We’ve seen Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint grow up before our eyes, but what about the adult stars of Harry Potter series? What were they like before they became teachers and school principals?
Read on to see what your favorite Hogwarts professors looked like before Hogwarts even existed. Harry Potter The series is full of fantastic British actors who have built entire careers before they even waved a magic wand or rode a broomstick.
Alan Rickman
This is a photo of Professor Snape himself – that’s Alan Rickman in a 1978 production Romeo and Juliet. Rickman plays Tybalt, Juliet’s hot-tempered cousin. With a voice like his, it’s hard not to be cast as a villain.
Snape was somewhat of a villain, but the character gave Rickman the opportunity to show his softer side. Snape’s story will always be one of my favorites in the Harry Potter series.
David Thewlis
David Thewlis has quickly become one of my favorite actors. Since his stint as Professor Remus Lupin in Harry Potter to his work on Fargo to his most recent dubbing work in Big mouthThis guy has range.
Thewlis began his professional acting career in 1987.
Julie Walters
Well yes, she is the gorgeous Mrs. Weasley long before she had seven red-headed children. Julie Walters became famous for playing the title role in Rita’s education.
She has won numerous acting awards and recently starred as Rosie in Mamma Mia! Here we go again.
Emma Thompson
We are really not worthy of the great Emma Thompson. She was almost unrecognizable as Professor Sybil Trelawney in Harry Potter series.
Thompson has been active in the acting community since 1982. Here’s a photo of her on the set of the BBC’s television adaptation of Olivia Manning’s novels. Fortunes of War in 1987.
Gary Oldman
Gary Oldman played Sirius Black in Harry Potter films. It seems like every British actor has had the opportunity to play a role in the Harry Potter universe.
This man is a talented actor and he has always been able to completely disappear into a character. This was his work in Sid and Nancy It really put him on the map.
Maggie Smith
Yes, it’s the one and only Dame Maggie Smith. You probably know her best as Professor McGonagall in Harry Potter, or as Lady Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham on Downton Abbey.
Maggie Smith began acting in 1956 and is currently working on a Downton Abbey movie.
Ian Hart
Ian Hart played the stuttering Professor Quirrell in the first Harry Potter film. He also lent his voice to the CGI version of Voldemort affixed to the back of his head.
Hart also played John Lennon in three different productions, and he played Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in the film In search of Neverland.
Helena Bonham Carter
Helena Bonham Carter began acting in 1983. She began her film career playing the title role in Lady Jane, and playing Lucy Honeychurch in A room with a view.
She was absolutely terrifying as Bellatrix LeStrange in the Harry Potter movies. This lady can really do it all.
Ralph Fiennes
Ralph Fiennes looks great in this portrait, but he looks rather ghoulish when he’s fully made up as Voldemort. That’s right, this is the Dark Lord himself.
Ralph Fiennes has had an incredible acting career, and he doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon.
Robbie Coltrane
This is young Robbie Coltrane. He started performing in 1979. You probably know him better as Rubeus Hagrid, the Hogwarts groundskeeper and Care of Magical Creatures professor.
He looks really different without his long hair and giant beard. Coltrane currently hosts a detective series called, Robbie Coltrane, critical evidence.
David Bradley
David Bradley started acting in 1971. He is now in his seventies, but he made many television appearances when he was younger.
He played Argus Filch in all the Harry Potter films, and he played Walder Frey in the HBO series Game of Thrones.
Imelda Staunton
Imelda Staunton was a stage actress who starred in musicals before becoming Professor Dolores Umbridge in the final four episodes. Harry Potter movies.
She looks a lot cuter in this picture than she does in the movies. A lot of people hate Professor Umbridge as a character more than they like Lord Voldemort.
Warwick Davis
Warwick Davis played Ewock Wicket in Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the JediProfessor Son Flitwick at Harry Potter series, and Gripsec in the Harry Potter series.
It’s two Harry Potter Characters for a brilliant actor. I had no idea Flitwick and Griphook were played by the same person.
Richard Harris
Richard Harris played Albus Dumbledore in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone And Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
Sadly, he passed away before he could reprise his role as Dumbledore in the remaining six films. His very first leading role was in Sporting life in 1963.
Michel Gambon
After Richard Harris’ death, Michael Gambon took over the role of Albus Dumbledore. His portrayal was different from Harris’s and, at first, fans had a hard time getting used to it.
Jude Law plays a young Albus Dumbledore in Fantastic Beasts films, and many fans think that Jude Law looks a lot like a young Michael Gambon.
Kenneth Branagh
Kenneth Branagh played Gilderoy Lockhart in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. If you have studied Hamlet In high school, you probably watched him play the main character while you tried not to get caught texting in class.
Harry Potter simply wouldn’t be an iconic British classic without Kenneth Branagh.
Brendan Gleeson
Brendan Gleeson had supporting roles in Braveheart, Lake Placid, Mission Impossible 2, And New York Gangs before playing Professor Alastor Moody in Harry Potter movies.
In fact, he played Barty Crouch Jr. disguised as Alastor Moody in the fourth film. Brendan’s son Domhnall Gleeson plays Bill Weasley in the Harry Potter movies.
John Cleese
John Cleese is best known for co-founding Monty Python and featured in all Monty Python films. He played the role of Nearly Headless Nick in Harry Potter films, and he voiced Fiona’s father in the last three Shrek movies.
This man is a verifiable legend.
Fiona Shaw
Fiona Shaw has starred in many successful films including My left foot And Anna Karenina. She plays Harry’s Aunt Petunia in The Eight Harry Potter movies.
Most recently, Fiona played a supporting role in the Emmy-nominated television series, Kill Eve.
Richard Griffiths
Richard Griffiths played Harry’s Uncle Vernon in all of Harry Potter movies. In this photo he plays Uncle Monty in the movie Withnail and I which was published in 1986.
Griffiths died in 2013 at the age of 65 after complications during heart surgery.