The cast of Harry Potter really hit the ground running when it came to fame. Many of them were tweens or teens when they started, and they were catapulted to an overwhelming level of stardom very fast. This included Katie Leung, who played Cho Chang. Now, the actress is preparing to star in Season 4 of Bridgerton, and as she opened up about her career now, she also got candid about how hard it was during those early days.
Katie Leung Gets Candid About Dealing With Fame During And After Harry Potter
Katie Leung made her film debut in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire as the Ravenclaw student and Harry’s crush, Cho Chang. While the role wasn’t huge, she was important in the Harry Potter movies, and she appeared in every film after the fourth one. Speaking to The Guardian about the “extreme and sudden fame” that came with these films, the actress said she didn’t think she handled it well, explaining:
It was overwhelming from the get-go. Being in the spotlight from that age, when you’re already insecure, was difficult, to say the least. At the time, I was having a lot of fun. I thought: this is different from school, and I really did not enjoy school. So it was a way to escape. I’m still trying to figure it out, really, how it affected me.
It makes sense that she’s still trying to figure it out. An experience like Harry Potter has to be overwhelming. It’s such a big hit, and fans still watch the movies (with an HBO Max subscription) and read the books to this day. In fact, it’s so popular there’s a TV show in the works. That kind of attention can lead to unwarranted scrutiny and criticism, and that’s hard to handle.
Speaking to how she handled it all back then, Leung recalled how being young and curious, and having access to the internet, can be a scary combination. She said:
I don’t know if anything could have been done back then to make things better or easier. At that age, you’re curious. I remember being very curious about what people were saying about me, and I was Googling myself. Nobody could have stopped me, because I was old enough to make up my own mind.
She went on to explain that she didn’t know how to deal with hateful and racist comments. When asked how she coped, she said, “I didn’t.” Noting that all this made her “less outgoing,” she also said she’d find herself overcompensating at times.
Now, looking back on this whole experience, she got candid about how it impacted her outlook on her career, explaining:
I remember coming out of it and thinking, ‘Nothing’s going to beat it,’ because it was so successful. I remember being lost, going, ‘What’s next? People will have these high expectations of me topping it, and it’s never going to happen.’ I think I was so afraid of meeting these expectations that I gave up, or didn’t give myself the chance, after it, to try and continue acting.
While she said she felt like she gave up, her IMDb says otherwise. Since 2017, she’s been working consistently, and her filmography includes titles like The Peripheral, Chemistry of Death, Wheel of Time and Arcane. Now, she can add Bridgerton to that list, too.
How Bridgerton Is Different
Netflix’s 2026 schedule is kicking off with a bang as Season 4 of Bridgerton is set to premiere on January 29. This time, we’re getting Benedict’s love story, which means we’ll get to meet characters like Sophie, his main love interest, and Lady Araminta Gun, her stepmother. Katie Leung plays Lady Araminta in the new episodes, and while speaking about joining another big franchise, she said:
I feel really blessed, genuinely. It feels quite familiar, in a sense. Also I’m older, and at a place in my life where I’m not too fazed going into something seemingly so huge.
It seems that Katie Leung is handling all this with a lot of grace. She knows what it’s like to join a massive franchise; she’s older and wiser than she was when she made Harry Potter, and it sounds like she’s not letting the outside world impact her work and success.
Now, I can’t wait to see her back on screen in Bridgerton! The new season is set to premiere on January 29, so make sure your Netflix subscription is ready.
