Harry Potter star Shirley Henderson has revealed how she managed to snag the role of a 14-year-old ghost in Harry Potter, despite being 37.
The actor, 59, is perhaps best known for her performance as Moaning Myrtle, a role she stepped into in 2002.
The character is a Hogwarts student ghost who was killed at school and continued to haunt the girls’ toilets long after her death.
While the character may have been just 14 when she was killed, Shirley was in her late thirties when she auditioned for the role in The Chamber of Secrets.
She revealed that her technique was to lie – or at least lie by omission: ‘The casting director said, “Go for it – and don’t mention your age,”‘ she revealed in an interview with the Independent.
The actress has always looked younger than her years, and as many people didn’t recognise her as a 37-year-old, she managed to get away with it!
She added that even after the film came out, she wasn’t at all recognised in public, with her fame remaining manageable despite the huge franchise.
‘I don’t think anybody recognised me at all,’ she admitted.
Speaking to Radio Times last week the star confessed to being very unfamiliar with Harry Potter when she signed onto the film, and detailed how she snagged the role.
‘When I was first asked for an audition, I didn’t know who Harry Potter was. But my sister, who was staying with me, had read the books. Still, I wasn’t convinced I could play a 14-year-old girl because I was in my 30s at the time. But I spoke to the casting director Karen Lindsay-Stewart and she said, “I haven’t told them your age”.’
She added that she helped to sell the idea she was younger than her years by dressing the part.
‘So I went to the audition dressed as a schoolgirl — white shirt, black skirt, ponytail — thinking, “This is ridiculous”. I did my wee bit for them and they thanked me. Months went by and I thought that was it, but then they phoned my agent, asked to see me again and offered me the part.’
She added that she thinks she managed to get away with it because her character was a wispy ghost.
‘Myrtle is an old person in a young person’s body and because she’s ghosty, there’s a kind of mistiness. You’re not looking closely at my face so we could get away with it,’ she said.
What else has Shirley Henderson starred in?
As well as two Harry Potter films, the star has also starred in all of the Bridget Jones films as Bridget’s bestie Jude. She stepped into the role of Jude in 2001, the year before Potter, where she played a woman in her 30s.
The star has also appeared in Happy Valley, Hamish Macbeth, and The Way We Live Now, and provided the voice of Babu Frik in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
Most recently, she has been seen in the Netflix thriller Dept. Q and the acclaimed drama I Swear.
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