In 2001, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, the film adaptation of the novel by Briton JK Rowling, was released in cinemas around the world. Huge success and starting point of a saga of eight films spread over ten years, this feature film has transformed its main actors into stars. Twenty years later, what have they become?
Two decades later, Harry Potter is still relevant! To celebrate 20 years since the theatrical release of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Harry, Hermione and Ron and the other members of the film’s all-British cast will return on January 1, 2022 on HBO Max, for one episode special titled Return to Hogwarts. Huge critical and commercial success, the saga of the famous little bespectacled wizard has transformed child actors into stars. But twenty years later, what have they become?
Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter)
How to bounce back after having played for ten years the most famous young wizard on the planet? A daunting task but met brilliantly by actor Daniel Radcliffe, now 32 years old. Far from confining himself to big productions or being talked about because of his private life, the actor is successfully multiplying roles and genres.
Beat generation poet in Kill Your Darlings (2013), undercover police officer with neo-Nazis in Imperimum (2016) or even a Playmobil in the eponymous 2019 film, Daniel Radcliffe’s post-Harry Potter career is marked with the seal of the diversity.
Emma Watson (Hermione Granger)
Become famous at 10 years old with the role of Hermione Granger, Harry Potter’s best friend, Emma Watson has never hidden her difficulties in supporting notoriety. Despite this, she continued her career by participating in many highly acclaimed projects with renowned directors such as Sofia Coppola (The Bling Ring in 2013), Darren Aronovsky (Noé, 2014), Alejandro Amenábar (Regression, 2015), Bill Condon ( Beauty and the Beast, 2017) or Greta Gerwing (The Daughters of Doctor March in 2019).
Emma Watson, 31 today, is a committed and feminist actress. She was appointed Goodwill Ambassador by the UN Women in July 2014 then noticed during a feminist speech at the United Nations in 2016. She also acts in favor of fair trade and sustainable development.
Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley)
Rupert Grint during the British film festival in Dinard in 2018. (Photo: Marc Ollivier / Ouest-France)
He is arguably the most discreet member of the original trio since the end of the Harry Potter saga. Interpreter of Ron Weasley, Rupert Grint tried his hand at the big screen in 2013 in Charlie Countryman. At 33 today, it is for the small screen that he has worked the most in recent years with roles in the adaptation of Snatch in 2016, then in 2019 in Servant, the horror series of M. Night Shyamalan (Sixth Sense), available on the Apple+ video-on-demand platform.
Bonnie Wright (Ginny Weasley)
Bonnie Wright alias Ginny Weasley, the great love of Harry Potter, became a director by writing the short film Separate We Come, Separate We Go in 2012. A first attempt which was notably selected at the Cannes Film Festival.
The actress who is now 30 years old is very involved in charities. She is named ambassador of the association Lumos, a non-governmental organization (NGO) which helps more than one million children in Europe in precarious situations. Strongly involved in environmental causes and associations, in 2019 she officially became an activist and ambassador for Greenpeace, where she uses her notoriety to raise awareness about the preservation of the environment.
Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy)
After his role as Draco Malfoy, Tom Felton, 34 today, followed up with several film projects, the best known of which is Planet of the Apes: Origins, released in 2011 at the cinema. Alongside the films he also embarked on a musical career.
He has so far recorded five EPs (discs of four to six tracks): Time Well Spent and All I Need in 2008, In Good Hands in 2009, Hawaii in 2010, and a more recent one in 2021 titled YoOHoO. He also recorded many singles, such as Silhouettes in Sunsets, Time Isn’t Healing, If You Could Be Anywhere or hOLDing On.
Alfred Enoch (Dean Thomas)
After his small role in Harry Potter, Alfred Enoch notably played in the hit series “Murder” for three seasons. (Photo: Mitch Haaseth/ABC)
Relatively discreet in the Harry Potter universe with his role as Dean Thomas, a classmate of the bespectacled wizard, Alfred Enoch exploded in 2014 when he signed for the hit American television series Murder.
For three seasons, from 2014 to 2017, he lends his features to Wes Gibbins alongside the charismatic Viola Davis (The Suicide Squad, The Color of Feelings). Since 2021, the 32-year-old actor has been starring in Foundation, the very ambitious Apple + series adapted from Isaac Asimov’s books.
Josh Herdman (Gregory Goyle)
He played throughout the Gregory Goyle saga, one of Draco Malfoy’s two sidekicks. Nasty on screen with the main trio, the atmosphere once the cameras were off seemed very different, as evidenced by this souvenir photo shared by the actor.
Since the end of the saga, the 34-year-old British actor has devoted himself to his career as a mixed martial arts (MMA) athlete. He also had a small role in the second season of the series Marcella in 2018, available on Netflix.