Ginny Weasley may actually be old enough now to be sending her own child off to Hogwarts.
Bonnie Wright, the flame-haired actress who was 9 when she was cast as the youngest Weasley sibling in the Harry Potter movies, is celebrating her 30th birthday today—meaning the whole lot of child actors from the billion-dollar franchise have reached that milestone.
Feel as you wish about that.
"We started when we were very young, especially me," Wright told Interview in 2011. "I didn't know anything about the film industry, so it definitely has taught me a great deal, in terms of something I wouldn't have learned about. It's completely inspired me to become a part of, you know, for my career—not just something I did when I was younger. I think when you're younger, you need to socialize and be with people your own age. Whereas when we started, we were working with people with a complete mix of ages. The generation gap made us all mature much quicker, and become very used to talking to older people and being a bit more socially aware."
She called the decade-long run an "amazing journey." And yes, it was a little weird at the time playing an older, mom version of herself in the flash-forward scene at the end of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.
"The littler girl that was playing the youngest [of my kids] was, you know, close to 10, I think, so nearly close to the age I was when I started," she told fan site The Leaky Cauldron in 2015, "so it was bizarre, kinda full circle. So, not only was there this emotional strain of finishing there was also this challenge of playing a new role. That was quite intense."
Asked what her favorite behind-the-scenes moment was, Wright suggested filming the epic Battle of Hogwarts at the end.
"All of us had like cuts, and bruises and scars and so dirty, yet our friendships and comradery between us made it so enjoyable," she recalled. "So I think for me, in that moment, behind the scenes it just made me realize what a family I'd become a part of. It made me grateful to be a part of it."
But while Wright, like most of her fellow stars, is inextricably linked to the beloved eight-film series, she's been incredibly busy (even during quarantine) since the last movie came out a decade ago—and these days the Los Angeles-based actress has been spending most of her time behind the camera, most recently directing the music video for longtime friend Gillian Maguire's song "Melt."
"I got into my industry first by being in front of the camera, as an actor from the age of 9, and then when I went to university I studied film and television," Wright explained her trajectory to Teeth magazine this month. "Since I've graduated I've continued with music videos, commercials, short films, and am hopefully entering into my first feature film. This whole year has put the whole thing on pause, I think independent film is going to be hit pretty hard for a second. The script is there, and I love it, but it might take a bit longer than I thought."
With so much more to look out for from Wright, here's your chance to see what else she and the rest of the kid cast of the Harry Potter films are up to now:
The entire Harry Potter film series is now streaming on Peacock.