Katie Leung talks “Harry Potter” and new project “Run”

Katie Leung, who portrayed Cho Chang in the Harry Potter films, was recently interviewed for British newspaper the Daily Mail, where she discussed both her experiences working on the Potter movies and what she’s been up to since she left Hogwarts behind.

Leung was only sixteen when she was cast as Cho Chang, and in the interview she opens up about how the role changed her life.

I grew up overnight. I was still 16, doing my Highers, and I left school to go down to Watford and film. I spent a lot of time being tutored on set. But during my extended breaks from filming, I would go back to school, and it was these moments that made me realise just how much more there was out there. Back in Scotland all my friends were still in a bubble. Suddenly we had nothing in common. It was really difficult to get back with them – it never really happened. I don’t resent that – in a way it made me realise how privileged I was to be working and seeing a wider world.

Katie also speaks about her appearance in the upcoming BBC miniseries Run as Ying, an illegal immigrant living in Britain. The role marks a drastic departure from Leung’s turn as the Ravenclaw beauty. Says Leung of her new project,

Ying’s experiences in those 45 minutes get worse and worse. There’s nudity, there’s a rape – and there are a few scenes [that] have been cut, such as when Ying sleeps on the street for a night and two teenagers who have been out drinking urinate all over her. It was not very nice.

Be sure to check out the full article here to read more about what Katie has been up to in the years since Harry Potter. It seems she has grown into a very successful young woman, just like so many of her Potter co-stars!