It was 1999, and I was 10 years old. My friend Jessica kept raving about these wonderful books she had been reading and insisted that I borrow the first one in the series from her. I loved to read, so I borrowed it from her. Glancing at the illustrative cover with “Harry Potter” in gold, I wondered what all the hype was about. I soon found out.
People in their late 20’s and early 30’s often tell me they’ve never read the books and don’t understand what the big deal is. In the first book, Harry turns 11. When I read it, I was almost 11. My generation literally grew up with these characters. Harry, Ron and Hermione graduated from Hogwarts just months after I graduated high school. I read “Deathly Hollows” in three days, taking breaks only to eat, sleep and pee, and this was when I was 18.
The trio may have been battling evil, but they also lived through the same emotions and experiences as normal kids just trying to grow up. They had crushes. They had break-ups. They were socially awkward at times. They wondered who they were. This is what made them so real and relatable to my generation as we approached adolescence and adulthood with them.
The actors playing these roles in the movies grew up before our eyes. Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint were cast as Harry, Hermione and Ron when they were just kids. Now they are young adults, like me.
Daniel, now 21, was raised in West London. He always struggled with school, just like Harry, but he is now considering attending university as the series comes to an end. In his decade playing Harry, he has acquired and kicked a drinking problem. He also played the lead in “Equus,” a role the requiring him to get nakey on stage. This move perhaps showing he is ready to move on from his 10-year role as HP. Daniel is currently performing in the Broadway production of “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying,” but he isn’t really sure what his next step will be. Hmm…sounds familiar.
Emma, like her character, has always succeeded in school, so it was no surprise when she enrolled at Brown. Raised in Oxfordshire, she always took an interest in acting, but the series was her professional debut. She enjoys fashion as an extension of art and has modeled for Burberry and Lancôme, and she has created lines for People Tree, a fair trade brand. Emma plans on completing school and has expressed no desire to seriously continue acting. She says she’s sad to see the series end but is excited for a fresh start.
Unlike Emma, Rupert quit school at the age of 16 to pursue acting. He has played in several roles outside of Harry Potter over the years, but has no ensuing plans for the future. He is said to be much more laidback, like Ron, and owns a farmhouse with tons of animals (along with two mansions of course). The eccentric pictures of him driving an ice cream truck are real. He said it was a childhood dream of his to own one, so he bought it right after he got his license.
While these actors and their characters are personable, there are a few differences between them and me. Other than being world-renowned movie stars, Daniel, Emma and Rupert are collectively worth over $100 million, not bad for 10 years of work. One similarity: the world is at our feet, waiting to see what we’ve got in-store.
