‘Harry Potter’s Katie Leung Felt “Restricted By Race” After Bullying From Fans

Key Highlights

• “It probably made me less outgoing.
• I was very self-aware of what was coming out of my mouth.” Watch on Deadline Related Stories News ‘Harry Potter’s Warwick Davis Says Series Is “Very Faithful” To Books: “More Depth And Detail” News ‘Harry Potter’ Series Star Dominic McLaughlin Reacts To Letter From Daniel Radcliffe: “It Was Insane” Noting that “for the longest time,” she tried to “overcompensate” for the success of the Harry Potter films, Leung said, “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 enjoyed later playing roles in projects set in China and North Korea, she found the racially specific casting to be limiting at times.
• Rupert Grint, Daniel Radcliffe and Katie Leung in ‘Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix’ (2007) (Warner Bros./Courtesy Everett Collection) “It’s one of these things where just because there weren’t many roles out there, I was incredibly grateful to be considered,” she explained.
• “A large part of that was me, again, giving myself a hard time, thinking I wasn’t deserving of anything.” Recounting when drama school peers would compare her to Lucy Liu, Leung said that although she’s “a huge fan” of the Rosemead actress, “That irked me.
• I remember thinking, why not Meryl Streep?