Actors You Forgot Were In The Harry Potter Movies

Beginning with "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" in 2001, J.K. Rowling's epic saga of a boy wizard and his fight to stop an evil dark lord from rising out of the grave has become well known for turning many of its young stars into household names. Many members of the principal cast of unknown child actors, including first-time performers Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint, have gone on to become even bigger stars in their own right.

But the "Harry Potter" film series also had one of the largest and most impressive casts of any movie franchise before or since, with any number of seasoned dramatic actors joining Hogwarts each year. Its roster included everyone from global megastars, like Helena Bonham Carter as Bellatrix LeStrange and Ralph Fiennes as Lord Voldemort, to well-regarded English character actors, like Jim Broadbent as Horace Slughorn and David Bradley as Argus Filch. Across the eight films that comprise the series, it seemed like every major actor in the British isles has appeared somewhere in the Wizarding World.

Many actors' appearances in the series, however, have been largely forgotten. Whether it's because it was a small part in a film two decades old, or because it's a newer star who appeared in the series before they came to fame, keep scrolling for a list of actors you may not remember having appeared in the "Harry Potter" saga.

In the first of a few "before they were stars" entries on this list, Regé-Jean Page might not have made it on here just a couple of years ago, before his breakout role in the highly acclaimed Netflix original series "Bridgerton." There he stars as Simon Bassett, the Duke of Hastings, and best friend to series star Anthony, the oldest son in the Bridgerton family. But a decade before his star-making run on the streaming drama, Page appeared in "Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows, Part I" as a guest at the wedding of Bill and Fleur. 

It's a background role, a blink-and-miss-it cameo at best, but it's fun to discover a younger version of a big new star — years before he rose to fame — casually strutting around in the background of one of the decade's biggest movies. He has no lines and goes uncredited; he appears in just a few seconds of footage, but it's still one of the most delightful Easter egg appearances you're likely to find on a rewatch of the film series, especially if you're a "Bridgerton" fan. Having recently announced his departure from the popular show, he's joined the cast of the big-budget adaptation of "Dungeons and Dragons," due out in 2023, that also stars Chris Pine, Hugh Grant, and Sophie Lillis. 

With a long and varied career stretching back to the late 1980s, Fairley is a journeywoman actress who had appeared in dozens of parts but who had come to only modest fame, having rarely appeared in more than a handful of episodes of any series. But in 2010 she would appear briefly in the first part of the final "Harry Potter" story, "The Deathly Hallows, Part I," as the muggle mother of Emma Watson's Hermione. It was another blink-and-miss-it cameo, but a crucial scene nonetheless. In a heartbreaking moment at the start of the film that sets the stage for the emotional journey to follow, we see Hermione forced to wipe her parents' memories of her existence to keep them safe in the face of the Death Eaters' war on the Wizarding World and beyond.

It was just after her brief work in "Harry Potter" that Fairley would snag an important part in a new fantasy series, starring opposite actor Sean Bean as Ned Stark's wife Catelyn on HBO's "Game of Thrones." She would ultimately appear in more than two dozen episodes, and subsequently land important recurring parts in hit shows like "24" and "Suits."

Robert Pattinson may be starting a new big franchise in 2022 as he takes on the role of Bruce Wayne and the Caped Crusader himself in Matt Reeves' "The Batman," but his first credited film role was also franchise fare. In "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," the young future star of the "Twilight" saga appeared as Cedric Diggory, Harry Potter's most intimidating rival in the Tri-Wizard Tournament. While Diggory at first antagonized Potter for being the youngest of the participants, Harry eventually helped him anyway by telling him about the danger they faced in the first task of the tournament. Cedric returned the favor when Potter struggled with the second task, giving him the clue he needed to complete it. In the final task, Harry and Cedric worked together to claim the Tri-Wizard Cup before Diggory was killed by Voldemort in his first physical appearance.

After appearing in "The Goblet of Fire," Pattinson played Salvador Dali in "Little Ashes" before taking on his breakthrough role as Edward in the "Twilight" movies. Following his stint in teen dramas, the actor would make his case as a serious dramatic performer in movies like "The Lost City of Z," Christopher Nolan's "Tenet" and Robert Eggers' "The Lighthouse" before being cast as the newest version of Bruce Wayne. He's come a long way since his teen heartthrob days, and from "Tenet" to "The Batman," Pattinson has become one of Hollywood's newest A-listers.

Better known for his three-season stint as the titular Doctor in the BBC's long-running science fiction franchise "Doctor Who," David Tennant appeared in the other iconic British franchise, "Harry Potter," as Barty Crouch, Jr. The villainous son of Barty Crouch Sr., the Head of the Department of International Magical Co-Operation, the younger, more sinister Mr. Crouch was a devout follower of Voldemort who had tortured the parents of Neville Longbottom. As revealed in "Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire," he used the Cruciatus Curse to drive them insane.

Eventually Crouch would hide away in the guise of Mad Eye Moody and pose as the highly respected Hogwarts professor to manipulate events around Harry Potter, in a bid to put the young wizard before Voldemort to face his doom. After murdering his own father, Crouch Jr. would be exposed by Dumbledore and Snape and returned to Azkaban prison from which he had escaped. 

It wasn't long after "The Goblet of Fire" that Tennant would secure the coveted and iconic role of the 10th Doctor, succeeding Christopher Eccleston after his departure from the series in 2005. From there he skyrocketed to international fame, taking lead roles in the BBC's crime drama "Broadchurch," as the villain Killgrave in Marvel's "Jessica Jones" for Netflix, and as the voice of Scrooge McDuck in the animated revival of "Duck Tales."

She may be better known for classic literary dramas like "Sense and Sensibility" (for which she also wrote the screenplay) and romantic comedies like "Love Actually," but award-winning English actress and screenwriter Emma Thompson first dipped her toe into the world of fantasy with "Harry Potter And The Prisoner of Azkaban." Despite her fame and prolific career, you'd be forgiven for not realizing that Emma Thompson was ever a part of the "Harry Potter" franchise: she didn't have a major role, and was practically unrecognizable. Decked out in a massive, frizzy wig, her eyes buried under Coke-bottle eyeglasses, and wearing false teeth, she hardly resembled the other parts she had become known for.

Appearing in three of the "Harry Potter" films as eccentric, oddball Professor Sybill Trelawney, Thompson would go on to perform in more films in the fantasy genre, including as the titular character in the "Nanny McPhee" series and as Agent O in "Men In Black 3" and "Men In Black International." She even reteamed with Emma Watson for the live-action version of Disney's "Beauty And The Beast" where she voiced Mrs. Potts. More recently Thompson appeared in another live-action Disney adaptation, "Cruella," as fashion mogul Baroness von Hellman.

Another actor who appeared under heavy prosthetic makeup, "Austin Powers" actor Verne Troyer played the part of the Gringotts banker Griphook in "Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone." Of course you might not have known it, as the character's voice was ultimately dubbed over by Warwick Davis, who also played Griphook, as well as Professor Flitwick and another unnamed goblin. 

Breaking "Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling's longstanding rule of an all-British cast, the diminutive Troyer was the only American to have a notable role in the entire saga. But as Griphook's role grew even bigger in later films, Troyer would be replaced in the role altogether by the same man who performed the voice of Griphook in the first film, Warwick Davis. In behind-the-scenes interviews with Davis during the production of "The Deathly Hallows," Davis revealed that he had campaigned to take over the physical performance. Whether they were already looking for a replacement has never been made clear, but perhaps an American playing a major character in the English production was just too much for creator Rowling. 

Luke Youngblood lent his voice and boundless enthusiasm to the first two "Harry Potter" features as Lee Jordan, who was the announcer at Quidditch games and a close friend of Fred and George Weasley. Youngblood later reprised the role for the 2007 "Order of the Phoenix" video game and voiced numerous characters in the 2023 game "Hogwarts Legacy."

Jordan was Youngblood's first major screen role, which he followed with a series regular stint on the popular CBBC series "The Story of Tracy Beaker." After briefly stepping away from acting to compete on the fashion-centered UK reality series "Project Catwalk," he returned with a string of appearances on high-profile American television series. The best known of these was the perennially upbeat student Magnitude on "Community," though he also logged roles on "Glee," "Superior Donuts," and the comedy-musical series "Galavant."

In the late 2010s, he worked almost exclusively as a voice-over actor on series like "Fast and Furious Spy Racers" and "The Loud House," but will return to live action and the "Harry Potter" universe to serve as the announcer for "Harry Potter: Hogwarts Tournament of Houses," a game show anchored around "Harry Potter" lore for TBS and the Cartoon Network.

Two actors played younger versions of Lord Voldemort in "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince." Hero Fiennes Tiffin — the nephew of actor Ralph Fiennes, who played the adult Voldemort — played Tom Riddle as a boy, while Frank Dillane played him as a teenager. Dillane is himself related to an actor: His father is Stephen Dillane, perhaps best known as Stannis Baratheon on "Game of Thrones." The younger Dillane made his screen debut in 1997 as an extra in one of his father's projects, the film "Welcome to Sarajevo."

After "Half-Blood Prince," Dillane reunited with his father for the UK indie feature "Papadopolous and Sons" in 2012, then played a fictionalized version of Owen Coffin, a real-life sailor cannibalized by his shipwrecked crewmates in Ron Howard's 2015 drama "In the Heart of the Sea." That same year, he began a four-season arc on "Fear the Walking Dead" as Nick Clark, a young man recovering from drug dependency as a zombie outbreak envelops the world.

After departing the series at the beginning of Season 4, Dillane appeared in a flurry of screen projects. These included a recurring role on "The Girlfriend Experience" in 2021 and supporting work in the Apple TV+ drama "The Essex Serpent" as a young surgeon opposite Claire Danes, Tom Hiddleston, and fellow "Harry Potter" alum Clemence Poesy.

A prolific and acclaimed stage actor, as well as a recurring player on TV in his native England since the early 1970s, actor David Bradley's turn as Hogwarts' perpetually cross groundskeeper Argus Fitch most likely served as his introduction to American audiences. His appearances in seven "Harry Potter" films have since made him a more familiar face across the globe, as have the many high-profile projects he's undertaken since the series ended, like "Captain America: The First Avenger," Edgar Wright's "The World's End," and Guillermo del Toro's "Pinocchio," in which he voiced Gepetto.

On the small screen, Bradley has played the scheming Walder Frey on "Game of Thrones," vampire hunter Abraham Setrakian on del Toro's "The Strain," and Ricky Gervais's father on "After Life." He's also the third "Harry Potter" actor to play the Doctor on "Doctor Who," although his tenure had a twist: He played both the first Doctor in the 2017 Christmas special and "The Power of the Doctor" in 2022, and William Hartnell, the real-life actor who played him in "An Adventure in Time and Space," a 2013 BBC TV movie about the creation of "Doctor Who" in 1963 (he also turned up as a space pirate opposite Matt Smith's Doctor in 2012). He lends his distinctive voice to numerous animated projects, including del Toro's "Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia" (for which he won an Annie Award), "Adventure Tim: Distant Lands," and the upcoming "Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget."

Comedian Sir Lenny Henry's role in "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" was a small one, both literally and figuratively: He voiced the shrunken head, Dre Head, that appears in the Knight Bus that serves as public transport for Harry and other wizards. Henry is one of England's most popular comedians, emerging from the vibrant alternative comedy scene of the 1980s and starring in such popular series as "The Lenny Henry Show" and "Chef!" while also cultivating a career as an author, playwright, singer, DJ, and philanthropist.

In the early 1980s, Henry joined forces with Rik Mayall, Jennifer Saunders, and fellow future "Harry Potter" cast members Robbie Coltrane and Dawn French (whom he also married) in the alternative comedy collective The Comic Strip. While the group earned its own popular TV series and numerous specials, Henry starred in his own sketch comedy series, "The Lenny Henry Show," from 1984 to 1988. During this period, Henry also co-founded the Comic Relief organization, which brought together comics to raise money for individuals in need around the world. Its annual Red Nose Day telethon raised more than 42 million British pounds in 2022.

Henry remains active on television as both a writer and performer on shows like "Doctor Who," "The Sandman," and "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power" (as Harfoot elder Sadoc Burrows). The author of several books, including two YA novels, he was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1999.

A number of legendary actors lend their talents to roles in the "Harry Potter" films, including one cinema icon who appeared briefly in "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban." Julie Christie, who lit up screens in the 1960s and '70s in films like "Doctor Zhivago" and "Don't Look Now," played Madam Rosmerta, the proprietor of the Three Broomsticks pub and the occasional object of Ron Weasley's unrequited affection. Christie's Rosmerta has far less to do than her incarnation in J.K. Rowling's novel, but she still lends movie star glamour to the role.

Christie began acting on British television in the late 1950s and worked her way up from supporting roles to the lead in "Darling" in 1965. Her performance as a model in London earned her an Oscar and international stardom, which she parlayed into some of the decade's biggest critical and box office hits, including David Lean's epic "Doctor Zhivago" and Francois Truffaut's adaptation of "Fahrenheit 451." She relocated to America in the 1970s and enjoyed success opposite Warren Beatty in Robert Altman's "McCabe and Mrs. Miller" (which earned her a second Oscar nod), Hal Ashby's "Shampoo," and "Heaven Can Wait."

Christie stepped out of the spotlight in the 1980s and made only sporadic returns to acting in Kenneth Branagh's adaptation of "Hamlet" and Alan Rudolph's "Afterglow," which brought her a third Oscar nomination. In 2006, she earned a fourth Oscar nomination and a Golden Globe Award for her performance as a woman suffering from Alzheimer's disease in Sarah Polley's "Away from Her." Her last screen roles to date were in Catherine Hardwicke's "Red Riding Hood" and Robert Redford's "The Company You Keep" in 2011 and 2012, respectively.

Though British actor Jim McManus was briefly seen as Albus Dumbledore's younger brother Aberforth in "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," Irish actor Ciaran Hinds stepped into the role for the final title in the film series, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2." Aberforth's role was more substantive in the latter film, and included rescuing Harry, Ron, and Hermoine from the Death Eaters by admitting them to his tavern, the Hog's Head. The establishment also provided Dumbledore's Army with a secret entrance back into Hogwarts.

Like many of his fellow "Harry Potter" actors, Hinds was a veteran stage performer in his native Ireland as well as Scotland and England before adding film and television to his resume. His diverse body of work on screen has included the roles of Julius Caesar on "Rome" and the King-beyond-the-Wall, Mance Rayder, on "Game of Thrones," as well as appearances on "Prime Suspect," "Tales from the Crypt," and "Above Suspicion."

His film career has been equally eclectic: He's portrayed villains for both Marvel (Mephistopheles in "Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance") and the DCEU (Steppenwolf in "Justice League"), and worked for directors as wide-ranging as John Boorman ("Excalibur"), Peter Greenaway ("The Cook, the Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover"), and Paul Thomas Anderson ("There Will Be Blood"). For his turn as the beloved grandfather Pop in Kenneth Branagh's "Belfast," Hinds gained Oscar and Golden Globe Award nominations, as well as a National Board of Review Award.

In an amusing 2022 interview for Vanity Fair, actor Bill Nighy explained his reason for joining the "Harry Potter" franchise as Rufus Scrimgeour in its sixth entry, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince." With tongue planted firmly in cheek, Nighy explained that he accepted the role as a means of overcoming his concern that he was the only English actor his age who hadn't been in a "Harry Potter" film. He also cited that his appearance as Scrimgeour — who was briefly appointed as the Minister of Magic before Voldemort took control of the agency — would please his grandchildren. "They're completely unaware of my career, can you believe that?" he said.

Nighy's long career in front of cameras began in the late 1970s with minor roles in British films and television. After amassing considerable screen credits and major roles on stage, the 1991 TV miniseries "The Men's Room," about an affair between a womanizer (Nighy) and a married woman (Harriet Walter), was his big break. Roles in films like "Shaun of the Dead" and a well-loved turn as faded rock star Billy Mack in "Love Actually" brought him to the attention of international audiences.

He has divided his time between major studio features, like the "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise and "Wrath of the Titans," and more intimate projects like the BBC drama "The Girl in the Café" and "Gideon's Daughter," the latter of which earned Nighy a Golden Globe award. After receiving positive reviews for his work in "Emma" with Anya Taylor-Joy and "The Man Who Fell to Earth," Nighy earned an Oscar nomination for his work as a terminally ill man re-examining his life in 2022's "Living."