Whatever Happened To The Weasley Family From Harry Potter?
After the first book in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series hit shelves in 1999, becoming a pop culture sensation and garnering universal fame and acclaim, a film adaptation clearly wasn't far behind. And in 2001, the Harry Potter film series kicked things off with The Sorcerer's Stone. The franchise eventually gave fans a whopping eight films, all following Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) and his best friends Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) and Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) through death-defying trials and tribulations. We watched these characters try to defeat the evil Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) for a full decade, and during that time, we were introduced to many unforgettable and magical characters.
The wizarding world is pretty densely populated by engaging people and creatures created by Rowling, but one of the emotional cornerstones throughout Harry's life as an orphan is the welcoming, warm, and entirely red-headed Weasley family. Once Harry becomes best friends with Ron, he's practically adopted by Ron's parents, Molly and Arthur, forging bonds and relationships with all of Ron's siblings in turn. With the exception of Charlie Weasley, the second-oldest Weasley who works as a dragon tamer, each member of this loving family was portrayed on film by actors young and old. But once the series was finished, where did those actors end up? Well, here's what happened to each member of the Weasley family since the original Potter films concluded their run in 2011, from Arthur to Ginny.
Rupert Grint has been keeping busy post-Potter
Ron Weasley, Harry Potter's first and best friend, carries an enormous amount of weight in the series considering that he's not technically the main character. As Harry's BFF, Ron provides emotional support and backup during frightening circumstances. Plus, he stands by Harry through every single hurdle the young wizard faces, even joining him to help defeat Voldemort, Harry's natural-born nemesis and the most evil wizard of all time. An easygoing, humble jokester who carries an enormous chip on his shoulder about his family's financial status, Ron is one of the series' most instantly lovable characters, from his freckles and his gawky stature to his loyalty, humor, and all-around good nature.
Casting one third of Harry Potter's famous trio was certainly an intimidating task, considering that each actor would have to play their characters for years, but luckily, producers discovered a young Rupert Grint, who joined the cast at just 11 years old. After gaining international fame and earning some hefty paychecks as Ron, Grint continued working steadily on both the stage and screen, appearing in films like Into the White, CBGB, and more, as well as television shows like Apple TV+'s Servant (helmed by M. Night Shyamalan) and BBC One's The ABC Murders. Grint also famously once bought an ice cream truck to drive all over London, though he ultimately gave up that venture.
Bonnie Wright has turned from acting to activism
As the youngest Weasley and Arthur and Molly's only daughter, Ginny Weasley starts off the series as a shy girl harboring an enormous crush on Harry. However, during the series' second installment, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Ginny ends up becoming Voldemort's latest victim when he possesses her through his former diary (which turns out to be a Horcrux — a part of his soul) and forces her to open the Chamber of Secrets and unleash the monster of Slytherin upon the unsuspecting students of Hogwarts.
After her brush with evil and death, Ginny changes for the better, building up her confidence and dating other people before she and Harry finally get together in the sixth book and film, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. A truly formidable witch, Ginny is no shrinking violet, and as it turns out, she's actually a perfect match for brave, self-sacrificing Harry. Ultimately, Ginny makes a remarkably powerful supporting appearance in the franchise's Tony Award-winning Broadway play, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.
The actress who played Ginny, Bonnie Wright, also grew up during the series, making her first film appearance in Chamber of Secrets. After some small television and film appearances in her post–Potter years, Wright moved behind the camera to direct short films like Know Thyself, but her most important work has been her activism, trying to alleviate the plastic crisis by working to figure out how to reduce single-use plastic.
Julie Walters is a Weasley who's played in some famous films
For Harry, an orphan who grew up without a mother (his cruel aunt, Petunia, certainly doesn't count), Molly Weasley is undoubtedly the closest thing that the Boy Who Lived has to a mom. A powerful witch who runs the Weasley family almost single-handedly, Molly exudes a warm and comforting demeanor almost all of the time — unless you cross her, in which case she'll defend her loved ones to the death (and probably your detriment). Molly is constantly ready to fight for her children, her husband, or Harry, but perhaps her most memorable moment in the entire series is when she thinks that Voldemort's right-hand woman, Bellatrix Lestrange (played in the films by Helena Bonham Carter), might kill Ginny. After an unforgettable line from Molly, the two duel to the death, with Molly emerging victorious during the final battle at Hogwarts.
A character like Molly Weasley requires a formidable actress, and luckily, producers found just that in Julie Walters. A two-time Academy Award nominee and Golden Globe winner, Walters has appeared in everything from Billy Elliot (which netted one of her two Oscar nominations) to Brooklyn and Mary Poppins Returns, but her two most high-profile appearances after Potter are probably in the Paddington franchise (as housekeeper Mrs. Bird) and in the Mamma Mia! films as Rosie.
Mark Williams traded Hogwarts for BBC
As the patriarch of the Weasley family, Arthur Weasley is a caring and eccentric figure, serving as the "good cop" to his wife Molly's "bad cop" and balancing a full career with raising all seven of his children. Arthur is, ultimately, an unusual wizard in that he adores Muggles (non-magical people), and he's constantly trying to figure out how they live without magic, going so far as to fiddle with Muggle cars, radios, and even batteries to decipher how they could possibly function. Though he can seem too sympathetic to the non-magical population, a quality which makes him unpopular with other Ministry of Magic officials, Arthur is a truly caring and kind man, which makes him the perfect parental figure for Harry.
The man behind Arthur, Mark Williams, has made his, well, mark on both the stage and screen, appearing in a wide variety of projects. Beyond regular BBC roles in shows like Doctor Who (as Brian Williams, Rory's father) and Red Dwarf (as Olaf Petersen), Williams has also played memorable roles in films like Stardust and Shakespeare in Love. Since 2013, he's also played the lead role in BBC's Father Brown, starring as the title Roman Catholic priest who also happens to solve crimes.
Domhnall Gleeson has had an incredible career since leaving the Weasley family
The eldest son of the Weasley family, Bill is somewhat of an enigma to Harry when the two first meet. By the time Harry arrives at Hogwarts, Bill has already graduated from wizarding school, and he's working as a codebreaker at Gringotts Bank, alongside the magical world's goblin population (a dangerous and extremely awesome job). When Bill makes his first appearance in the books, Harry can only describe him as "cool," thanks to his long hair and fanged earring, and as his story progresses, he ends up with one of Harry's Triwizard Tournament cohorts, the beautiful and entrancing Fleur Delacour. Despite the fact that Bill is attacked and disfigured by a werewolf during battle, he and Fleur go on to marry and share a happy life together, sheltering Harry, Ron, and Hermione as the main trio continues their fight against Voldemort.
In real life, the man who plays Bill might be as cool as his on-screen persona. Domhnall Gleeson — whose father, Brendan Gleeson, plays Mad-Eye Moody in the Potter franchise — has appeared in everything from About Time to Ex Machina to Brooklyn. Most notably, he played an important supporting role alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in The Revenant, was a featured actor in the second season of Black Mirror, and has played the sinister General Hux in the new trilogy of Star Wars films, including The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi.
James and Oliver Phelps left their mark on the Harry Potter universe
Harry Potter can often veer into pretty serious territory, but thanks to a handful of hilarious characters, the series never gets too depressing. For example, take the Weasley twins and their crazy antics. Fred and George are joined at the hip, constantly pulling pranks and pushing boundaries just for fun. Not only do the two rediscover the Marauder's Map (which was designed by Harry's father and his friends) and pass it on to Harry, but they become legendary for their impromptu Hogwarts "graduation," which involves fireworks, freed broomsticks, a willing poltergeist, and, of course, plenty of excellent magical pranks. The twins ultimately open up a successful joke shop in the magical world's main thoroughfare, Diagon Alley, but tragically, Fred loses his life during the final Battle of Hogwarts against Voldemort, leaving George as the sole surviving twin.
After their time in the Harry Potter films, James and Oliver Phelps, the real-life twins who played Fred and George, stayed involved with the series that made them famous, even hosting several video tours in the Universal theme park based on the franchise. Aside from a few small appearances in little-known movies and TV shows, the twins' greatest claim to fame is still Harry Potter, which definitely isn't the worst legacy for this talented pair of identical brothers.
Chris Rankin seems way cooler than Percy Weasley
The Weasleys are generally a fun-loving and free-spirited family, but unfortunately, that quality seems to skip a sibling with Percy, who's immediately introduced as the most uptight and irritating member of the Weasley family. As a class prefect during Harry's first year at Hogwarts, Percy is presented as a standoffish overachiever, a quality which only gets worse once he's named "head boy" just two years later. When the minister of magic himself, Cornelius Fudge, turns against Harry and all of his allies for claiming that Voldemort has returned (which, incidentally, is completely true), Percy joins Fudge and distances himself from Harry and from his own family. However, when the Ministry is infiltrated by Death Eaters in the series' final installment, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Percy returns to fight alongside his family, standing by their side as they lose Fred during the Battle at Hogwarts.
Despite a few small roles post-Potter, Chris Rankin, who played Percy, has kept a relatively low profile after leaving the Weasley family, eventually earning a degree in media production from the University of Lincoln in 2011. Since then, he's worked behind the camera on shows like Da Vinci's Demons, Atlantis, and Downton Abbey. It seems as if Rankin has ultimately quit acting, but in the end, at least he'll always have an incredible credit to his name.