Katie Leung won over audiences as Cho Chang in the Harry Potter franchise, but the young
actress seriously doubted her future in entertainment.
What became of Potter's first crush after the hit series wrapped?
Keep reading to find out what the sorting hat of Hollywood had in store for this star.
Targeted by trolls
While working on the Harry Potter movies, Leung famously shared an on-screen kiss with
Daniel Radcliffe's Harry Potter in the series' fifth installment, 2007's The Order of the
Phoenix.
Despite the scene requiring multiple takes, Leung told BBC Slink she managed to keep her
cool:
"Um, I felt much more relaxed than I thought I was going to be, I mean, just because so
many people were talking about it."
However, her casting - and the publicity surrounding the smooch - made Leung the target of online
abuse and racist comments on so-called "I Hate Katie" fansites.
She told The Telegraph in 2016:
"I was quite impressed by how well I coped with it.
I think it was all to do with being in denial.
I tried to shut it out of my mind."
However, more than a decade later, Leung still gets attacked by online trolls for being the
beloved boy wizard's first love interest.
Of course, the majority of Potterheads adore Leung, her portrayal of Cho, and her undeniable
chemistry with Radcliffe.
Her magical roots caused insecurity
Katie Leung is grateful for her Harry Potter roots, but the high-profile filming experience
left the young actress filled with doubts once the movies wrapped n 2011.
She told The Telegraph:
"It wasn't until I came to the end of filming that I realized it might have just been a
case of luck that I got the role."
Having gone into the films without any acting experience, Leung believed she may have been
cast largely based on her appearance and race.
In 2013, she told the Daily Mail this suspicion shook her confidence for years:
"I wasn't certain I wanted to rely on acting as a career because of the uncertainty of
it.
It has taken a while but now I feel more comfortable within myself."
Theater rekindled her acting career
In 2012, Katie Leung was cast in her theater debut, Wild Swans at the Young Vic in London.
The 2012 theatrical adaptation of Jung Chang's autobiographical book was a career highlight
for Leung, who told The Evening Standard:
"It's just an amazing opportunity and I couldn't have asked for anything better than this after
Potter."
Leung's theater debut ended a temporary departure from acting, as she told BAFTA in 2014.
"Being on stage and getting the sort of immediate reaction from the audience really kind of
inspired me to continue with it."
Leung's success on stage inspired her to enroll in a three-year course at the prestigious
Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, which further nurtured her passion for acting.
"I fell in love with it again before I knew it.
And I got a lot of encouragement from the tutor who was leading the course at the time."
She became a TV star
Following her successes on stage and the big screen, Leung turned her attention to working
in television.
In the 2013 miniseries Run, she portrayed an undocumented Chinese immigrant named Ying
who struggles to survive in Britain, and she later starred in One Child, a dramatic series
set against the backdrop of China's controversial one-child policy.
Leung's appearances on the small screen garnered national attention and the actress was selected
as one of BAFTA's "Breakthrough Brits" in 2014.
"You know, to be associated with BAFTA is an amazing feeling."
This year-long mentoring program gave her a platform to reinvent her career in a post-Potter
world.
Winning the prestigious honor also helped put those lingering doubts about her acting
ability to rest.
"Something like this is definitely going to get my name out there."
Not slowing down
Katie Leung has a lot going on.
In 2016, she starred in Tony Kushner's play, The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism
and Socialism With a Key to the Scriptures, and in 2017 she played Jackie Chan's ill-fated
daughter on the big screen in The Foreigner.
"I'm getting out."
"No, no, no.
Wait until I park.”
“Everyone's already inside."
"Careful crossing the street!”
Meanwhile, on ITV's 2018 political thriller Strangers, she portrays a political activist
in Hong Kong.
Also, be sure to look for the actress in the 2019 animated series Moominvalley, and in
the television adaptation of Lucy Kirkwood's acclaimed play Chimerica.
As Leung told Red Carpet News in 2018:
"You know, I'm definitely coming out of my shell and I think… and when you do, you
realize there's just so much more out there."