Chris Rankin Joins Australian Radio Show to Commemorate Tenth Anniversary of Final “Harry Potter” Film

This month marks the tenth anniversary of the release of the final Harry Potter film, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, and multiple cast members have spoken about their thoughts on the anniversary. Chris Rankin, who portrayed Percy Weasley throughout the eight-film series, joined the radio show Cliffo & Gabi on Hit Queensland to talk about what it was like to act in the films and what he’s up to now.

The segment of the show, known as “Memory Monday,” had Rankin speaking with hosts Cliffo and Gabi for about seven minutes. His presence, via audio, was a surprise for host Gabi, who described it as “amazing” and Rankin as “one of [her] Harry Potter people.” (Rankin, who stated that he was calling in from a campsite, was even asked if he had been looking for Horcruxes.)

Speaking about his experience working on the Harry Potter films, though, Rankin shared that he couldn’t describe one “best” memory.

It’s 11 years of one big, great memory, if I’m honest. It’s so difficult to pick out just one specific moment. But I think, for me, the bits that stand out are the bits where there’s a load of us together doing something really fun. And a good example of that is when we were filming platform nine and three-quarters at King’s Cross train station in London, because I mean, it was just one of those utterly bonkers setups.

This, Rankin elaborated, was because they had been filming on sets previously, not in public. His statements additionally implied that the actors received some attention because of the Weasley family themselves – plus the presence of the steam engine for the Hogwarts Express.

When asked by Cliffo if the actors went into the Harry Potter films knowing how successful they would be, however, Rankin said that they did not.

Honestly, I don’t think we did. I certainly didn’t. I mean, when we started working on the films, there [were] only just four books out. The fourth book had come out maybe five weeks before we started filming. So ‘Harry Potter,’ it was popular, but it had only just started to tip over into that kind of crazy popular world.

Rankin then continued, explaining that the premiere of the first film was when it really hit him that the series was so popular.

And I think by the time the first film came out, which was, what, a year and two months after we started working on it, it was suddenly huge. And yeah. I can speak to myself, and I know that when I got out of the car at Leicester Square Cinema for the premiere of the first film, I nearly fell over backwards, right? I had no idea what to expect. As a kid from the east of England, all I’d ever done up until that point was high school shows and community theater.

Gabi asked Rankin if having red hair was a prerequisite in order to audition. Rankin was unsure but explained that he had auditioned through an open audition.

And I thought, ‘Well, there’s only one part I could possibly play, and I love “Harry Potter.”‘ And I was 16 years old, I was ginger-haired, and [I was] a school prefect, so my options were limited.

Moving to the present day, Rankin stars in the pantomime Cinderella Live as the Fairy Godfather, and on-demand tickets are available to watch the interactive performance online.

You can also listen to Chris Rankin’s appearance on Cliffo & Gabi below.

Was there anything from the interview that surprised you? Tell us in the comments below!