‘Harry Potter’ Star Jessie Cave Shuts Down Costar Miriam Margolyes’ Comments About Adult Fans
Hogwarts will always be home to those who need it — take it from Jessie Cave, who played Lavender Brown in the Harry Potter franchise.
While appearing at Dream It Con on Saturday, March 23, the actress, 36, addressed her former costar Miriam Margolyes' recent comments about adult fans of the series. "It's such a shame that that happened,” she said. "You know how she is, she's just a bit funny. And I think she didn't mean for it to be taken like that, I hope. ... I really don’t like that she said that.”
Cave pointed out that Harry Potter’s fan base “has aged and is still bonded through [it], and it’s passed on to younger people and younger generations, and that’s what's so amazing."
"She probably just doesn’t understand that [or] get that. So that's OK, and just let her be," the actress continued. "But I think it's just very unusual, this situation."
‘Harry Potter’ Stars: Where Are They Now?
Earlier this year, Margoyles sparked social media buzz after declaring in an interview with New Zealand’s 1News, "I worry about Harry Potter fans because they should be over that by now."
The 82-year-old, who played Professor Pomona Sprout in the films, noted her surprise that fans are still bringing up Harry Potter when she gets Cameo requests. “People say, ‘We’re having a Harry Potter-themed wedding,' and I think, ‘Gosh, what’s their first night of fun going to be?’ I can’t even think about it. No.”
Harry Potter was celebrated at a fan convention in France over the weekend, with appearances from Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley), Matthew Lewis (Neville Longbottom), Devon Murray (Seamus Finnigan) and Alfred Enoch (Dean Thomas).
Grint and Cave, who played an ill-fated couple in the franchise, playfully recreated an iconic scene involving Lavender gifting Ron with a necklace. Set to the Simple Plan song “I’m Just a Kid,” the TikTok of the pair pulled in more than 2 million likes. "Lavender Brown reunited with her Won-won this weekend at our #ETWW convention! ??????," Dream It Con captioned the post.
While Cave is an ardent supporter of Harry Potter fans, she’s been candid about her own complicated experience starring in the series.
"I gained a lot of weight after doing Harry Potter, just because I wasn't starving myself. And I was growing up and that's just what happens," she told The Independent in a June 2021 interview. Cave recalled being “treated like a different species” when she returned to film Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
"It was horrible. It was probably more me and my insecurity, knowing that I wasn't fitting into the same size jeans, but it wasn't a time where actresses were any bigger than a size eight [U.K.]," she explained. "And in the previous film I had been, and now I was a size 12. So that was horrible. It was a really uncomfortable experience."
Cave added that she felt “invisible” while on set. "And since then, it's made me have weird issues with weight and work,” she said. “And it's so f—ked up, but it's just how it is. Women have to deal with that all the time.”
