The Real Life Partners Of The Cast Of Harry Potter
Between seven books and eight movies, the Harry Potter series has certainly cemented its place in pop culture history. Not only have the books sold more than 500 million copies, but its film adaptations have gone down in box-office history, making it one of the top franchises of all time, according to The Numbers. Still, the movies would be nothing without its cast who largely grew up alongside the series' adoring fans. The students of Hogwarts—and leading trio Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint in particular—"have shown admirable grace and steadiness in the face of superstardom," according to The Los Angeles Times, who called their casting "one of the best show-business decisions over the past decade."
While Harry Potter ends up with the sister of his best friend Ron Weasley (who ends up with his other best friend, Hermione Granger), where does that leave their real life counterparts? Radcliffe, Watson, and Grint aren't the only Harry Potter stars who have aged gracefully—just wait until we get to "Longbottoming"—and this cast, for the most part, have found their own happily ever afters. These are the real life partners of the cast of Harry Potter.
Daniel Radcliffe has gotten serious with another actor since Harry Potter
Daniel Radcliffe kept his romantic life extremely private while the Harry Potter films were released, but it seems he found the one in 2013. Two years after the series ended, Radcliffe met actor Erin Darke on the set of Kill Your Darlings, and the two have been dating since. "There's a moment [in the film] when she makes me laugh, and I'm laughing as me and not as my character," he gushed to Playboy in 2015. "She was incredibly funny and smart. I knew I was in trouble."
Darke, who's best known for her roles in Good Girls Revolt, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and Love & Mercy, is the "super nerdy" answer to his heart, he told Radio Times (per Metro), adding that they play "a lot of board games." She also has a good sense of humor about the tabloids. "At least three different times, somebody has written that we're getting married and Emma Watson is gonna be the maid of honor, and Rupert Grint is my best man, and we're getting married on a lake in Michigan," Radcliffe told Vulture. Oddly specific! Still, considering Radcliffe told Us Weekly that Darke was his "best friend," we wouldn't be surprised to see these two eventually tie the knot.
Harry Potter star Rupert Grint found love and fatherhood
Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger were the couple we saw coming from a mile away, and while Rupert Grint did not end up with his Harry Potter colleague, he is seeing another screen actor. Not only is Grint taken by Georgia Groome, known for her role in Angus, Thongs, and Perfect Snogging, but the two have a child together. Groome gave birth to their daughter in May 2020.
Although they keep their personal lives quiet, the Servant star gushed to Glamour that their relationship was "a very natural thing" in 2021. "We're kind of the same person; we think the same way," he explained. "It's hard to pinpoint exactly what it is, but it works and it's great." Not only is Groome one of his "best friends," but Grint also thoroughly enjoys being a father. "I feel like I've changed as a person for sure," he told Glamour. "Obviously there are days when she is FULL on. But there's something really nice about the routine. It's got me in a good place, I think."
Emma Watson keeps her post-Harry Potter romance under wraps
Fans thought Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy might be having a fling when Tom Felton shared a photo of him teaching his Harry Potter co-star Emma Watson guitar in August 2019 — especially since Watson had admitted Felton was her first crush. "He totally knew and the thing is that he'd tell everyone, 'I see her in a younger, sisterly way,' and it just broke my heart," she told The Jonathan Ross Show, per Insider. "It still does."
The rumors were quickly squashed in October that year when Watson was snapped by paparazzi kissing LA businessman Leo Robinton, according to Daily Mail. As of this writing, the two appear to still be dating, though the Little Women star hasn't shared any photos of her beau on social media. On the other hand, Robinton, who formerly worked in cannabis, doesn't have much of a digital footprint at all—and for good reason: he deleted his social media "in an attempt to protect their romance," according to Daily Mail.
In February 2021, The Sun shared some photos of Watson wearing a ring on that finger, prompting rumors she was on the road to marriage. While there's been no confirmation either way, Watson is a realist about the work that comes with romance. "The idea that relationships are supposed to be easy and it's all supposed to be implicitly understood, and you're just meant to get each other, it's bulls***," she told Teen Vogue in 2020.
Following the Harry Potter era, Matthew Lewis got hitched
After Harry Potter, Matthew Lewis, a.k.a. Neville Longbottom, transformed from an awkward prepubescent with a heart of gold into a full-blown heartthrob with his role in 2018's Girlfriends. His transition into adulthood—and his abs—were so widely recognized that "Longbottoming" became a term to describe "when a child actor grows into a beautiful swan," per BuzzFeed. "I never thought in my wildest dreams that one day I would have coined a phrase," he told HelloGiggles in 2018. "I wish it was for my linguistics rather than my chest. [But, it's still something to] tell the grandkids."
Those grandkids might be coming sooner than later as Lewis married his girlfriend Angela Jones in May 2018. According to People, Lewis met Jones, an event planner from America, at an event for the Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park. "She's the best thing in my life and inspires me to do and be better every single day," he wrote in a post on Instagram. Their family consists of two dogs whom they regularly dress up and show off on social media.
Harry Potter star Helena Bonham Carter's new relationship is 'magic'
Helena Bonham Carter may portray the villainous Bellatrix Lestrange in the Harry Potter films, but as fans of Les Misérables and Alice in Wonderland know, the English actor has a softer side. After she and ex Tim Burton, with whom she has two children, split in 2014, she started dating Rye Dag Holmboe. "I met him at a wedding," she told The Guardian in 2020. "A totally random thing, which both of us nearly didn't go to, so it was one of those moments that was so chance and ended up determining so much." As she told Harper's Bazaar, she was "bored of grieving" her split from the director. "I'm very happy with someone else," she said. "It's been a bit of unexpected magic in my life."
While the Sweeney Todd star told the outlet that she "can't say much about Rye, because he's a psychoanalyst [who] needs his anonymity," she described their relationship, which began in 2018, as "magic." The two share a Tibetan terrier named Pablo, according to Harper's Bazaar. Not too shabby for a former Death Eater!
Jim Broadbent's marriage began long before his Harry Potter days
With his comically awkward quips and sometimes sleazy intentions, Jim Broadbent made his mark on the franchise as potions teacher Horace Slughorn in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. That being said, it sure seems he's a bit smoother than the wizard he portrayed. The Oscar winner has been married to Anastasia Lewis since 1987, according to Encyclopedia.com. Broadbent is stepfather to her two sons.
It seems the happy couple's secret to success is in part their privacy and their hobbies. Lewis is a painter and a former theater designer, according to her website, while Broadbent has a handful of quirky hobbies himself, including chiseling and painting wooden figures at their home near Lincolnshire Wolds. "I'm sure it's therapeutic," he told The Guardian in 2015. "It stimulates me, gets me up in the morning so it's a passion as well." Broadbent also shared that he steers clear of social media. "You never know what you'll find. It's dangerous," he said. More chiseling, less scrolling.
Harry Potter's Warwick Davis has a charming relationship
Warwick Davis charmed his way into Harry Potter fans' hearts as Charms professor Filius Flitwick and goblin banker Griphook. The franchise holds a special place in his heart, as he told MTV News, and he was "actually really quite choked up" filming his last scene in the series in 2010.
His bustling career includes roles in Star Wars movies and shows like Life's Too Short, and he's not the only member of his household who works in showbiz. His wife, Samantha Davis, and their kids Annabelle Davis and Harrison Davis also happen to be actors. That said, the family seems pretty set on keeping their personal and professional lives separate. "There was a period a few years ago when I was getting approaches from documentary companies wanting to do a kind of 'Follow Warwick Davis and his family,'" Davis told the Independent in 2011. "I was kind of, "No, I'm an actor, that's what I do, the family thing, that's our thing.'"
Sadly, Warwick and Samantha experienced tragedy when their first- and second-born children, Lloyd Davis and George Davis, "inherited both [their parents' forms of dwarfism]" and did not survive, as Warwick told Bear Grylls on Bear's Mission With... (via Daily Mail). Still, the "tough time" brought him and his wife closer together. "That kind of stuff, it just makes you stronger [as a couple]." Warwick said.
Much has been made of Harry Potter actor Sir Michael Gambon's romantic life
Michael Gambon took over the mantle as headmaster Albus Dumbledore following Richard Harris' death. Gambon, who made an impression as the beloved wizard in the Harry Potter flicks, has been married to Anne Miller since 1962... though he began dating Philippa Hart, a set designer 25 years his junior, in 2000. The Dublin-born actor has a son with Miller and two sons with Hart.
According to Daily Mail, he has reportedly "split his time between both families" for over a decade. Although Miller was "devastated" at first, they apparently eventually came to an "arrangement." While much has been made of the reported relationships, Gambon has not spoken publicly about his personal life.
However, he has spoken about his line of work. "I'm quite a serious-minded actor," Gambon told The Arts Desk in 2010. "I've got this reputation because I f*** about off the stage they think I f*** about on." Opening up to The Sunday Times in 2015 about his decision to retire from acting due to memory issues, he said, "It breaks my heart."
Brendan Gleeson and his wife are the parents of another Harry Potter star
Irish actor Brendan Gleeson brought humanity—if not a teensy bit of insanity—to the role of the intimidating Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody, who first appeared in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Gleeson lives in Ireland, where he raised his sons with wife Mary Weldon, who worked as a community welfare officer, according to Interview.
Funnily enough, Gleeson isn't the only actor in his family. Sons Brian and Domhnall Gleeson both followed their father's footsteps, with the latter portraying Bill Weasley in Deathly Hallows Parts 1 and 2. While he has to keep his paternal instincts in check on-set, it seems Brendan is a very proud father. "It was a bonus that I had little right to expect," Brendan told The Irish Times. "Domhnall was more interested in being on the other side of the camera ... he didn't get the acting bug until he was older, but Brian, I knew it since he was [a child]." Judging by Domhnall's career, the bug didn't hold back.
Jason Isaacs is a much better father than his Harry Potter character
Between Captain Hook in 2003's Peter Pan, to his portrayal of the evil Lucius Malfoy—father to Harry's nemesis, Draco—Jason Isaacs has played his fair share of bad guys. Offscreen, however, it seems he's much more agreeable. In fact, Isaacs met his wife Emma Hewitt, an actor and documentarian, in the '80s, according to The Jewish Chronicle, and the two married in 2001, per Express.
Isaacs, his wife, and their daughters live a "calm, sedate and suburban" life in North West London, as he told the Chronicle, where the most excitement he got as a father was "trying to stop one of [his] children stuffing yoghurt into the other one's eye." The British actor is the first one to admit that his onscreen alter-egos don't quite align with his brand as a family man. "I play a psychotic, brain-damaged gangster, who was probably abused as a child, in Brotherhood; a dangerous, violent man in Scars; I'm a slightly less than affable wizard in Harry Potter ... then I go home and it's all Pictionary, Narnia, and Playdough," he joked to the Chronicle. Hey, not a bad way to unwind.
Imelda Staunton is married and nothing like her Harry Potter role
Imelda Staunton nailed her role as pesky and pink-clad professor Dolores Umbridge, though she definitely doesn't side with her wicked character. "I think she's a bloody monster and to be played as such," Staunton said on EWs Binge podcast in 2016. "I don't need to understand what she does ... I have embraced a completely and utterly deluded woman." While she brought a new meaning to "evil" on the big screen, Staunton is something of an acting legend outside of Potter, with roles in Pride, The Crown, and Shakespeare in Love. It's only fitting she's married to fellow actor Jim Carter, whom she met during a National Theatre production of Guys and Dolls, according to Hello! magazine. The couple married in 1983 and Staunton gave birth to their daughter, Bessie Carter, in 1993. Like her parents, Bessie has pursued an acting career, nabbing roles such as Prudence Featherington in Netflix's Bridgerton.
Jim, best known as Downton Abbey's Mr. Carson, and Staunton have worked together several times, but no arrangement was quite as sweet as her appearance in the Downton film based on the hit historical drama series. "[It] was just luxury, like a nice box of chocolates," Staunton told Hello! of the family affair in 2019. "It was so nice, so exciting ... I tried to get the dog in it, no they weren't having [it]." So much for making this a family aff-fur.
Harry Potter actor David Thewlis keeps his personal life private
David Thewlis was a fan favorite for his portrayal of the brave and amiable James Lupin, a friend of Harry Potter's father — and a part-time werewolf. While the British actor is known for his roles in films like Wonder Woman and The Omen, he's managed to keep his personal life discreet. According to the Daily Mail, he was attached to actor Anna Friel for nine years before the two split amidst rumors that "work commitments" were getting in the way. They have one daughter together. In 2017, The Guardian noted Thewlis has since married a French artist.
The two have kept their relationship completely under wraps, with Thewlis keeping details like her name private from the press. Still, the Golden Globe nominee has let some details slip, such as his propensity for the romantic woods near their house where you can, as he said in a 2020 interview with INews, "get deep enough ... you could imagine you're in Canada," as well as who's his toughest critic: his daughter. "Gracie is not impressed by me at all," Thewlis told the outlet. "She hasn't even seen Harry Potter." Wingardium Levios-huh. How about that.
A happy love story was always in the cards for Harry Potter's Emma Thompson
British acting legend Emma Thompson appeared as zany Divination professor Sybill Trelawney, starting with Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban; ironically enough, her ex-husband, Kenneth Branagh, starred as Gilderoy Lockhart in the previous Harry Potter movie. While their love wasn't in the cards, Thompson found her happily ever after with actor Greg Wise, whom she had met on the set of Sense and Sensibility. However, as Thompson shared on a 2020 episode of The Graham Norton Show (via Hello!), Wise seemed to be more interested in their co-star Kate Winslet at first.
"He took [Kate] to Glastonbury, and she was so bored, and he thought, 'This isn't going to work, who can it be,'" she told Graham Norton. "Then things happened that probably shouldn't have happened, and it's been 25 years in May." The two got married a few years after they started dating, and now they have one daughter and one adopted son.
Thompson may be known for her heartbreaking role in Love Actually, but unlike Karen, it seems she's got relationships figured out. The most important thing to look for in a person? "The ability to laugh in the face of disaster," she said in Reader's Digest in 2009. "Every joke is a form of rebellion."
Harry Potter actor Julie Walters' husband has been there through it all
Julie Walters—known for her jubilant performances as characters like Harry Potter's Molly Weasley and Mamma Mia's Rosie—had it lucky when it came to romance. As the British actor told Female First in 2016, it was love at first sight for her and husband Grant Roffey. "I thought, if it doesn't work out with this man, how could it work with anyone," she gushed to the outlet. According to The Sun, Walters and Roffey "met in 1987 when he was an AA patrol man," however, they wouldn't get married for another ten years. They had their first and only daughter in 1988.
The couple has seen each other through thick and thin. In 2020, Walters revealed that Roffey had supported her through a stage three bowel cancer diagnosis. "I'll never forget his face [when I told him,]" she shared with BBC's Victoria Derbyshire. "Tears came into his eyes." As of the interview, Walters said she was "clear," but even before the rough experience, Walters had pumped the brakes on her career to spend more time with family. "Scripts come my way but it has to be something I really want because mostly I prefer being at home," Walters told Female First. "It's the place where I feel most content and happiest." Aw.