All the major actors you never knew were in Harry Potter films
With Christmas time approaching, households across the UK will be preparing to watch the Harry Potter films which have become unofficial festive classics.
When rewatching the Harry Potter films, however, fans streaming the series on Netflix only have a limited amount of time to watch.
Fans of the film series were thrilled to discover that Netflix had picked up the movies just under a year ago, but with the deal expiring they will only have until December 31 of 2025 to watch.
In the rush to rewatch the films on Netflix though, many more observant fans will be able to spot a host of celebrity actors they never realised were in the Harry Potter films, many of whom had small roles in the movies before they were famous.
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Here is the full list of all the now household names who appeared in the Harry Potter films without you realising.
Jamie Campbell Bower
The Stranger Things star is now best known for playing the villainous Vecna, but has minor roles in some of the biggest franchises around.
Campbell Bower appeared in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 as a young Grindelwald, later returning to this role in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.
Add to that Campbell Bower’s appearance in the original pilot episode of Game of Thrones before his part was recast, his role in Twilight as Caius and the actor has appeared in some of the biggest franchises around under the radar.
Regé-Jean Page
Ironically, considering Netflix are set to remove the films from the platform, Page went on to find success in one of the streamer’s most popular shows, Bridgerton.
Long before starring as Simon Basset in the regency romance, however, the actor appeared as an uncredited guest at Bill and Fleur’s wedding in Deathly Hallows: Part One.
He later said he learned 'valuable lessons' from being a background extra because he could watch more established actors work.
Michelle Fairley
Another Game of Thrones alumni, Fairley appeared as Hermione’s mother in a very brief cameo in (once again) Deathly Hallows: Part One.
When asked about this, she joked that she was only in Harry Potter ‘for a second’.
Dani Harmer
Tracey Beaker herself appeared in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, with one fan noticing her in a scene they posted to Twitter, asking Harmer if it was true.
She replied quite simply, saying: “Yep there I am xx.”
She is shown briefly sitting next to Fred and George, playing an extra in the dining scene as a young student of Griffindor.
Domnhall Gleeson
The actor’s dad Brendon is well known to play Mad-eye Moody in the films, but less know that Domnhall starred as Bill in the last two movies.
Going on to star in the spin-off of The Office, The Paper, and the iconic romcom About Time, he had a small role in the movies as arguably the least story-vital Weasley.
Jesy Nelson
Similar to Harmer, Nelson made a brief cameo appearance as a young extra in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
Appearing in the Yule ball scene, she explained in a radio interview that you can see her in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo.
She said: “I was in Harry Potter! I’ve been in a few others, including About A Boy with Hugh Grant. You can actually see me if you pause the tape.”
Tom Ackerley
Ackerley is now a high profile film producer, co-founding LuckyChap Entertainment with his wife, Margot Robbie.
Robbie spoke on The Graham Norton Show about how her now husband played a young Slytherin in The Prisoner of Azkaban.
She said: “He was an extra. When he was a little kid, he was one of the Slytherin extras. When Draco pushes some kids out of the way to see Buckbeak in the third book, he pushes my husband out of the way."
The Harry Potter films are available to watch on Netflix until December 31, 2025.
Topics: Harry Potter, Netflix, TV and Film, Film, Celebrity
Michael Slavin