Jessie Cave Discusses Art, Comedy, and Why “Potter” Wasn’t Her Big Break

Since her portrayal of Lavender Brown in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Jessie Cave has been making a name for herself as an artist and comedy performer. In a recent interview with Bustle, Cave spoke about her love of art, her new comedy show, Sunrise, and why Harry Potter wasn’t the big break she’d thought it would be.

Despite being most well known for her portrayal of Lavender Brown, Cave revealed that the role didn’t transform her acting career in the way she expected. The 2008 recession created financial difficulty in the film industry, and Half-Blood Prince‘s delayed release meant that those who were making films were unaware of her work. Although this experience may have negatively affected her career, Cave believes it also instilled in her a work ethic and reawakened her love of art.

When Harry Potter didn’t become the lucky break I thought it would be, it was hard — especially as people still come up to me every day on the street because of it. But what it did teach me was work ethic… that things wouldn’t be just handed to me, and I’m so grateful for that. I’ve built a little business outside of acting because I know roles come and go, but my art is my constant.

After her time on the Potter set, Cave “scraped into art school” and has since built a livelihood around her drawings. Art is now such a part of her life that even when on an acting job she spends every free moment drawing.

I am so grateful every day that I can share a drawing and think that someone might like it, might relate to it — that it might make someone feel better.

Cave is currently writing her comedy show, Sunrise, which will debut at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival this summer before transferring to the Soho Theatre, London. Centering around motherhood and relationship breakups, it seems that Cave’s own experience of life as a working mom has an influence on her comedic work.

I think it’s so important to highlight non-conventional setups because so much of a woman’s life — especially in Britain — is bound by convention. I want to remind people they don’t have to conform to a standard that doesn’t fit them in order to please someone else.

Billed as an acute blend of confessional comedy and DIY performance art, Sunrise runs from November 12 to December 1 at the Soho Theatre, London. Tickets can be purchased here.

Will you be purchasing tickets to see Jessie Cave’s Sunrise?