The Harry Potter Stars Who Have Asked Fans to “Grow Up” and Move On

[Dumbledore]

There’s something quite funny about being a Harry Potter fan in 2026. The original films are celebrating 25 years, a brand new HBO series is about to begin, and Harry Potter is everywhere again. Yet some of the actors who actually made those films have spent years trying to explain that, lovely as the experience was, they really have moved on. And when you think about it, you can hardly blame them.

 

For us, Harry Potter might be something we watched growing up, something we still rewatch every Christmas or a world we can happily disappear into for a few hours. For the actors, though, it was a huge part of their actual lives. Some of them spent a decade making those films. They went from being children or young adults to fully grown adults while millions of people around the world watched.

 

 

Miriam Margolyes has probably been the most outspoken about it. The actress, who played Professor Sprout, famously told Harry Potter fans in 2024 that they should be “over that by now”, pointing out that it had been 25 years and that the story was made for children. She has also joked about fans telling her they are having Harry Potter themed weddings, admitting that she simply cannot understand being quite so devoted to it decades later.

It is very much the sort of thing only Miriam Margolyes could say.

 

 

David Thewlis, who played Professor Lupin. When asked about returning to Harry Potter, he was considerably more direct, explaining that he felt he was too old to play Lupin again and saying that he had had quite enough of talking about it. He has also made it clear that he wouldn't want to return to the role.

 

And then there was Maggie Smith. Professor McGonagall remains one of the most beloved characters in the entire series, but Smith admitted that she was rather relieved when the films were finally over. In another interview she described the experience as not exactly satisfying, and at one point she even refused to answer questions about Harry Potter. After ten years of making the films, it is not difficult to understand why she might have wanted to close that particular chapter of her career.

 

Ralph Fiennes is another interesting one because Voldemort is arguably one of the characters most closely associated with an actor. Fiennes gave us the definitive film version of the Dark Lord, and although he has spoken positively about the possibility of returning, he eventually said that the “ship has sailed”. The HBO series will therefore have to find someone completely new when Voldemort eventually becomes a major part of the story.

 

Robert Pattinson has taken a slightly different approach. Harry Potter was an important early part of his career, but since then he has deliberately built a completely different filmography. From Twilight to films such as The Batman and his more unusual independent projects, Pattinson has clearly had no interest in spending his adult career constantly looking backwards.

 

Then there is Daniel Radcliffe, which is probably the most complicated example of all. It is almost impossible to talk about Daniel without talking about Harry because he played the character for so long and became one of the most recognisable young actors in the world as a result. But Radcliffe has repeatedly spoken about wanting a career that isn't defined entirely by Harry Potter. He has taken on theatre, comedy, television and some wonderfully strange film roles, and he has been very clear that he isn't interested in simply returning to the franchise because other former cast members have done so.

 

 

I think this is where fans sometimes forget the difference between loving a fictional world and actually living inside the machinery that created it.

We can finish a Harry Potter film and put the DVD back on the shelf. The actors couldn't do that. They went to work on it. They spent months filming. They did interviews, premieres, publicity tours and press junkets, sometimes answering exactly the same questions hundreds of times. Then they did it all again the following year.

 

So when someone like Margolyes says, essentially, “please move on”, I can understand the reaction from fans who don't want to hear it, but I can also understand where she is coming from.

 

At the same time, I don't think fans should feel guilty for still loving Harry Potter. There is a difference between refusing to let actors have lives outside the franchise and simply enjoying something that meant a lot to you. If someone grew up reading the books, watched the films with their family and still gets excited when a new Hogwarts trailer appears, that doesn't mean they need to “grow up”. People are allowed to keep the things they loved as children.

 

Maybe the answer is that both sides can exist. The actors can move on. The fans can stay. And Harry Potter can somehow do both at the same time.

 

That is probably what makes the timing of the HBO series so interesting. A completely new generation of actors is now stepping into roles that the original cast spent years trying to leave behind. For the new stars, Harry Potter is the beginning of something. For the original cast, it was a massive chapter of their lives that has already ended.

 

Personally, I think that's quite fascinating. We don't need Daniel Radcliffe to come back. We don't need Ralph Fiennes to return as Voldemort. We don't need every original actor to approve of the new series. The original films will still be there, and the new cast deserves the chance to create their own version of the story. And perhaps that's the best way to look at it. The actors can move on if they want to. The fans don't have to.

 

What do you think? Should Harry Potter stars be allowed to completely move on from the franchise, or do you think it's understandable that fans still want to hear about the characters and films after all these years?

[DutchSlytherpuff]

Who is that hiding under the invisibility cloak? Harry... Is that you? No?
Well, you must be a Muggle... And, you've found our magical community!

In that case, I think you should join us.
Enrol | Sign in

Once signed in you’ll be ‘sorted’ into your Hogwarts house; where you can start creating your own personalised ‘topics’ straight away, or you can also join existing conversations with fellow fans by replying to ‘threads’ and discussions that pique your interest.

[Martha Stuart]

Who is that hiding under the invisibility cloak? Harry... Is that you? No?
Well, you must be a Muggle... And, you've found our magical community!

In that case, I think you should join us.
Enrol | Sign in

Once signed in you’ll be ‘sorted’ into your Hogwarts house; where you can start creating your own personalised ‘topics’ straight away, or you can also join existing conversations with fellow fans by replying to ‘threads’ and discussions that pique your interest.

[Dumbledore]

Who is that hiding under the invisibility cloak? Harry... Is that you? No?
Well, you must be a Muggle... And, you've found our magical community!

In that case, I think you should join us.
Enrol | Sign in

Once signed in you’ll be ‘sorted’ into your Hogwarts house; where you can start creating your own personalised ‘topics’ straight away, or you can also join existing conversations with fellow fans by replying to ‘threads’ and discussions that pique your interest.