Katie Leung Reflects on Her Early Career During the ‘Harry Potter’ Films

Katie Leung says she would not want to return to the period when she was filming the Harry Potter film series, reflecting on the challenges she faced entering the industry at a young age.

In a recent interview with Entertainment Tonight, Leung spoke about her experience portraying Cho Chang, a role she first played as a teenager in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. While she did not describe the experience as negative, the actress said the stage of life she was in at the time made it difficult to navigate the attention that came with such a high-profile franchise.

“I was so young at the time, and I was so easily influenced by what people would say about me because I didn’t know who I was,” Leung said. She added that, with greater personal clarity now, she would not want to return to that period of her life. “It’s really nice when you know who you are,” she said, explaining that she feels more grounded in her career today.

Leung appeared in five of the eight films in the Harry Potter series. After her debut in Goblet of Fire in 2005, she reprised the role in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and both installments of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Cho Chang was introduced as a Ravenclaw student and later became a brief love interest for Harry Potter.

In a separate interview earlier this year with Variety, Leung discussed the unusual circumstances surrounding her casting in the franchise. The role marked her first professional acting job, and she entered a major film production without previous experience in front of the camera.

“My first job, ‘Harry Potter’, I had never acted before in my life,” she said. “Suddenly I was in front of 20 cameras and 100 people, completely lost, still figuring out who I was.”

Leung contrasted that early experience with her more recent projects, including voice work on the animated series Arcane and her role as Lady Araminta Gun in Bridgerton. She said that working on those productions felt different because she approached them with greater confidence in her abilities and a clearer sense of belonging on set.

“Once you stop questioning it, you can actually focus on bringing your best work,” she said.

In recent years, Leung has also spoken publicly about the backlash she experienced during the Harry Potter era. In an interview with The Guardian, she discussed encountering racist comments online after her casting was announced. At the time, she said, she often searched for reactions to her performance on the internet, which exposed her to criticism that affected her confidence.

“I remember being very curious about what people were saying about me, and I was Googling myself,” she said. Leung added that the comments made her more cautious in public and less outgoing during that period.

Despite those experiences, the actress has continued building a career across television, film, and voice acting. She also offered advice for whoever may eventually portray Cho Chang in the upcoming television adaptation of the Harry Potter books being developed for HBO.

Her guidance, she said, applies broadly to actors entering the industry: remain confident in one’s individuality and avoid being overly influenced by outside criticism.

“What you have already is a gift,” Leung said. “You should really just try and hold onto that.”