Daniel Radcliffe
In Harry Potter: None other than the Boy who Lived, Harry Potter himself, saviour of the wizarding world and arch-nemesis of Lord Voldemort.
What They Did Next: Radcliffe’s first post-Potter project was the terrifying adaptation of The Woman In Black , playing troubled lawyer Arthur Kipps.
Most Potter-esque Role: Probably his turn as a resourceful young scout in the film-within-a-telly-show in Extras .
Emma Watson
In Harry Potter: The incredibly resourceful (if occasionally irritating) Hermione Granger, undoubtedly the most magically proficient of our three young heroes.
What They Did Next: After a supporting role in Oscar-nominated biopic My Week With Marilyn , Watson will next bee seen in high school drama The Perks of Being a Wallflower .
Most Potter-esque Role: Lucy, her character in My Week With Marilyn is similarly perky to Hermione, although a little more seductive…
Rupert Grint
In Harry Potter: Grint plays Ron Weasley, effectively a comic foil to Ron and Hermione, but one who proves his bravery on numerous occasions along the way.
What They Did Next: Grint’s first post-Potter project was in Brit-flick Cherrybomb , in which he plays hormonal teenage tearaway Malachy.
Most Potter-esque Role: Malachy is also part of a boy-girl-boy friendship group, although this one has a different kind of magic on their minds…
Alan Rickman
In Harry Potter: The outwardly loathsome but quietly heroic Potions master, Severus Snape.
What They Did Next: Rickman has remained busy throughout his Potter career, with his most recent high-profile role coming as the voice of the Blue Caterpillar in Alice in Wonderland .
Most Potter-esque Role: His turn as the villainous Judge Turpin in Sweeney Todd contained more than a hint of Snape’s sneering disdain.
Ralph Fiennes
In Harry Potter: The saga’s noseless Big Bad, Tom Riddle, better known as Lord Voldemort. Boooo! Hissss!
What They Did Next: Fiennes recently made his directorial debut with blood-spattered Shakespeare adaptation, Coriolanus . He also starred in it as well, the show-off!
Most Potter-esque Role: Watch out for him as Hades in Wrath of the Titans . He might not be quite as diabolical as Voldemort, but he’ll give it a good try.
Tom Felton
In Harry Potter: Harry’s snivelling rival Draco Malfoy, who graduates from school bully to fully paid-up Death Eater with alarming speed.
What They Did Next: Felton was next spotted as the cruel son of sanctuary owner Brian Cox in Rise of the Planet of the Apes .
Most Potter-esque Role: His character in ROTPOTA was a similarly callous little blighter, working in league with his crooked father just like Draco and Lucius Malfoy.
Michael Gambon
In Harry Potter: Gambon replaced the late Richard Harris as twinkly-eyed headmaster Albus Dumbledore. A bit shouty for some tastes, although Gambon certainly nailed the headmaster’s vigour and urgency.
What They Did Next: Gambon can currently be seen in HBO’s latest hit show, Luck , as Dustin Hoffman’s nemesis in the world of horse-racing, Mike.
Most Potter-esque Role: Gambon cropped up in the 2010 Christmas special of Dr Who , as the stern but ultimately good-natured Kazran. Not as loveable as Dumbledore then, but in a similar ballpark.
Maggie Smith
In Harry Potter: Strict schoolmarm turned secret badass, Minerva McGonagall. She might look frail, but you’d always back her in a duel…
What They Did Next: Smith can currently be seen in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel as an ageing holidaymaker getting to grips with the culture shock of a trip to India.
Most Potter-esque Role: Downton Abbey ’s Dowager Countess is even more formidable than McGonagall, which is saying something…
Gary Oldman
In Harry Potter: Harry’s reckless, rogueish but ultimately loveable Godfather, Sirius Black.
What They Did Next: Oldman scooped an Oscar nomination for his first post-Potter outing as Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy ’s George Smiley.
Most Potter-esque Role: Like Sirius, The Dark Knight Rises ’ Jim Gordon is a good guy who often finds himself treading a fine line between right and wrong…
David Thewlis
In Harry Potter: Thewlis plays Lupin, the wolfish Defence Against The Dark Arts teacher, who goes on to play a key role in the Order of the Phoenix.
What They Did Next: Thewlis was next spotted alongside fellow Potter alumnus Rhys Ifans in Roland Emmerich’s daft historical romp, Anonymous .
Most Potter-esque Role: Thewlis played another freedom fighter in The Lady , as the husband of Michelle Yeoh’s Burmese rebel, Aung San Suu Kyi.
Brendan Gleeson
In Harry Potter: Gleeson plays Mad-Eye Moody, one of the toughest Aurors ever produced by the Ministry of Magic, and the chief tactician of the Order of the Phoenix.
What They Did Next: Gleeson won rave reviews for his performance as a boozy, womanising copper in buddy-comedy The Guard .
Most Potter-esque Role: Gleeson will play another gruff, military type in upcoming crime mystery The Raven .
Kenneth Branagh
In Harry Potter: Branagh was Gilderoy Lockhart, the preening, foppish fraud who took over the Defence Against the Dark Arts post in Chamber of Secrets .
What They Did Next: Branagh’s next big-screen performance was as the mysterious Uncle Albert in family fantasy Five Children and It .
Most Potter-esque Role: Branagh plays another thesp as Larry Olivier in My Week With Marilyn . Unlike Lockhart however, his ego is based upon talent, rather than reputation.
Jim Broadbent
In Harry Potter: Horace Slughorn, a graduate of Slytherin house with a taste for the finer things in life, and the owner of a memory that helps bring Voldemort to his knees.
What They Did Next: Broadbent went on to voice Santa in Arthur Christmas , before starring opposite the Oscar-winning Meryl Streep in Thatcher biopic The Iron Lady .
Most Potter-esque Role: Like Slughorn, Santa is big, round and jolly, with a fondness for a tot of brandy on a cold winter’s night.
Emma Thompson
In Harry Potter: Thompson plays Sybil Trelawney, the batty Divination teacher who makes the prophecy concerning Harry and Voldemort’s inability to survive while the other lives.
What They Did Next: Thompson’s first post-Potter outing will be as Agent Oh in the new Men in Black film, before voicing Queen Elinor in Pixar’s next adventure, Brave .
Most Potter-esque Role: Elinor might not be a “seer”, but she can certainly predict trouble when Kelly MacDonald’s princess decides to buck tradition and flout the customs of her clan…
Helena Bonham Carter
In Harry Potter: She’s Bellatrix LeStrange, Lord Voldemort’s most trusted lieutenant and Sirius Black’s murderer. She bites off a bit more than she can chew with Molly Weasley, though…
What They Did Next: She’ll be playing Miss Havisham in the forthcoming adaptation of Great Expectations before joining husband Tim Burton for Gothic drama Dark Shadows .
Most Potter-esque Role: She’s not half as malevolent as Bellatrix, but Miss Havisham seems to have taken some style tips from the extravagantly coiffeured witch.
Timothy Spall
In Harry Potter: Spall played the treacherous Peter Pettigrew, the man who betrayed Harry’s parents to Lord Voldemort all those years ago.
What They Did Next: Spall will next be seen opposite fellow Brits Craig Roberts and Imogen Poots in offbeat romance, Comes a Bright Day .
Most Potter-esque Role: Since Spall seldom plays villains, there are very few parts that compare to Pettigrew. His last high-profile part was as Churchill in The King’s Speech , and you couldn’t wish to find two less similar characters!
Warwick Davies
In Harry Potter: Davies has the rare distinction of playing two parts in the Potter saga, firstly as Charms master Filius Flitwick, and secondly as the conniving goblin Griphook.
What They Did Next: Davies took on leading man duties as a skewed version of himself in Ricky Gervais’ latest comedy series, Life’s Too Short .
Most Potter-esque Role: “Warwick Davies” (the version presented in Life’s Too Short ) is every bit as self-serving as the backstabbing Griphook.
Robbie Coltrane
In Harry Potter: Hulking gamekeeper and occasional teacher of Care of Magical Creatures, Hagrid. He’s half-giant, don’t you know?
What They Did Next: Coltrane provided the voice to the Lead Elf in Arthur Christmas . From booming Giant to weedly little elf… the man has got range!
Most Potter-esque Role: Coltrane will play Lord Dingwall in Brave , another mountain of a man with a booming voice to rival Hagrid’s.
Robert Pattinson
In Harry Potter: Pattinson was Cedric Diggory, Harry’s fellow Hogwarts champion in the Tri-wizard Tournament. Killed by Voldemort at Little Hangleton, he was one of the first major players to meet a sticky end.
What They Did Next: Pattinson went on to bag the lead role in a little-known franchise called The Twilight Saga …
Most Potter-Esque Role: Cedric Diggory was Hogwarts’ resident heartthrob, which clearly paved the way for his swoon-inducing turn as toothy poser Edward Cullen.
Julie Walters
In Harry Potter: Molly Weasley, matriarch of the Weasley family and a surprisingly accomplished dueller…
What They Did Next: Walters will be one of several Potter cast-members to appear in Brave , supplying the voice to the film’s mysterious Wise Woman.
Most Potter-esque Role: Walters will be on maternal duty once more in Effie , as the mother of noted art critic John Ruskin.
Mark Williams
In Harry Potter: Williams plays Arthur Weasley, the Muggle-obsessed Ministry official and husband of Molly.
What They Did Next: Williams will appear in Albert Nobbs , the period drama about a 19th Century woman who poses as a man in order to find employment.
Most Potter-esque Role: Williams has returned to fantasy to play Regus in the latest series of Being Human .
Imelda Staunton
In Harry Potter: Staunton was brilliant as sadistic tyrant Dolores Umbridge, High Inquisitor of Hogwarts. Don’t lie to her if you don’t want any unsightly scars…
What They Did Next: Staunton’s next role was in creepy TV show Psychoville as the sinister Grace Andrews, before starring in another chilling drama in the form of The Awakening .
Most Potter-esque Role: She’ll be back on villain duties for The Pirates! Band of Misfits , voicing pirate-hating baddie Queen Victoria.
David Tennant
In Harry Potter: Tennant played the villainous Barty Crouch Junior, the Death Eater who disguised himself as Mad-Eye Moody in Goblet of Fire .
What They Did Next: Tennant would go on to enjoy a five-year stint as The Doctor in Doctor Who , making himself a firm favourite among fans of the classic British sci-fi.
Most Potter-esque Role: Fright Night ’s Peter Vincent is a similarly seedy figure to Crouch, if not quite as dastardly.
Richard Griffiths
In Harry Potter: He plays Harry’s rotund uncle Vernon, a man perennially on the brink of a nervous breakdown as a result of his unwanted connection with the wizarding community.
What They Did Next: Griffiths cropped up in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides as King George, before bagging a role in Martin Scorsese’s Hugo as Frenchman Monsieur Frick.
Most Potter-esque Role: His character in Pirates is a similarly well-fed man of means to Vernon Dursley, albeit on a slightly grander scale…
Jason Isaacs
In Harry Potter: Isaacs is Lucius Malfoy, the father of Draco who becomes increasingly anxious about the fate of his son as Voldemort brings him further into his inner circle.
What They Did Next: Isaacs starred as Taylor Lautner’s old man in OTT actioner Abduction .
Most Potter-Esque Role: His character in Abduction is father to a similarly precocious young man, and has got him embroiled in an equally sticky situation.
Peter Mullan
In Harry Potter: Mullan plays the snarling Death Eater Yaxley, who very nearly thwarts our young heroes’ mission when they infiltrate the Ministry.
What They Did Next: Mullan starred opposite Olivia Coleman in Paddy Considine’s searing directorial debut, Tyrannosaur .
Most Potter-esque Role: Mullan’s character in Tyrannosaur is looking to change his violent ways, but even as he struggles for redemption, he’s a similarly intimidating presence…
Ian Hart
In Harry Potter: Cast your minds back to The Philosopher’s Stone and you’ll remember Hart as Quinius Quirrell, the Defence Against the Dark Arts master with a secret under his turban…
What They Did Next: His next film role came in ropy erotic thriller Killing Me Softly , where he played a senior policeman.
Most Potter-esque Role: He might not be growing a second face out of the back of his head, but Hart plays another shady character in HBO drama Luck .
Clmence Posy
In Harry Potter: She played Fleur Delacourt, the half-Veela bride of Bill Weasley who pitted her wits against Harry in the Tri-Wizard Tournament as the champion of Beauxbatons.
What They Did Next: She got all hot and bothered with Eddie Redmayne in the BBC’s glossy adaptation of wartime romance Birdsong .
Most Potter-esque Role: Fleur is oft-described as impossibly alluring, and her character in Birdsong is another whose beauty is key to the plot.
Toby Jones
In Harry Potter: Jones supplied the voice of Dobby the House Elf. We’ll try to move on quickly, before we start welling up…
What They Did Next: Jones popped up next in horror clunker The Rite , opposite Anthony Hopkins and fellow Potter star Ciaran Hinds.
Most Potter-esque Role: Jones played another bizarre creature in Your Highness , as gender-neutral oddball Julie.
Rhys Ifans
In Harry Potter: Ifans plays Xenophilius Lovegood, editor of “unconventional” magazine The Quibbler , and father to Harry’s friend Luna.
What They Did Next: Ifans took the lead in Anonymous as the Earl of Oxford, proposed by the film to be the true author of Shakespeare’s plays.
Most Potter-esque Role: Ifans will play Dr. Curt Connors in The Amazing Spider-Man , a character who may just be as unhinged as Xenophilius!
John Cleese
In Harry Potter: Cleese appeared in the early films as the ghost of Sir Nicholas de Mimsy Porpington, better known as Nearly Headless Nick.
What They Did After: Cleese followed his turn in Chamber of Secrets by replacing Desmond Llewellyn as Q in Bond film Die Another Day .
Most Potter-esque Role: Cleese reprised the pompous regality of Nick with his appearance in Shrek 2 as the King,
Miranda Richardson
In Harry Potter: Scurrilous tabloid hack Rita Skeeter, author of a hatchet-job biography of Albus Dumbledore and a constant annoyance to the Boy who Lived.
What They Did After: The film roles have dried up slightly post-Potter, although Richardson has made appearances in TV shows Parade’s End and World Without End .
Most Potter-esque Role: She played another steely career-woman in her last major film role, as Barbara Castle in Made in Dagenham . She's a bit more sympathetic than Rita, though...
John Hurt
In Harry Potter: Hurt plays Ollivander, the master craftsman who supplies Harry with his trusty wand.
What They Did After: Hurt joined Gary Oldman on Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy to play Control, another member of MI6.
Most Potter-esque Role: Like Ollivander, Control appears benevolent, but enjoys a tendency towards playing his cards close to his chest
Frances de la Tour
In Harry Potter: She plays Madame Maxime, the giant-born headmistress of Beauxbatons and Hagrid’s love interest.
What They Did After: She appeared in Hugo alongside Richard Griffiths, as Madame Emilie, the café owner.
Most Potter-esque Role: Genial, matronly, French… Madame Emilie could be a scaled-down version of Madame Maxime!
Bonnie Wright
In Harry Potter: Wright played Ginny Weasley, Ron’s younger sister and Harry’s beloved. Awwww.
What They Did After: Wright’s post-Potter debut will be a leading role in The Philosophers , a fantasy thriller set in an international school in Jakarta.
Most Potter-esque Role: Wright will get another chance to tap into her romantic side in upcoming love story Geography of the Hapless Heart .
Miriam Margolyes
In Harry Potter: Margolyes plays Pomona Sprout, the teacher in charge of Herbology. Not the most exciting subject, but there we are…
What They Did After: Margolyes has largely returned to TV work post-Potter, but she is attached to upcoming British comedy The Wedding Video .
Most Potter-esque Role: Margolyes will play a domineering relative in the aforementioned comedy. Will she try to organise the flowers? Because Spout certainly would… sorry, that’s all we’ve got!
Zo Wanamaker
In Harry Potter: She played Madam Hooch, the Quidditch teacher, a role cut brutally short after her one and only appearance in Philosopher’s Stone .
What They Did After: Wanamaker joined Kenneth Branagh for the big-screen adaptation of Five Children and It .
Most Potter-esque Role: Unusually, she never played any more Quidditch referees, but she was part of an extremely Potter-centric cast for My Week With Marilyn , alongside Emma Watson, Kenneth Branagh and Toby Jones.
David Bradley
In Harry Potter: Bradley appeared in all but one of the big-screen adventures as curmudgeonly janitor Argus Filch. And wonderfully crabby he was too!
What They Did After: Before returning to the small screen for BBC drama Prisoner’s Wives , Bradley appeared in Captain America: The First Avenger , as the Tower Keeper. Get him!
Most Potter-esque Role: If there’s a tower that needs looking after, Argus Filch, sorry, David Bradley is your man…
Bill Nighy
In Harry Potter: Bill Nighy plays Rufus Scrimgeour, the Minister for Magic who replaces Cornelius Fudge. Think of him as a kind of Churchill figure as apposed to Fudge’s more Chamberlain-esque appeaser.
What They Did Next: Nighy supplied the voice for the villainous Rattlesnake Jake in Johnny Depp-starring animation, Rango .
Most Potter-esque Role: Nighy will reprise Scrimgeour’s combative zeal when he takes on the role of General Fallon in Brian Singer’s fantasy epic, Jack the Giant Killer .
Fiona Shaw
In Harry Potter: She’s Harry’s Aunt Petunia, who has more experience of the wizarding world than she’d ever let on to her husband…
What They Did Next: She appeared in Terrence Malick’s epic The Tree Of Life as Grandmother, before bagging a recurring role on True Blood .
Most Potter-esque Role: Petunia’s a bit of a dragon, and Shaw’s character on True Blood can have her moments as well.
Helen McRory
In Harry Potter: McRory plays Narcissa Malfoy, who’s maternal concern for Draco ultimately leads to the Dark Lord’s undoing.
What They Did Next: McRory took on another maternal part in Hugo , playing Mama Jeanne, the mother of the titular little boy.
Most Potter-esque Role: McRory will be appearing in Skyfall , so expect her character to be as two-faced as Narcissa and then some.
Robert Hardy
In Harry Potter: Hardy is the bungling Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge, who’s refusal to acknowledge the threat of the Death Eaters leads to Voldemort’s return to power.
What They Did Next: An acclaimed character actor, Hardy’s next role was in little-seen thriller, Framed . It wasn’t quite so big a deal as the Potter franchise…
Most Potter-esque Role: He played Tite Barnacle in an adaptation of Dickens’ Little Dorrit , a member of a family in which nothing ever gets done. Sounds very Fudge-like to us.
Ciaran Hinds
In Harry Potter: Hinds plays Aberforth Dumbledore, brother to the late Albus with an unspecified predilection for mucking about with goats…
What They Did Next: Hinds joined the Potter contingent in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy , playing the flamboyantly named Roy Bland.
Most Potter-esque Role: Aberforth is a bit of a wild-man, which would probably endear him to one of Hinds more OTT characters, the Devil in Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance .
Luke Youngblood
In Harry Potter: He’s Lee Jordan, the mouthy best mate of Fred and George Weasley, and occasional commentator for Hogwarts Quidditch fixtures.
What They Did Next: He moved from the Potter series into another popular children's franchise in the form of, er, Tracy Beaker .
Most Potter-esque Role: Magnitude, the character played by Youngblood in TV comedy Community , describes himself as “a one-man party”. We reckon that’s something Lee Jordan would aspire to. Pop-pop!
Dave Legeno
In Harry Potter: Legeno plays the fearsome Fenrir Greyback, a werewolf enlisted by Voldemort to add a little muscle to his Death Eaters. Not a nice chap at all…
What They Did Next: He turned up in The Incident , a low budget horror thriller set in an asylum for the criminally insane.
Most Potter-esque Role: He’ll be back on beast-man duties in Snow White and the Huntsman as he takes on the role of the hulking Broch.
Nick Moran
In Harry Potter: Moran is Scabior, the snatcher who captures Harry, Ron and Hermione before bringing them to Malfoy Manor.
What They Did Next: He’ll be doing his cockney wideboy routine in British crime flick St. George’s Day , directed by fellow Lock Stock & Two Smoking Barrels alumnus Frank Harper.
Most Potter-esque Role: Moran has yet to do anything post-Potter, but we’d say there’s more than a few comparisons to be made between Scabior, and the opportunistic, cash-hungry scallywag played by Moran in Lock Stock .
Jessica Hynes
In Harry Potter: Hynes makes a very brief appearance in Order of the Phoenix , voicing Mafalda Hopkirk, or more specifically, a letter that speaks in her voice!
What They Did Next: Next up for Hynes was a part in British rom-com Faintheart , alongside Eddie Marsan and Ewan Bremner.
Most Potter-esque Role: She also played a talking letter in… no alright, you’ve got us on that one. Her appearance in Doctor Who is probably closest in tone.
Rade Serbedzija
In Harry Potter: Serbedzija made a fleeting appearance as Gregorovitch the wandmaker in Deathly Hallows pt 1 , tracked down by Voldemort to part with information concerning the Elder Wand.
What They Did Next: You might have spotted him in X-Men: First Class as a Russian general. It wasn’t a massive part, mind, so don’t feel bad if you’re struggling!
Most Potter-esque Role: Gregorovitch is pushed to breaking point by Voldemort, and another Serbedzija character will be stretched to similar limits when he plays the villain in Taken 2 . See what we did there? Seemless, wasn’t it?
Kelly MacDonald
In Harry Potter: MacDonald plays The Grey Lady, the Hogwarts ghost who aided Voldemort in his search for Ravenclaw’s Diadem.
What They Did Next: Her next outing was as part of the cast for Boardwalk Empire , HBO’s glitzy period crime drama, in a recurring role as Margaret Schroeder.
Most Potter-esque Role: Just as the Grey Lady has to atone for a terrible mistake, so must MacDonald’s Princess in Brave , when she brings great danger upon the people of her Kingdom.
Julie Christie
In Harry Potter: Christie is Madam Rosemerta, the landlady of The Three Broomsticks pub in Hogsmeade.
What They Did Next: She starred in Finding Neverland as Mrs. Emma du Maurier, the mother of Kate Winslet’s character Sylvia.
Most Potter-esque Role: She recently appeared in another tale of fantastical creatures as the Grandmother in Red Riding Hood .
