In this day and age it has become almost expected for young celebrities like yourselves to be wild and crazy. It could be getting a DUI (like Shia LaBeouf), arrested for drug possession (like Bruno Mars), have “private” naked photos of you leaked to the public (like Vanessa Hudgens and Blake Lively) or just being plain old unprofessional (like Lindsay Lohan). That type of behavior has become so expected that it is almost unusual when it does not happen. Almost like a small miracle. And for that I want to thank you guys. I want to thank you for not ruining the Harry Potter movie franchise by being scandalous.
I want to thank you because I am (obviously) a huge fan of the Harry Potter book series. Way back in 2000 when I was 15, I started reading them. Then I learned that a movie was in the works. I was so excited but also worried. I wanted to be certain that the movie would do the book series justice. And if the entire series was to be filmed, I wanted to make sure that the same cast would be used for each movie. The last thing I wanted was to hear that a new Harry or Ron being brought it on the fourth film or something. I can remember seeing on the news how hard it would be to keep the same cast of young actors. And yet here we are, 11 years later, and you all have done it. You stayed with the franchise to the very end.
That was no easy feat. In these times, there are so many temptations out there to lead young actors like you astray. There is the clubbing scene, sex, drugs, alcohol, or, possibly worst still, getting a huge ego. It can be so easy to buy into the fame and think you are above the rules. Think that you can do whatever you want and get away with it. But none of you did that. There was never any news of unprofessional behavior. Even when you were not filming the Harry Potter series, you were still working, still being professional. Dan, you were working on being a stage actor. Emma, you were working on being a model. Rupert, you continued to make movies outside of the franchise.
The reason I am so appreciative of you all not going wild and crazy is because your personal lives never overshadowed the stories. Whenever it came time for another Harry Potter move to be released, the focus was always on the movies and never on you. As a huge fan, this was amazing because the Harry Potter saga is such an incredible story and that’s where the focus should be. Not who you all are sleeping with or your drug of choice. Not to mention you have so many young people looking up to you. You have made it so that parents don’t have to discourage their children from viewing you as role models.
But I feel like I can’t just thank you, Dan, Emma, and Rupert. I feel like I should also thank your parents for keeping you grounded. I should thank your adult co-stars for being good professional mentors. I should thank the casting director for taking a chance on three virtually unknown child actors. All of these people helped to make you into the adults you are today. It’s not many child actors that make the transition into adulthood unscathed. But you all beat the odds. So I think I speak for Harry Potter fans all over the world when I say thank you for being professional, for being good role models, and for simply being Harry, Ron, and Hermione.
Your biggest fan,
MidnightAsh
