One of the child actors from the Harry Potter films has revealed that the young extras on set were only paid £2.91 per hour.
The Warner Bros. films were released between 2001 and 2011, with Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint taking the leading roles of Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley respectively.
The eight films, combined with the three Fantastic Beasts movies, stand as the fourth-highest grossing film franchise of all time.
But now, one of the young actors that appeared as an extra in the third film, The Prisoner Of Azkaban, before taking on the named role of the acne-stricken student Eloise Midgen in The Goblet Of Fire, has spoken out about the pay she received for her appearances.
In a TikTok post, Samantha Clinch said: “Right, let’s talk about how much we got paid as extras for the Harry Potter films and how much I got paid when I became Eloise Midgen.”
“For context, in The Goblet of Fire, Daniel Radcliffe got paid $11 million—that’s nine and a half million pounds,” she continued.
“We would be called for breakfast to be in the holding area outside the set for 5:00am in the morning and then be leaving at rush hour, on the bus in heavy, heavy traffic.”
“Are you ready for how much we got paid? £35 a day, £35. That’s £2.91 an hour.”
Clinch then clarified that for the expanded role of Midgen, her pay was doubled to £70 per day, and took the time to point out that despite the low pay, she and her fellow extras were allowed to enjoy the free catering on set.
In other Harry Potter news, HBO announced a huge new television adaptation of the saga last year, where each of the seven books will get its own season.
It was then confirmed in February by Warner Bros. CEO David Zaslav that the first instalment of the show will hit HBO Max in 2026.
“We’ve not been shy about our excitement around Harry Potter,” Zaslav said. “We spent some real time with J.K. and her team. Both sides are just thrilled to be reigniting this franchise. Our conversations were great, and we couldn’t be more excited about what’s ahead. We can’t wait to share a decade of new stories with fans around the world on Max.”
Zaslav has also said that the series is likely to last “a decade”, adding: “My wife and I, we read [the Harry Potter books] to each of our three kids….It’s really moving, for 10 consecutive years, people will see Harry Potter on HBO; I mean it’s really something”.
Radcliffe has made clear that he “doesn’t know if it would work” for him or his former co-stars to have a cameo in the new version.
Meanwhile, a man was recently arrested on suspicion of stalking Watson, after turning up to Oxford University and demanding to see her.
Gary Oldman also recently rode back on his comments that he felt his performance as Sirius Black in the films was “mediocre”, clarifying that he is “hypercritical” of his own work.
