Remember the child stars of Harry Potter? Here’s what the young actors are up to now
MILLIONS around the world followed the adventures of Harry Potter as he met a host of exciting witches and wizards when he went to study at Hogwarts.
But what happened to the stars after filming ended? This is what they are up to now (and many are unrecognisable)...
Scarlett Bryne (Pansy Parkinson)
Scarlett Bryne, 26, is known for her role as Slytherin Pansy Parkinson in the sixth film in the Harry Potter series – Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
Her character also featured in the final two films of the franchise, but she has since switched playing Quidditch for posing for Playboy, and featured in the magazine earlier this year.
TV fans may also recognise Scarlett for her appearances on The Vampire Diaries, where she plays Nora Hildegard, and from Falling Skies, where she plays Lexi.
And it seems Scarlett’s appearance in the infamous mag may be a sign of her getting involved in the family business – as she’s engaged to Hugh Hefner’s son Cooper, 25.
Josh Herdman (Gregory Goyle)
Actor Josh Herdman, who played the role of Goyle, looks virtually unrecognisable after taking a break to become a cage fighter.
He’s best known for his role as one of two thuggish henchmen of Hogwarts badboy Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter movies – but now looks completely different to his on-screen character.
The 29-year-old star, who appeared in all eight films from the franchise, has swapped magic for the fighting ring after taking a break to start learning mixed martial arts.
Last year, the Potter prodigy wowed crowds in London winning his first match against Polish opponent Janusz Walachowski at the City Pavillion in Romford, east London.
Jamie Waylett (Vincent Crabbe)
Keen-eyed fans will recall that Crabbe was mysteriously absent from the last Harry Potter film.
It was revealed the actor who played Crabbe, Jamie Waylett, had got into trouble after being arrested over cannabis possession, according to BBC.
Deviating from the books, character Zabini Blaise was used to make up Draco’s roguish posse.
Danielle Tabor (Angelina Johnson)
Harry Potter actress Danielle Tabor turned her back on the magical sport in favour of another discipline.
The London-based star, who played Angela Johnson in the first three wizarding films, is now a bodybuilder.
Danielle competes in bikini competitions as a hobby, and tracks her workout regime and food plans on social media.
Afshan Azad (Padma Patil)
The actress who played Padma Patil in Harry Potter has grown up a lot in the five years since the series reached its conclusion.
Over a decade ago, Afshan Azad took up the role of the Patil twin, a girl that was in the same year at Hogwarts as Harry, Ron and Hermione.
Ten years on, the beauty has attracted over 136,000 followers on Instagram and works as a beauty and fashion influencer.
Even though Afshan hasn’t starred in anything since her role in the Harry Potter films, hundreds of fans still leave her support on social media.
Matthew Lewis (Neville Longbottom)
Buck-toothed character Neville Longbottom, who was played by Matthew Lewis in the films, is now completely unrecognisable.
His chubby cheeks are nowhere to be seen now, as he’s grown up and got very, very ripped.
Not only did he send pulses races with a saucy underwear photo, he also sent This Morning viewers swooning when he was interviewed by Ruth Langsford and Eamonn Holmes.
You may remember he starred in the movie Me Before You, alongside Emilia Clarke and Sam Claflin.
James and Oliver Phelps (Fred and George Weasley)
Remember the wisecracking Weasley twins from the Harry Potter movies?
The redheaded duo, Ron’s older brothers, appeared in all eight of the wizard movies and were played by twins James and Oliver Phelps.
They were just 14 when they auditioned for the roles of Fred and George Weasley mainly, Oliver has said, “to get a day off school.”
They are still acting and played two constables in a movie called Own Worst Enemy.
Evanna Lynch (Luna Lovegood)
Evanna Lynch made her film debut a decade ago when she appeared in Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix.
The young actress landed the role of quirky character Luna Lovegood – but she's looking pretty different 10 years on.
Since starring in the world-renowned series, she has made appearances in TV shows Sinbad, Apex and Danny and the Human Zoo.
She has also landed parts in G.B.F., My Name is Emily and It Don’t Come Easy.
Domhnall Gleeson (Bill Weasley)
Father-son duo Brendan and Domhnall Gleeson starred in Harry Potter as Mad Eye Moody and Bill Weasley respectively.
And the eldest Weasley son has gone from strength to strength after his magical role.
He’s starred in About Time, The Revenant and took on the role of General Hux in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Benedict Clarke (Young Severus Snape)
Benedict Clarke was just 15 when he landed the role of the young Severus Snape in Deathly Hallows: Part 2, which hit screens in 2011.
Benedict played the young version of Alan Rickman’s character, Professor Snape, as it was revealed he used to be in love with boy wizard Harry’s mum Lily Potter.
In the years which followed the final Harry Potter flick, Benedict continued his acting career and starred in a number of short films.
He played Andrew in 2014’s Andys and the part of Kyle in In The Wake Of Sirens.
Now the 20-year-old seems to have put the acting on hold and is studying at Cambridge University…. and he looks very different.
He takes arty snaps of his Cambridge college St Catharine’s and posts to his 29,000 followers and appears to travel frequently around Europe.
Hero Fiennes-Tiffin (Young Tom Riddle)
Remember little Tom Riddle from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince?
The Hogwarts schoolboy was played by a young lad who glories in the name Hero Fiennes-Tiffin – which is more fantastic than most of the Potter characters’ monikers.
Hero, son of film director Martha Fiennes and nephew of actors Joseph and Ralph, starred in the sixth Harry Potter film at the tender age of 11.
Eight years on from the release of the film someone seems to have cast a transformation spell on Hero – and made him seriously hot.
The 19-year-old, from Battersea in London, is now a model as well as an actor, and has been signed to top model agency Storm.
A few years after Harry Potter, Hero starred as the young Charlie in Private Peaceful, and he’s currently working on a new film, The Man In The Box, which is set in Nazi-occupied Austria during World War II.
Stanislav Yavenski (Viktor Krum)
JK Rowling fans will remember Viktor Krum, the hunky Triwizard Tournament competitor that swept Hermione off her feet.
And Bulgarian actor Stanislav Yavenski is certainly looking far more rugged nowadays.
Not only has he grown out his hair into a tousled style, he’s also covered his body in impressive inkings.
There’s no doubt that his acting career is less hectic since his part in the Academy Award-winning film franchise, but he has featured in a number of different roles since.
In 2011, he played the role of Angel Yakimov in crime drama Undercover as well as bagging a part in British thriller film Resistance in the same year.
And in 2015 Stan appeared in two episodes of Bulgarian comedy drama series Stolichani v poveche.
Alfred Enoch (Dean Thomas)
Harry Potter’s Hogwarts roommate Dean Thomas, played by actor Alfred Enoch, could often be found hanging out in the Gryffindor common room with his football-mad pal Seamus Finnigan.
Alfred has undergone a dramatic image overhaul since the movie franchise wrapped and has gone on to star in a number of hit TV programmes including Broadchurch, Mount Pleasant and Sherlock.
He is currently starring as Wes Gibbons in the ABC legal drama, How To Get Away With Murder.
However, the London-born star, who graduated from the University of Oxford with a degree in Portuguese and Spanish, admits he’s still recognised for the Harry Potter role.
“Sometimes people are like, ‘Hey, you played Dean Thomas!’ and I’m like, ‘Wow, you actually know!'” he said.
Sean Biggerstaff (Oliver Wood)
Girls swooned over Scottish actor Sean Biggerstaff, who was cast as Quidditch captain Oliver Wood when he was 17.
He’s since swapped the magical sport for a string of on-screen credits, including winning Best Actor Scottish BAFTA in 2007 for his role in BBC4 TV movie Consenting Adults.
More recently he’s starred in two short movies, The Exit and Enora, and in the 2016 film Whisky Galore, alongside Eddie Izzard.
Ellie Darcey-Alden and Alfie McIlwain (Young Lily and James Potter)
Ellie Darcey-Alden and Alfie McIlwain played the young wizard's parents Lily Evans and James Potter in flash back clips from Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part II.
Child star Ellie went on to star in the 2012 Doctor Who Christmas special and started working as a model, voice-over star and advert actress.
She is now a competitive ballet, jazz and contemporary dancer and, hilariously, a fan of Muggle Quidditch - a bizarre sport often played by university societies.
Alfie, meanwhile, went back to his normal life. He now lives in West London where, according to Wikia, he is one of six kids - and has two dogs and a cat.
The teen is currently travelling in Thailand - along with hundreds of other Brits his age.
One things for sure - both youngsters look dramatically different from their big breaks in 2011.
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