wander; and a pair of TV movies, Stranded (2002) and Agatha Christie: A Life in Pictures (2004). Wright is an environmentalist and ambassador of the Rainforest Alliance as well as the children’s organization Lumos. As if all of that wasn’t enough, she’s done some modeling and wrote the book Go Gently: Actionable Steps to Nurture Yourself and the Planet. Now 32, she’s married to Andrew Lococo and has one child.

James and Oliver Phelps as Fred and George Weasley

Acting twins James and Oliver Phelps — born February 25, 1986 — gained great popularity playing the older brothers to Ron Weasley in the Harry Potter films. Fans interested in seeing them act together away from Hogwarts can check out Own Worst Enemy (2014), Danny and the Human Zoo (2015), short film “7 Days: The Story of ‘Blind Dave’ Heeley” (2019), and Last Night in Soho (2021). Individually, they’ve acted in several other projects.

Between 2017 and 2021 they offered up a video podcast on YouTube that would include them reminiscing on their experiences and interviewing other celebrities. Additionally, they’re supporters of Teenage Cancer Trust and several other charities. James married Katy Humpage in 2015, while Oliver married Annika Ostle the following year.

Evanna Lynch as Luna Lovegood

Evanna Lynch didn’t become a part of the Harry Potter cast until film number five, Order of the Phoenix, but her off-kilter yet oh-so-loyal (and lovable) Luna Lovegood became an important part of the series right to the end.

Born August 16, 1991, she went on to star in seven movies (including the still-to-come Influenced!), made several TV guest appearances, competed on Dancing with the Stars in 2018, and has had great success on the stage in six shows between 2013’s Houdini and 2023’s Under the Black Rock. She’s become extremely involved in veganism as well as charitable organizations, hosted or co-hosted several podcasts on important subjects involving personal improvement, and wrote The Opposite of Butterfly Hunting: The Tragedy and Glory of Growing Up — A Memoir, which looks at her struggle with anorexia. She’s 32.

Robert Pattinson as Cedric Diggory

Robert Pattinson has certainly come a long way since his days as part of the Harry Potter cast, including as vampire Edward Cullen in The Twilight Saga and Bruce Wayne/Batman in The Batman and its forthcoming sequel.

Only Cedric Diggory in Goblet of Fire, the fate of his character nonetheless continues to haunt Harry Potter in films to come. For Robert, the spotlight is not something he craves, choosing instead to let his work speak for itself, much of which has taken place through a string of critically acclaimed indie films where art is more important than commerce. He has starred in 25 non-Twilight films between 2004’s Vanity Fair and 2024’s forthcoming Mickey 17.

Modeling is something he’s done and he’s been a commercial spokesperson for the Dior Homme fragrance. Extremely philanthropic, he’s involved himself in a number of campaigns, including ECPAT UK‘s struggle against human trafficking, “Cancer Bites,” became a first responder in the International Medical Corps, donated autographed items for the Prostate Cancer Research Foundation, participated in the ALS Ice bucket Challenge and so many others. Now 37, he’s been in a relationship with Suki Waterhouse since 2018 and they have a child.

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