Bridgerton’s Katie Leung on playing an evil stepmother, Harry Potter, ‘brutal’ Cantonese
The Scotland-born actress of Hong Kong Chinese descent reveals which TVB shows she grew up watching and how she fell into acting
Being cast in the Netflix series Bridgerton has one clear perk – exposure. The streaming giant has unprecedented global reach, and the period romance drama, produced by Shondaland, is one of its largest franchises and has been extremely popular since its first season aired in December 2020.
“You kind of always feel a bit self-conscious as an actor, especially on a production this big, on this level, surrounded by a massive crew,” she tells the South Morning China Post in a video interview from her London home. “I was a new mother with a one-year-old [at the time of filming], and I didn’t really have the capacity for anxiety or to overthink. I was just making sure I got enough sleep at night.
“The Bridgerton family was so welcoming – I think they made a decision to make sure we felt safe and part of the family – I was then able to just play with different sides [of my character] and see what works, without the fear of being judged.”
Unlike some of the fresher faces on the show, Leung is no stranger to overnight fame. In 2005, she was cast as Cho Chang, Harry Potter’s first love interest in the Warner Bros screen adaptation of the bestselling book series about the boy wizard. Being in one of the highest-grossing film franchises, she was, for a time, one of the most recognised young East Asian women in the world.