As a kid, watching the Harry Potter scenes in the Great Hall with mountains of food and the odd ghost flying around, it was pretty much everyone’s dream to star in the films.
Now, one woman has opened up about her experience as a teenage extra and revealed what it was like to be the butt of a cruel Ron Weasley joke.
Samantha Clinch played the minor character Eloise Midgen in the films after being selected for the role one day on the set. To play Midgen, she was required to wear prosthetic acne for the two years she played her.
In the 2005 film Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the character of Midgen faces some cruel mocking from Weasley, played by the actor Rupert Grint, as he jokes: “There’s something about to burst out of Eloise Midgen but I don’t think it’s a swan…”
One TikToker asked Clinch specifically about that moment, saying that the harsh joke would have made them “cry for months”.
Clinch replied: “How did I feel? I felt incredible!”
@samanthaclinchReplying to @Sultan Jalebithe good the bad and how to stay kind.#eloisemidgen #gobletoffire #ronweasley #skinjourney #acne #prosthetics #prostheticmakeup #harrypotter #harrypottertiktok #harrypottertok #fyp #bullyingawareness
She continued: “I was an extra one minute and then I was thrust into a trailer the next. It really was nothing quite like it, being chosen to play an incredibly iconic character and then getting to meet every single one of the main cast.
“It was unreal, I had my own make-up artist who followed me around with the Carmex [lip balm]. And I had a part to play. Let’s not forget, this is a character.”
Clinch explained that it fulfilled a lifelong dream of hers to be a professional actress.
She continued: “I was being a professional actress. I had a line, I had a dancing scene ... I fulfilled my life goal of being a professional actress, and it happened to be in one of the biggest films in the world.”
However, not everything was all rosy as Clinch continued, explaining that the other kids on set could be really mean to her because of the prosthetic acne she wore.
“Kids were so mean. I remember walking from my classroom trailer … people would whisper about me. People would actively move out of the way of me as I would walk past. Kids would be laughing,” she said.
It comes just days after the death of the actor Michael Gambon who famously starred as Professor Dumbledore in the film series.
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