Reading - Part 4

Where are the Harry Potter Stars now?

The actors who played the children in the Harry Potter movies are now adults. So how have their early experiences shaped their lives? Daniel Ratcliffe, who played Harry Potter in the eight films, has recently been reading memes featuring him in his famous role and has only just realized that many people considered him cool. At the time, he felt as insecure as anyone that age. The English actor says that although he now has a successful acting career, he always finds the early Harry Potter movies difficult to watch because he admits he wasn't very good at acting. The young actors received coaching in singing and dancing on set, but never any acting training in all the time they were on set, so he feels his early films are very one-dimensional. It wasn't until he met actor Gary Oldman on set in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban that he began to understand how to approach a role. Daniel says he never particularly wanted an acting career but fell into the job. In fact, in an early interview, Daniel told viewers that he wanted to be a professional wrestler!

Rupert Grint, who played Harry's friend Ron Weasley and found being a famous actor very isolating as a child and teenager. Being around adults so much, he felt very strange when returning to his peers to do exams, as he thought he had little in common with them. After filming the fourth film in the series, he even considered quitting the series, as it was "a bit of a drag". Rupert also found being well-known a big sacrifice and even scary. He was instantly recognizable whenever he went out, and people he didn't know took photos of him. The young actor says he disliked being known as Ron Weasley and nothing else. But he has got used to the attention, and, despite these negative aspects, says that the Harry Potter films were an amazing part of his life which he is proud to be a part of.

Emma Watson, who played Hermione Granger in the series, always felt a great connection to her character, as both were perfect students and neither were very cool. She admits to having become rather obsessed with her character to the extent that she could not separate her own identity from hers. Watson feels that she has missed out on her own teenage years as she was "being Hermione" all that time. Since the series ended, Emma has been able to focus more on herself. She continued her studies, getting top grades, in case her acting career didn't work out, but has gone on to star in a number of films. No longer seeking blockbuster films, she chooses smaller, high-quality films that mean something to her personally. She has also become a well-respected ambassador for women's rights. Despite her success, Emma has had to undergo a lot of therapy due to her fame. As a teenager, she often felt that her life as Hermione was so "big" that she lost her own identity. She also feels guilty for not enjoying the fame and attention that she has received. However, by focusing on her family and home life, she has managed to form an identity for herself beyond Hermione.