Harry Potter star Katie Leung has detailed being instructed to deny the racist abuse she suffered after shooting to fame playing Cho Chang in the movies.
The Scottish actress, 33, spoke on the Chinese Chippy Girl podcast about her experiences with racism both during and after starring in four of the eight films in the franchise, which are based on JK Rowling‘s hit books.
After revealing she discovered hate sites dedicated to her casting, she claimed that publicists for the movie told her to deny having seen these sites or their existence, in a move she agreed to but later regretted.
Speaking to G-Ma, she said: ‘I remember them saying: “Katie, we haven’t seen these websites that people are talking about so if you get asked just say it’s not true and it’s not happening”, I just nodded my head even though I’d seen it with my own eyes’.
Tough time: Harry Potter star Katie Leung has detailed being instructed to deny the racist abuse she suffered after shooting to fame playing Cho Chang in the movies
Katie starred as Harry’s love interest Cho in 2005’s Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, 2007’s Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, 2009’s Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and 2011’s Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2.
Cho catches Harry’s eye and he asks her to the Yule Ball, however her heart lies elsewhere with Cedric Diggory, who is killed by Voldemort later in the film. She enjoys a fleeting romance with Harry however their union ultimately demises.
While she was a standout star, Katie admitted things were darker behind the scenes.
Speaking to G-Ma, whose podcast centres around the struggles of being British Asian, Katie admitted that first appearing on screens made her feel she needed to act as a role model to children with similar backgrounds to herself.
Chatting away: The Scottish actress, 33, spoke on the Chinese Chippy Girl podcast with G-Ma about her experiences with racism both during and after starring in four of the eight films in the franchise, which are based on JK Rowling’s hit books
Pained: After revealing she discovered hate sites dedicated to her casting, she claimed that publicists for the movie told her to deny having seen these sites or their existence, in a move she agreed to but later regretted
On feeling pressure to represent the Asian community, she said: ‘Starting on Harry Potter where the fanbase are kids, you want to be a role model and having that hindered me freely expressing what was going on…
‘You want to show them dreams do come true and all this bulls**t but there are a lot of obstacles and that is a better approach because you want to prepare them for it.’
She then explained what she had first experienced when she first shot to fame, saying: ‘During that time it was the rise of the internet and fandoms and when you’re 16 you care what people think but then it’s the whole world…
Starring role: Katie starred as Harry’s love interest Cho in 2005’s Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, 2007’s Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, 2009’s Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and 2011’s Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2
‘Because of how [Cho] was described in the book as she was popular and pretty and you’re trying to do that in school but then trying to do it in front of the world…
‘The hate stuff – there were so many positive people and I got a lot of fan mail – but it’s one of those things where you forget all the positive and listen to the negative…
‘I was googling myself and this website was dedicated to the HP fandom and I remember reading all the comments and there was a lot of racist s**t and someone created a hate site…
‘It just said if you disagree with this casting then click on this button then there was a count of how many people disagreed with the casting. It was awful. So awful’.
Instructions: On what she was told by the publicists, she said: ‘I remember speaking to the publicists and I didn’t get any interview or media training before I was doing them’ (pictured in 2018)
On what she was told by the publicists, she said: ‘I remember speaking to the publicists and I didn’t get any interview or media training before I was doing them…
‘I remember them saying: “Katie, we haven’t seen these websites that people are talking about so if you get asked just say it’s not true and it’s not happening”…
‘I just nodded my head even though I’d seen it with my own eyes. So I said I’ll say everything’s fine and I mean I was grateful, I was very f**king grateful that I was in that position but that wasn’t great…
‘It happened it’s just I keep saying I wish I’d said something but you just can’t do it.’
Shock: While she was a standout star, Katie admitted things were darker behind the scenes
MailOnline has contacted representatives for Warner Bros. for comment.
The Chinese Chippy Girl podcast is described as: ”Talking about life as a British born Chinese (BBC)/British Asian. The struggles that I’ve had to deal with whilst growing up in my mum and dad’s takeaway in the 1980s/1990s…
‘My parents are immigrants from HK/China and moved to the UK when they were teenagers. I was brought up being Chinese at home and English when I was outside of home – it felt confusing at the time as I couldn’t find a sense of belonging…
‘But now I am much older, I am proud of my Chinese heritage and I am proud to be British. I just want to share my story with people :)’.