What are the Harry Potter kids up to now? Ranking the cast in 2017
Like a kind of showbiz LinkedIn, it's both fun and vaguely dispiriting to check in with the graduates of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Six years after they flew away on their broomsticks, or whatever the Harry Potter kids do to leave a room, the franchise's young cast continue to pop up here and there in productions both local and international, none more prominently than a certain Emma Watson.
As she headlines her first proper star vehicle in Beauty and the Beast, it gave us a thought: when ranking the Potter cast in 2017, who comes out on top? (It's Emma Watson.) Who has surpassed their peers to become top of the league? (It's Emma Watson.) And what surprises await in the final rank? (Very little, because it's lead by Emma Watson.)
To compile the table, we only counted Potter alumni to make their name in the franchise, meaning the likes of Clémence Poésy and Domhnall Gleeson, the latter arguably the most career-successful of the franchise's young cast, haven't been included. Which could throw a spanner in the works when it comes to ranking the rest of them... (only joking, number one is of course Emma Watson).
14. Bonnie Wright
Otherwise known as Ginny Weasley, Bonnie Wright continues to act (her films include the indies Before I Sleep and The Sea), but her main passions appear to be behind the camera. After graduating from the University of the Arts London with a degree in Film and Television Production Management, she lured her Harry Potter costar David Thewlis to star in her filmmaking debut, a short film called Separate We Come, Separate We Go that played in the Short Film Corner at Cannes 2012. She's also directed music videos and additional short films.
13. Evanna Lynch
Credited with influencing the literary developments of her character Luna Lovegood by J.K. Rowling as the book series went on, Evanna Lynch is fan favourite amongst Potter fans, and has one of the more interactive profiles of the Potter cast. As an actress, she has appeared on the TV series Sinbad and the US comedy film G.B.F. A leading role in the Irish indie My Name Is Emily also scored her a Best Actress nomination at the 2016 Irish Film and Drama Awards.
She's also one of the leading figures within the non-profit organisation the Harry Potter Alliance, which aims to raise awareness and money for human rights violations, mental health, climate change, sexism and gay rights, amongst many others.
12. Luke Youngblood
Despite only playing Lee Jordan for two Harry Potter films, Luke Youngblood has become a surprisingly visible presence on US TV, most famous for his recurring role on the cult comedy Community. He even scored his own catchphrase ("Pop! Pop!") as popular college kid Magnitude. He has also appeared on Glee and the short-lived musical comedy Galavant, and climbed into a Scooby-Doo suit for a live-action TV version of the spooky comedy series in 2010.
11. Scarlett Byrne
After playing Pansy Parkinson in the franchise, Scarlett Byrne returned to the limelight last month as she posed for Playboy Magazine, being the first nude model since the magazine abandoned its short-lived 'never-nude' stance. But the photo spread wasn't just for career purposes, she's also engaged to Cooper Hefner, son of Playboy founder Hugh and the magazine's current creative director.
Byrne also continues to act, appearing in 12 episodes of The Vampire Diaries, along with a marijuana sitcom called Mary & Jane. It's called that because of all the drugs.
10. Katie Leung
Famed for being pelted with metaphorical online meats by crazy racist fans for daring to kiss Harry Potter, Katie Leung played Cho Chang in three of the Potter movies. Since retiring the role, she has lead UK TV mini-series Run and the critically-acclaimed One Child, and will next be seen as the female lead in the American action film The Foreigner alongside Pierce Brosnan and Jackie Chan. She's also tread the boards, starring in a 2013 production of The Merchant of Venice and something called The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures.
9. Rupert Grint
And we hit our Big Three. While it's easy to consider Grint the somewhat literal red-headed stepchild of the main Potter trio, he's still around, and still a multi-millionaire, so you shouldn't feel too bad for him.
Maybe sensing that he wouldn't get the later opportunities afforded Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson, Grint broke out of the franchise early, appearing in films including Thunderpants and the well-received comedy drama Driving Lessons alongside Julie Walters and Laura Linney. In recent years he has focused more on television, though his new series, a TV reboot of Guy Ritchie's Snatch, is currently receiving dismal reviews. "A series of 'Wouldn't this be hilarious?' non-jokes piled on top of each other," sneered Entertainment Weekly.
8. Jessie Cave
The franchise's Lavender Brown has lucked out when it's come to post-Potter work. She had a role alongside her sister Bebe in last year's dark fairytale fantasy Tale of Tales from director Matteo Garrone, and played a member of Lesbians Against Pit Closures in the rousing British true story Pride. She's also been successful on British TV, with regular roles on the Sky One sitcom Trollied and the strange Skins wannabe Glue.
In her non-acting life, Cave is also a successful illustrator, with a book of cartoons called Love Sick published by Ebury in 2015 -- a year before they were turned into a line of greetings cards.
7. Tom Felton
Lucius Malfoy's alter-ego Tom Felton was booking major roles prior to the Harry Potter franchise, notably 1997's kids classic The Borrowers, but we're still going to count Malfoy as his star-making role for this ranking.
Felton has bounced between British and American productions since Potter wrapped, but he's also become slightly synonymous with oily historical bigots, appearing as a country house racist in Belle and a slightly more international racist in A United Kingdom. Throw in his role as an abusive ape caretaker in Rise of the Planet of the Apes and his recurring role as the evil Dr. Alchemy in the superhero TV series The Flash and Felton has quickly become the most typecast of all the Harry Potter kids. Pays the bills, though.
6. Freddie Stroma
He might not be a household name just yet, but Freddie Stroma, who played arrogant Cormac McLaggen in the three last Potter films, has become something of a regular on US television in recent years. After playing the star of the show-within-a-show Everlasting in the critically acclaimed reality series satire UnReal, Stroma is currently playing H.G. Wells in the time travel soap Time After Time.
Elsewhere he's popped up in Game of Thrones as Dickon Tarly, and appeared in small parts in Pitch Perfect, The Inbetweeners 2 and Michael Bay's 13 Hours.
5. Alfred Enoch
After his long-running role as Dean Thomas in the franchise, Alfred Enoch largely transitioned to the stage, where he has been seen in London productions of Coriolanus, Timon of Athens and Happy New Year. But his most high-profile role took him to US television, where he attempts not to be overwhelmed by Viola Davis's thundering presence on a weekly basis in the acclaimed mystery soap How to Get Away with Murder.
4. Matthew Lewis
Famous for no longer being apparently repulsive, Matthew Lewis followed up the Potter franchise with a series of underwear shots that turned J.K. Rowling into everyone's fussy mother. Besides pants, he's also become something of an unexpected Harry Potter breakout, with roles in Happy Valley, Telegraph favourite Death in Paradise and the romantic weepie Me Before You. He's also been successful on stage, making his West End debut in 2012's Our Boys and last year's Unfaithful.
Most importantly, he's responsible for introducing the adjective "Nevilled" to the international lexicon, e.g. "Gosh, Ryan was fugly, but he's totes Nevilled now."
3. Robert Pattinson
If we were ranking the Harry Potter kids several years ago, Robert Pattinson would have ranked a lot higher. But the one-time Cedric Diggory has slightly fallen off the radar in recent years, likely an intentional step back from the limelight after years of being little but a cowering wreck at the end of a pre-teen girl shriek. Pattinson quite obviously followed up his Harry Potter work with the Twilight franchise, before parlaying his sparkly fame into indie film.
He worked with David Cronenberg on Cosmopolis and Maps to the Stars and cameo-ed in the acclaimed Childhood of a Leader, balancing his small-scale work with roles in the likes of Water for Elephants and the weepy Remember Me. After a few years being arm candy to FKA Twigs, he's about to be seen again in James Gray's The Lost City of Z, which The Telegraph has called "an instant classic".
2. Daniel Radcliffe
Contradicting dire premonitions of a career not unlike a Macaulay Culkin or a Frankie Muniz, famed for iconic child roles but struggling in adult life, Daniel Radcliffe has emerged as a legitimately successful twenty-something actor. While his notorious disrobing in a 2007 West End production of Equus felt like a slightly cynical means to be taken seriously, it ended up actually working.
Following Equus, Radcliffe appeared in the hit horror movie The Woman in Black, along with well-reviewed indies like Swiss Army Man and Horns. He also voiced himself in the wonderful Netflix series BoJack Horseman, starred in two series of the classy TV comedy A Young Doctor's Notebook, and is currently back in the West End in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. Something of a theatrical regular, he also received strong notices for his 2011 Broadway debut in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.
1. Emma Watson
Like Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson largely avoided other projects during her time in the Harry Potter franchise, but followed up her Hermione run with a series of surprisingly interesting projects with respected filmmakers. Along with Sofia Coppola's The Bling Ring and Darren Aronofsky's Noah, she also had memorable roles in The Perks of Being a Wallflower and the comedy This Is the End, will lead the upcoming tech thriller The Circle alongside Tom Hanks, and of course is starring this week in Beauty and the Beast - a role that will reportedly earn her $15 million.
In her personal life, she's also the spokeswoman for the UN campaign HeForShe, which encourages unity between men and women in the fight for equality. Only confirming her ascent to the Hollywood A-list, while Watson was often praised for going to university and largely staying out of the headlines, she has since experienced a completely predictable turnaround in favour when it comes to social media trolls. She's currently the internet's favourite punching bag, with comment sections awash in rage at the star for handing out books to children, talking about feminism, posing semi-nude in a magazine, or having revealing photographs stolen. What an absolute monster.