While it's hard to see any of the actors who played roles in the Harry Potter franchise as anyone other than their characters, the actors have had to move onto other roles to keep their careers going and make sure they aren't stuck and typecast in the future.
While it may seem surprising that anyone could see Daniel Radcliffe as anything but Harry Potter since the young actor has played Harry since he was ten. Radcliffe, however, among many other Harry Potter franchise actors, has made impressive attempts to move on and try new things.
Here are ten other shows and movies that you didn't realize some of the Harry Potter cast has starred in.
Daniel Radcliffe - Kill Your Darlings
While Daniel Radcliffe is obviously most famous for playing the iconic role of Harry Potter, you probably don't know that he played Alan Ginsberg in Kill Your Darlings, a biographical film about Ginsberg, Lucien Carr, William S. Burroughs, and Jack Kerouac amongst other earlier members of the Beat Generation. Most of the movie revolves around Ginsberg's friendship with Carr, as well as Carr's killing of his childhood friend David Kammerer in Riverside Park in Manhattan, New York City. One of his first break out roles after The Harry Potter franchise, Radcliffe tried to reinvent himself as someone else, which might be difficult as someone who is constantly recognized as the boy who lived.
David Tenant - Doctor Who
You might not have known that the actor who plays Barty Crouch Junior in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was actually the 10th Doctor on Doctor Who. Having played such an evil character in Harry Potter, an ardent follower of Lord Voldemort and a Death Eater and Dark Wizard, you might be surprised to see him as the hero in Doctor Who.
His first full episode was actually on the Christmas episode in 2005. Since then, he's been voted the favorite doctor over the previous favorite Tom Baker.
Natalia Tena - Game of Thrones
While Natalia Tena didn't make large appearances in the Harry Potter films, she played an important character, the half-blood witch and a Metamorphmagus, Nymphadora Tonks. One thing you might not have known about Natalia Tena is that she played Osha in the epic Game of Thrones.
Osha, who was part of the Free Folk or the Wildlings, who lives north of The Wall, became a servant for the House of Stark of Winterfell. She develops a friendship with Bran and carries him to the catacombs to check if his dream of seeing his father there was real.
Emma Watson - Little Women
While Emma Watson hasn't starred in much since playing Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter franchise ended, she recently made the move back to the big screen in her role as Meg in Little Women, another book to screen adaptation, directed by Greta Gerwig. Little Women tells the story of four sisters as they navigate life during the Civil War era in America.
Also starring Saoirse Ronan, Timothée Chalamet, and Meryl Streep, among others, the star-studded film shows off Emma Watson's attempt at an American accent, that doesn't quite sound convincing, though she is otherwise excellent in the role.
Ralph Fiennes - The English Patient
With all the make-up and costume, Ralph Fiennes looks nothing like his character Lord Voldemort, which might make it hard to recognize the British heartthrob in his other roles. In another novel to movie adaption, Ralph Fiennes stars in The English Patient, written by Sri-Lankan born Canadian writer Michael Ondaatje, and adapted and directed by Anthony Minghella. The epic romantic war drama film takes place during the last months of World War II and depicts the lives of four people who end up in an abandoned villa in northern Italy, including Ralph Fiennes' character, "the English patient", who is being nursed back to health by Hanna, a French-Canadian nurse.
Fiona Shaw - Killing Eve
It's hard to see Fiona Shaw as anyone other than Aunt Petunia because she plays the evil aunt so well. However, Fiona Shaw has had a great career, particularly in Britain. You probably didn't know that she plays Carolyn Martens, head of the Russia Section at MI6 in Killing Eve, because she looks so different with her short hair and her crisp outfits, a powerful working woman.
Killing Eve is a British spy show that stars Sandra Oh as the lead, a spy named Eve with a boring job behind a desk, and not enough action. When she takes on the case of a woman assassin, she gets into a game of cat and mouse with Villanelle, the psychopathic killer/assassin, and both women become obsessed with the other.
Julie Walters - Mamma Mia!
Many of you might not have known this but Julie Walters, who plays funny fan-favorite Mrs. Weasley. However, given her specific character outfits and hair, it's hard to tell the role is played by actress Julie Walters, who also plays one of Meryl Streep's best friends Rosie Mulligan, in Mamma Mia!
Mamma Mia! tells Sophie's story, who's played by Amanda Seyfried, as she goes to Greece to get married, Meryl Streep, playing her mother, helps her with the planning. When Sophie sends a letter to three men that she presumes might be her father, and they all show up, chaos ensues, and her three prospective fathers, played by Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, and Stellan Skarsgård.
Maggie Smith - Downtown Abbey
Maggie Smith has been in many films and movies, but did you know that she played Dowager Countess of Grantham in Downton Abbey? Known for her feistiness, her role as Minerva McGonagall was glorious but so was her role as Dowager Countess of Grantham.
She similarly has a dry wit that conceals her internal struggles, tougher on the rest of us than on herself. Unlike McGonagall, who is willing to change, Violet Crawley struggles to move into the new world, and as such, quarrels with those younger than her.
Alan Rickman - Love Actually
Older generations might know Rickman from many films, including Love Actually, his iconic role in the classic holiday movie. However, the younger generation might only know him as Severus Snape in the Harry Potter films. Starring many of Britain's most famous actors, including Keira Knightley, Liam Neeson, Hugh Grant, and Emma Thompson, Love Actually depicts the lives of eight different couples as they struggle through different problems in their relationships. Alan Rickman's character, Harry, who cheats on Emma Thompson with a younger woman and gets found out. In a reversal of his role as Snape, he plays a character who seems to be good but is actually not.
Robert Pattinson - The Lighthouse
You might know Robert Pattinson played Edward in Twilight, one of his most popular roles to date and the role that made him famous. You might even know that role better than when he played Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter, a role he played before becoming famous. However, more recently, Robert Pattinson stars as Thomas Howard in The Lighthouse, alongside Willem Defoe. The Lighthouse is a drama/fantasy film that tells the story of two lighthouse keepers who live in a remote and mysterious New England island. In the 1890s, they try to maintain their sanity despite being so isolated.