It’s been 20 years since Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone hit the big screen and fans all over the world are feeling incredibly old.
On November 16, 2001, JK Rowling’s first Harry Potter novel was adapted into the iconic film we know and love, and the rest is history.
It instantly made stars of Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, and Tom Felton, and featured British acting royalty by the bucketful.
Fast forward 20 years and the franchise is one of the biggest and well-loved in the world, with the eight films racking up an estimated $7billion (£5billion).
We’ve sadly lost some of the iconic stars, including Severus Snape actor Alan Rickman and original Albus Dumbledore star Richard Harris.
However, many of the then child stars are now fully fledged actors with incredible careers and have become real-life heroes, standing up for causes they believe in, such as bringing attention to the climate crisis and standing up for trans rights.
So, where are each of them 20 years on from the film that started it all?
Daniel Radcliffe – Harry Potter
Harry Potter star Daniel hasn’t exactly disappeared from the spotlight since he first hit the screen in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.
Daniel was 21 when the final Harry Potter film was released, going onto star in The Woman in Black, and then Kill Your Darlings.
The actor, now 32, has become known for his performances in smaller productions, such as rom-com What If?, thriller Guns Akimbo, and Victor Frankenstein, and for his work in the theatre.
He’s also been with his girlfriend, Erin Darke, since 2012 after they met on the set of Kill Your Darlings.
Emma Watson – Hermione Granger
Emma was the youngest of the ‘golden trio,’ beginning the films aged nine.
Since Deathly Hallows Part II was released, she’s starred in plenty of other big productions, including the Perks of Being A Wallflower, and The Bling Ring almost straight after the franchise ended.
More recently, she was praised for her performance as Jo March in Little Women, and starred as Belle in Beauty and the Beast.
From 2009 to 2014, Emma studied English Literature at Brown University and she’s been incredibly vocal about causes she believes in, particularly speaking out about the climate crisis, in recent years.
Emma, now 31, is thought to be dating Leo Robinton. While rumours spread this year that they had got engaged, Emma denied the reports.
Rupert Grint – Ron Weasley
While starring as the loveable Ron, Rupert managed to take on a couple of roles during the Harry Potter franchise, starring in Cherrybomb in 2009 and then taking on a role in Ed Sheeran’s music video for his song Lego House in 2011.
More recently, Rupert has turned his hand to TV, starring in the likes of Snatch, the ABC Murders, and Servant.
Last year, Rupert also welcomed his first child, a baby daughter named Wednesday, with his girlfriend Georgia Groome – and fans simply couldn’t handle that one of the golden trio had become a parent!
The 33-year-old kept his family life very private but has said of fatherhood: ‘It was something I never really had much of an idea of, that kind of love. It’s a very different love.’
Tom Felton – Draco Malfoy
Tom, who was 22 when the last Harry Potter film was released, took on a huge role right after the franchise ended, in Rise of the Planet of the Apes.
Since, he’s starred in smaller productions, including From the Rough and A United Kingdom.
Like Rupert, he’s also appeared in TV, such as Origin and The Flash, and took on a role in James Arthur’s music video for Empty Space.
Meanwhile, Tom, now 34, is also a musician in his own right, sharing songs on social media, and often catches up with his former co-stars, especially James and Oliver Phelps, who starred as the Weasley twins – we love to see it!
He’s also still quite the Potter fan himself, even ditching his Slytherin colours to dress up as Harry for Halloween this year.
Robbie Coltrane – Hagrid
Robbie Coltrane had a long career before the Harry Potter films, but the franchise saw him land what is known as one of his most memorable roles ever.
The actor starred in each of the films as loveable half-giant Hagrid, and even featured in other blockbusters, including Ocean’s Twelve, in between the films.
The Scot, now 71, has taken things a bit more slowly since the franchise ended, most recently starring as Orson Welles in TV series Urban Myths.
Robbie has two children with his ex-wife Rhona Gemmell – Spencer and Alice.
Dame Maggie Smith – Professor McGonagall
As one of the most distinguished actresses in Britain, it’s safe to say Dame Maggie didn’t need Harry Potter to kickstart her career.
But, along with many other roles, her performance as Professor McGonagall was pretty iconic.
Since the franchise ended, she’s again gone from strength to strength, starring in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and its sequel, as well as taking on the role of Violet Crawley in Downton Abbey.
She’s now 86 and still smashing it as she prepares for the release of the second Downton Abbey film, A New Era.
Dame Maggie has two children and five grandchildren, and has been married twice. Her second husband, playwright Beverley Cross, died in 1998.
Fiona Shaw – Petunia Dursley
After riling fans up as the cold Petunia Dursley, Fiona, now 63, also took on some absolutely incredible roles across film and TV.
She’s appeared in the likes of Colette, alongside Kiera Knightley, Ammonite with Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan, and of course as the no-nonsense Carolyn Martens in Killing Eve with Sandra Oh and Jodie Comer.
Fiona, who has previously spoken out about being gay, met her now-wife Sonali Deraniyagala after reading her memoir. The pair tied the knot in 2018.
Harry Melling – Dudley Dursley
Harry first appeared in the Harry Potter films at the age of 10 as the blundering Dudley, later appearing in almost all of the films.
Since Potter, the actor has appeared in various smaller productions, and was praised for his performance alongside Anya Taylor-Joy in Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit last year.
Harry, now 32, has also made his name as a theatre actor, appearing in the likes of King Lear at the Old Vic.
Ian Hart – Professor Quirrell
Ian, 57, played the shock villain Professor Quirrell in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Seriously, who saw that coming?), but that wasn’t the first time he played a the role of a lackey to Voldemort.
In 1999 he appeared alongside Ralph Fiennes in The End of the Affair, as a private detective hired by Ralph to spy on Julianne Moore.
Since his one and only Harry Potter movie, Ian has gone on to appear in the Sherlock Holmes franchise in 2002 and 2004, and played the author Arthur Conan Doyle in Finding Neverland, also in 2004.
Ian and Daniel Radcliffe recently teamed up again for 2020 film Escape From Pretoria, where both play political prisoners.
Ian lives in London and shares two daughters, Daisy and Holly, with his wife Lynn.
Matthew Lewis – Neville Longbottom
From a hapless first year constantly losing his toad to the surprise hero in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II, Matthew’s character Neville Longbottom is a firm fan favourite.
Following the major success of the franchise, Matthew went on to star in a number of theatre, film and TV dramas, including the popular BBC show Death in Paradise.
Most notably, Matthew, 32, had a supporting role in 2016’s Me Before You, which achieved massive box office success, and currently stars in Channel 5 series All Creatures Great And Small.
Matthew married his long-term girlfriend Angela Jones in 2018, after the pair met at a Celebration of Harry Potter event at Universal Studios Orlando, where Angela worked.
As well as acting, Leeds-born Matthew hosts a podcast on the Leeds United football team with former footballer Jermaine Beckford.
Julie Walters – Molly Weasley
Most people will agree that the casting of the Harry Potter series fit almost exactly with what they had imagined in the books, and none more so than Molly Weasley.
Julie already had a significant acting career behind her when she was cast as the mother of the seven Weasleys, from Educating Rita to the magnificent Billy Elliot.
The end of the Harry Potter franchise saw Julie go on to star alongside Saoirse Ronan in Brooklyn (2015) as Mrs Kehoe, and as the zany and lovable Rosie in Mamma Mia! (2008) and Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (2015), along with a litany of other roles, and in 2017 she was made a Dame (DBE) in to recognise her services to drama.
Julie lives near Plaistow, West Sussex on an organic farm with her husband Grant Goffey; the pair have one daughter, Maie Mae, who was born in 1988.
The 71-year-old announced in 2020 that she would be taking a step back from acting after being diagnosed with bowel cancer, which is thankfully in remission, but is making exceptions for roles she is really interested in – like Mamma Mia 3!, which is currently in development.
Bonnie Wright – Ginny Weasley
Bonnie, now 30, was nine years old when she first appeared as Ginny in the acclaimed series, and has gone on to star in a number of roles since, though none as big as Harry Potter.
She lent her voice to the animated Christmas movie My Dad Is Scrooge (2014) and appeared as Nell in the modern re-imagining of A Christmas Carol (2018), but while she has continued acting she now focuses more on directing films and music videos, and has her own production company, BonBonLumiere.
An ambassador for Greenpeace, Bonnie is a massive campaigner for sustainability and protecting the environment, and in 2020 appeared on Evanna Lynch’s vegan podcast Chickpeeps, where she discussed living a zero-waste life.
Bonnie, who now lives in Los Angeles, is releasing her first book, Go Gently, in 2022, with pre-order available from November 19.
She was previously engaged to fellow Harry Potter actor James Campbell Bower, who played young Grindelwald in Deathly Hallows Part I, but the pair called it quits in 2012.
James and Oliver Phelps – Fred and George Weasley
James and Oliver, 35, played the outrageously funny Fred and George Weasley in the Harry Potter franchise, but while they were inarguably brilliant actors, they have largely left their acting careers since the series came to an end.
The twins continue to work together on other projects however, and currently host a popular podcast series Normal Not Normal.
Launched in 2020, Normal Not Normal has seen a number of mini Harry Potter reunions as the twins interviewed Tom Felton, Bonnie Wright, Katie Leung, Alfred Enoch and Evanna Lynch.
Oliver married girlfriend Katy Humpage in 2015, and has one daughter, while James married Anika Ostle in 2016.
Both brothers support a number of charities, including the Teenage Cancer Trust and Cancer Research UK.
Devon Murray – Seamus Finnigan
Devon, 33, shot to fame overnight when he clinched the role of Seamus Finnigan, but took a step back from acting following Deathly Hallows Part II.
The Kildare native, having once spent his time blowing things up when trying to perform simple spells, has returned to a fairly quiet life in Ireland where he spends much of his time working with horses.
Devon has been with his partner Shannon McCaffrey Quinn since 2018, and in 2021 the pair welcomed their first child together, a son named Cooper.
He often updates fans on his life with his partner, son and their many horses on his Instagram page.
Alfred Enoch – Dean Thomas
Alfred played the West Ham-obsessed Gryffindor from the first to the last installment of the Harry Potter franchise, making his first appearance when he was 10 years old.
Since the series ended, Alfie has gone on to have one of the most successful acting careers out of almost everyone in the cast, most notably appearing in the American television series How to Get Away with Murder.
Now 32, Alfie has also appeared in BBC Sherlock, ITV crime drama Broadchurch, and most recently played Romeo in a production of Romeo and Juliet in London’s famous Globe Theatre and in Apple TV+’s science fiction series Foundation.
While he lives in in London with his girlfriend, Alfred spends a lot of time in the United States for work, and many of his post-Potter roles have seen him use an American accent.
John Cleese – Nearly Headless Nick
Veteran actor John was among the most famous actors to sign up to the first Harry Potter movie, already a household name in the UK for his roles in Monty Python an Fawlty Towers.
The actor and comedian, now 82, appeared as Nearly Headless Nick in the first two installments of the franchise before the character disappeared when Alfonso Cuarón took over as director from Christopher Columbus.
Since leaving the Harry Potter series, John continued his stellar career by appearing in numerous sitcoms and films, and touring the world with his comedy shows.
Most recently however, John has been making headlines for wading in with his less-than-impressed opinions on ‘cancel culture’ and taking aim at ‘woke’ comedy than for his acting career.
In November, John cancelled an appearance at Cambridge University after a visiting speaker was banned for doing a Hitler impression, claiming he was ‘blacklisting himself before someone else did’.
John has been married four times, most recently in 2012 to Jennifer Wade.
Got a story?
If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.
MORE : Harry Potter was almost played by Draco Malfoy star Tom Felton instead of Daniel Radcliffe
MORE : Harry Potter bosses ‘secretly planning filmed cast reunion’ for 20th anniversary