Harry Potter actor thinks costar's comments about adult fans are "terrible"

The other week, British acting legend Miriam Margolyes — who played Professor Sprout in the Harry Potter movies — made some typically sassy comments about adult Harry Potter fans while speaking to New Zealand outfit 1News. “I worry about Harry Potter fans because they should be over that by now,” she said. “It was 25 years ago, and it’s for children.”

"I think it’s for children. “They get stuck in it. I do Cameos, and people say, ‘We’re having aHarry 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."

These comments made some waves among both fans and other members of the Harry Potter cast. Actor Jessic Cave, who played Ron Weasley's over-eager love interest Lavender Brown in the movies, weighed in while on a panel with other Potter actors at a convention, according to The Sun.

"I think it’s terrible," Cave said. "I really don’t like that she said that. It’s such an amazing thing that Harry Potter has done. It’s created a fan base that has aged and is still bonded through it and it’s passed on to younger generations and that’s what is so amazing. She probably just doesn’t understand that or get that. Just let her be. I think this situation is very unusual."

Helena Bonham Carter talks about the new Harry Potter TV show coming to Max

Cave wasn't the only Harry Potter alum sounding off on this. Helena Bonham Carter, who played dark wizard Bellatrix Lestrange, was a little more diplomatic when talking to Bustle. "I love that woman, and she’s somebody who has a big inner child," Carter said of Miriam Margolyes. "I think however old we are, we’ve got to keep that child alive."

I don't think there was much hard done here to anyone. Miriam Margolyes is entitled to her view, and at 81 years old, I don't expect her to be tapped into the idea of franchise fandom lasting into adulthood.

Harry Potter isn't going anywhere. In fact, Warner Bros. Discovery is working on a new TV series to air on Max, Helena Bonham Carter doesn't think they're ask her to appear, "but never say never."

More seriously, Carter hopes that whoever they get to play Bellatrix Lestrange in the new show goes in a "completely different direction" with the character, perhaps playing a version that sticks a little closer to the books by J.K. Rowling. We'll see what that looks like whenever the Harry Potter show debuts, probably sometime in 2026 at the earliest.

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