As the endearing Cho Chang, Harry Potter’s very first love interest in Goblet of Fire, Katie Leung won our hearts. She was adorable, kind, and clearly madly in love with Harry; she bemoaned the fact that she couldn’t go to the Yule Ball with him as Cedric had first requested.
Tragic events followed, and Harry and Cho were never truly able to make amends and attempt a meaningful relationship. They made an effort, but Harry was never able to get over her betrayal in Order of the Phoenix (even though it was done under great pressure). But, destiny had already set the road for Harry to wed Ginny Weasley, his real love, while Cho found her happily ever after with a Muggle.
Leung was born to Chinese parents on August 8th, 1987 in Dundee, Scotland. When she was three years old, her parents divorced, and her father, a businessman named Peter Leung, relocated her and her mother, a banker named Kar Wai Li, back to Hong Kong. As a child, Katie Leung moved around a lot as a result of her father’s job. She has resided in Motherwell, Glasgow, Hamilton, and Ayr. She attended Hamilton College in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, for her secondary school education.
Harry Potter
She went to a Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire casting call in 2005 when she was just 17 years old at her father’s urging.
Even though her first audition only lasted five minutes, she felt unconfident because she had waited more than four hours in line. Nonetheless, she received a second audition invitation two weeks later and was offered the part of Cho Chang.
Leung recalls that her native Scottish accent was a great asset and that she felt this was the reason she was picked for the role out of over 3,000 other females.
Leung would go on to play Cho in the ensuing Harry Potter prequels, though she freely acknowledges she had second thoughts about carrying on after the last filming of the series.
Other Acting Work
She made an appearance in the 2008 Agatha Christie’s Poirot episode “Cat Among the Pigeons,” but wasn’t motivated to pursue acting further until 2011. She had put her education on hold because to her Harry Potter filming schedule, but she attended the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and finished a theatre course. In 2012, she earned her first stage role as Jung Chang in “Wild Swans,” an autobiographical drama written by Chang herself. This role rekindled her enthusiasm for acting.
In 2013, Leung made another theatrical appearance as Sunny in “The World of Extreme Happiness” and as Ying in the television miniseries “Run.” She had a busy year in 2014, playing in the plays “The Hypochondriac,” “Father Brown,” and “One Child.” Leung returned to the stage in “You For Me For You” and “The Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Bible” in 2015 and 2016, respectively.
Leung made a comeback to the big screen in 2017 with roles in “T2 Trainspotting” and “The Foreigner.” She also participated in “Snow in Midsummer” the same year.
She contributed her skills in 2018 to the dark miniseries “Strangers” as Lau Chen and to the short film “Leading Woman Parts.” In 2019, she performed on stage once more, this time in “White Pearl,” and she also made an appearance in the miniseries “Chimerica.” She also performed in this year’s episode of “Moominvalley” as Too-Ticky, a character for which she would later return for a second season in 2020.
What is Katie Leung Doing Now?
She landed two roles in the television shows “Annika” and “Arcane,” as well as the role of Natasha in the movie “Locked Down,” making the next year, 2021, her most successful one to date. Yet, the busy actress also accepted a second part in “The Peripheral.”
“The Chemistry of Death,” in which she appears in three episodes, is her most recent endeavour. She keeps acting, making appearances in “The Peripheral” and “Annika’s” second seasons.
The most thrilling development for Katie Leung, though, was her unexpected Instagram post on January 1, 2023 that she had given birth to her son, Wolf, on Halloween, 2022. As of the time of writing, the boy’s father had not been identified.
In addition to being a mother and an actress, Katie Leung is also a writer. In 2022, the book “East Side Voices: Essays Celebrating East & Southeast Asian Identity in Britain” will feature “Getting Into Character,” one of her essays.
Leung has been candid about the prejudice she has encountered over the years, but despite the hurt, she has persevered and grown into a strong and tough young woman.
She has acknowledged that she nearly gave up acting as a result of the online abuse and disparaging remarks she received after becoming an instant celebrity because to her appearance in Harry Potter. But, she discovered a passion for her work and has taken on some amazing roles. We can certainly anticipate more fantastic things from Katie Leung given her talent and tenacity.
