Harry Potter: Where are they now?
From Broadway to the small screen, here's what your favorite witches and wizards have been up to since graduating from Hogwarts.
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Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter)
Radcliffe may forever be The Boy Who Lived in all of our hearts, but since the Harry Potter franchise came to an end, he's made a conscious effort to explore a variety of genres, from horror (The Woman in Black and Horns) and rom-coms (What If) to period pieces (A Young Doctor's Notebook) and biopics (Kill Your Darlings). He made a return to fantasy as Igor in 2015's Victor Frankenstein, starred in the intense drama Imperium, and went indie with Swiss Army Man. He also starred in The Lost City and Weird: The Al Yankovic Story.
Radcliffe has also made his mark on the stage, with critically acclaimed runs in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, The Cripple of Inishmaan, and The Lifespan of a Fact on Broadway. In 2023, he'll star in New York Theatre Workshop's Off Broadway production of Merrily We Roll Along. During his downtime, Radcliffe works with The Trevor Project (among other charities), writes poetry (under a pen name) and unwinds by playing fantasy football and learning complex rap lyrics.
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Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley)
After 10 years playing everyone's dream best friend and adding some much-needed comic relief to the Harry Potter films as Ron Weasley, Grint has explored indie films, showcasing his range with projects like the World War II-set Into the White, the Macbeth adaptation Enemy of Man, and the comedy Moonwalkers. Grint played punk rocker Cheetah Chrome in the film CBGB.
He appeared in BBC One's adaptation of Agatha Christie's The ABC Murders. Grint also made the leap to the stage with critically acclaimed turns in the 2013 West End revival of Mojo and on Broadway in 2014 in the star-studded production of It's Only a Play. You can catch Grint on the TV series Snatch and Sick Note on Netflix.
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Emma Watson (Hermione Granger)
On screen, Watson played the role model for bookish youths everywhere; off screen, life imitated art when she decided to continue her education by enrolling at Brown University and the University of Oxford. Watson graduated with a bachelor's degree in English Literature in 2014. After Harry Potter, she starred in The Perks of Being a Wallflower, The Bling Ring, Noah, and made an ironic cameo as herself in This Is the End. In 2017, she starred as Belle in Bill Condon's live-action remake of Disney's Beauty and the Beast. She also starred in The Circle and Little Women.
In addition to acting, Watson has fronted campaigns for Burberry and Lancôme. After being named a United Nations Women Goodwill Ambassador in 2014, Watson founded #HeForShe, a U.N. campaign that calls for men to advocate for gender equality.
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Michael Gambon (Professor Albus Dumbledore)
Gambon, who took over the role of Dumbledore after Richard Harris passed away in 2002, was a beloved actor long before he stepped into the halls of Hogwarts, and has continued to delight audiences of all ages since. In 2012, he starred in a stage adaptation of Samuel Beckett's radio play All That Fall, which eventually transferred to New York. In 2015, however, Gambon announced that he was quitting stage acting, as his advanced age meant that it took longer and longer for him to memorize his lines.
He has continued to work on screen, with roles in Dustin Hoffman's Quartet, as well as on the HBO series Luck and the Sky Atlantic series Fortitude. In 2015, he reunited with J.K. Rowling to star in the BBC miniseries adaptation of her novel, The Casual Vacancy. He had roles in 2017's Victoria & Abdul and Kingsman: The Golden Circle, and he also appeared in Rupert Goold's Judy Garland biopic Judy. Gambon is a licensed pilot and a car aficionado who has appeared on the iconic BBC series Top Gear.
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Robbie Coltrane (Rubeus Hagrid)
Even before he played the beloved keeper of grounds and keys at Hogwarts, Coltrane was one of the most famous Scottish actors of all time. Since leaving Hagrid's hut for the final time, Coltrane has lent his voice to such animated classics as Brave and Arthur Christmas. In 2012, Coltrane starred opposite Ralph Fiennes and Helena Bonham Carter in Great Expectations and finished out the 30-year run of The Comic Strip Presents, a TV series that has become a British comedic institution. He was seen on the big screen in the 2014 film Effie Gray. Coltrane also starred on the British TV series National Treasure in 2016 and Urban Myths in 2020.
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Maggie Smith (Professor Minerva McGonagall)
Professor McGonagall is just one in a long line of inspiring no-nonsense women that Dame Maggie Smith has played over the course of her career. After Potter ended, Smith began her now iconic run as Lady Violet Crawley in Downton Abbey, and she won a Golden Globe, a Screen Actors Guild award, and three Emmys for the role. She also brought Lady Violet to the big screen in two Downton movies.
She starred in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and its sequel, as well as Quartet. Smith also lent her voice to two animated movies, Sherlock Gnomes and A Boy Called Christmas. In 2011, Smith helped raise $4.6 million to repair the Court Theatre in Christchurch, New Zealand after the earthquake, and, in 2012, she became a patron of the International Glaucoma Association.
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Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy)
As Draco Malfoy, Felton was the character everyone loved to hate—he won the MTV Movie Award for Best Villain twice—and in the years since the franchise ended, he has played more troubled characters and bad boys in films like The Apparition, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Belle, and In Secret. He starred in the first season of the TNT series Murder in the First in 2014. The following year, he produced and directed the TV documentary Tom Felton Meets the Superfans, in which he interviewed hardcore Potter fans and his fellow stars to better understand why people were so attached to the films.
He had a recurring role in the third season of The Flash and played Laertes in the 2018 film Ophelia. He went on to appear on the sci-fi TV show Origin, and in the movies Braking for Whales, The Forgotten Battle, and Save the Cinema. Felton is also a musician; he's released five EPs, including one in 2021 titled YoOHoO.
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Scarlett Hefner (Pansy Parkinson)
Scarlett Hefner made her film debut as Slytherin student Pansy Parkinson in 2009's Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and went on to reprise the role in 2010's Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 and 2011's Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2. Hefner, who hit the small screen on The Vampire Diaries as Nora Hildegard and starred in the 2017 thriller Skybound, made headlines in February 2017 when she posed nude for Playboy. Hefner was also on the Marvel TV series Runaways on Hulu, which lasted for three seasons.
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James and Oliver Phelps (Fred and George Weasley)
They solemnly swore they were up to no good as Fred and George Weasley, and we couldn't have loved them more for it. Once their mischief was managed, James and Oliver Phelps appeared as brothers in an episode of the ITV series Kingdom and in the documentary A Mind's Eye, based on the philosophical ideas of Plato. James worked as a gofer on the Harry Potter sets, as well as on the set of The Da Vinci Code. In 2013, the twins moved to California to focus on separate film projects.
James appeared in the movie Patchwork and reunited with Oliver in Own Worst Enemy. They both appeared in 7 Days: The Story of Blind Dave Heeley and Last Night in Soho.
The twins are an active force in connecting fans with the world of Harry Potter, appearing at conferences and touring around the world. They even celebrated the opening of the 2021 Harry Potter exhibition in London. Both are heavily involved in charity work as supporters of the Teenage Cancer Trust, and often participate in soccer tournaments and climbing expeditions to raise money for worthy causes.
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Alan Rickman (Severus Snape)
In addition to scaring everyone as Slytherin Headmaster Severus Snape, Rickman appeared in such cinematic classics as Die Hard, Sense and Sensibility, and Love Actually. After Harry Potter wrapped, Rickman returned to the stage in the Abbey Theatre's production of The Seagull, which transferred to New York in 2011. He starred in the original production of Seminar on Broadway a few months later, for which he earned nominations for a Drama League award and the Broadway.com Audience Choice award for Favorite Actor in a Play.
In 2013, he reunited with Rupert Grint in the film CBGB, where he played Hilly Kristal, founder of the iconic punk club. He played King Louis XIV in the film A Little Chaos and starred in the thriller Eye in the Sky alongside Helen Mirren. In 2012, Rickman married Rima Horton, a former Labour Party councilor and a lecturer at Kingston University, with whom he had been in a relationship since 1965. Rickman died in January 2016 at the age of 69.
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Matthew Lewis (Neville Longbottom)
He rose to fame as the bumbling-yet-brave Neville Longbottom, but in the years since Potter ended, Lewis has established himself as a potential leading man, thanks to roles on The Syndicate, Bluestone 42, and in the crime film The Rise. Lewis made his stage debut in a touring production of Agatha Christie's Verdict in 2011, and made his West End debut the following year in Our Boys. He had roles in 2016's Me Before You, 2018's Terminal, and on the 2018 British series Girlfriends.
Lewis also starred in the film Baby Done and on the TV series All Creatures Great and Small. In 2012 he received an honorary master of arts degree from Leeds Metropolitan University, and in 2018 he got married.
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Devon Murray (Seamus Finnigan)
After hanging up his wand in 2011 (and thus drastically reducing the number of explosions on the Hogwarts grounds), Murray, best known as Seamus Finnigan, seemed to take a break from acting. In 2018, he returned to the screen for the comedy Damon & Ivor: The Movie, and he often reunites with his former castmates for Harry Potter events and nights out on the town. And yes, he is still close with Alfred Enoch, a.k.a. Dean Thomas, and they are still totally adorable.
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Bonnie Wright (Ginny Weasley)
Since winning Harry Potter's heart (and plenty of Quidditch Cups!) as the youngest Weasley, Ginny, Wright attended film school to pursue her dream of writing and directing, though she has continued acting in films like Before I Sleep, After the Dark, Those Who Wander, and The Highway Is for Gamblers, opposite Joe Jonas and Nikki Reed. She's also done some kid-friendly films like Who Killed Nelson Nutmeg? and A Christmas Carol (2018).
Wright made her stage debut in 2013 at London's Southwark Playhouse in The Moment of Truth, and her screenwriting and directorial debut in 2012 with the short film Separate We Come, Separate We Go. The film starred fellow Harry Potter alumnus David Thewlis and premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. Since then, she has started her own production company and directed several short films and music videos. Wright started dating her Potter costar Jamie Campbell Bower in 2010; they were engaged in 2011, but called it off in 2012. In 2022, Wright married American businessman Andrew Lococo.
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Julie Walters (Molly Weasley)
Walters made us all laugh, cheer, and cry as the overprotective, incredibly loving Molly Weasley, and she's continued to do so in the years since Potter wrapped. Walters played Mistress Quickly on the TV show The Hollow Crown, Mrs. Bird in Paddington and Paddington 2, and lent her voice to animated favorites such as Brave. In 2011, she won the TV BAFTA for Best Actress and an International Emmy award for her role as Member of Parliament and Irish Secretary of State Mo Mowlam in the TV movie Mo.
In 2012, she returned to the stage in the National Theatre's production of The Last of the Haussmans. Walters made more appearances in 2015's Brooklyn, 2017's Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool, and 2018's Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again and Mary Poppins Returns. She also played Mrs. Medlock in 2020's The Secret Garden.
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Mark Williams (Arthur Weasley)
He may never have learned what, exactly, is the function of a rubber duck, but since leaving Arthur Weasley behind, Williams has taken on plenty of other creative projects. He starred in another British institution, playing the lead role in the costume drama Father Brown for nine seasons.
He appeared in two episodes of Doctor Who in 2012 and an episode of Drunk History in 2015, and has presented several documentary programs as well as the daytime game show The Link. Williams was also in an episode of The Comedy Strip Presents in 2016. He's had roles in Golden Years, Early Man, The Effects of Lying, and Heidi: Queen of the Mountain.
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Domhnall Gleeson (Bill Weasley)
He didn't get a ton of screen time as Ron's oldest brother, Bill Weasley, but Gleeson—the son of Mad-Eye Moody actor Brendan Gleeson—has more than made up for it in his post-Potter years. After a supporting role in 2012's Anna Karenina, Gleeson became a leading man with the one-two punch of Tim in About Time and Jon Burroughs in Frank.
He appeared in the critically acclaimed Ex Machina, Brooklyn, and The Revenant. In 2015, he joined the Star Wars saga as the villainous General Hux. His other titles include mother!, A Futile and Stupid Gesture, The Little Stranger, and The Kitchen. Gleeson starred on the TV series Run and Frank of Ireland. You can also catch him in two miniseries: The Patient and The White House Plumbers.