Katie Leung says racist online harassment followed her Harry Potter casting

Katie Leung says she experienced racist online harassment after her casting in the Harry Potter films, People reports.

The 37-year-old Scottish actress, who played Cho Chang in five of the Harry Potter films and made her big-screen debut in 2005's Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, told The Guardian that news of her role was leaked before she began filming while she was still a teenager and in school, and that the harassment began then. "Being in the spotlight from that age, when you’re already insecure, was difficult, to say the least," she said, and added that stumbling upon the online attacks "was not good for her mental health." She also recalled, "I remember being very curious about what people were saying about me, and I was Googling myself."

Leung told The Guardian she did not actively address the bullying: "I didn’t," she said. "I think it just sat with me, and it affected me in ways like, ‘Oh yeah, I made that decision because people were saying this about me.’" She previously recounted in a 2021 episode of the Chinese Chippy Girl podcast that a "secret photo" published in newspapers led to hateful messages and even a hate site. Leung will soon play Lady Araminta Gun in Bridgerton season 4, which premieres January 29.

Key Topics

Culture, Katie Leung, Cho Chang, Harry Potter, Online Harassment, Bridgerton