Perhaps one of the most memorable characters in the Harry Potter franchise was Myrtle Warren, a.k.a. Moaning Myrtle. The character was played by actress Shirley Henderson. A common practice in Hollywood is casting full-grown adults as teenagers. It happened in Gilmore Girls, Spider-Man, The Amazing Spider-Man, Euphoria, the list goes on.
The Harry Potter franchise, for the most part, avoided this trend, with its main three actors—Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grin—matching their characters' age. There was one notable exception, though: Myrtle. The ghostly student, who debuted in 2002's Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, was 14 years old. Henderson, on the other hand, was in her 30s when she got the part. Now, the actress has opened up about what it was like to land the role.
Speaking to The Independent, Henderson revealed that, when considering whether or not she should audition, the film's casting director told her to do so, but cautioned her to keep her age a secret: "The casting director said, 'Go for it—and don't mention your age."
She expanded on this during an interview with Radio Times, stating: "When I was first asked for an audition, I didn't know who Harry Potter was. But my sister, who was staying with me, had read the books. Still, I wasn't convinced I could play a 14-year-old girl because I was in my 30s at the time. But I spoke to the casting director Karen Lindsay-Stewart and she said, 'I haven't told them your age.'"
As she explained, she dressed up in a school uniform, and felt the situation was "ridiculous." "I went to the audition dressed as a schoolgirl—white shirt, black skirt, ponytail—thinking, 'This is ridiculous.' I did my wee bit for them and they thanked me."
Months later, she got word that the people behind the film wanted to meet with her again: "Months went by and I thought that was it, but then they phoned my agent, asked to see me again, and offered me the [part]."
Henderson then stated that ultimately, due to the character being a ghost, she was constantly surrounded by mist (and was darn near invisible). This, she explained, aided in hiding her age: "Myrtle is an old person in a young person's body and because she's ghosty, there's a kind of mistiness. You're not looking closely at my face, so we could get away with it."
Being a ghost in the halls of Hogwarts, Myrtle spent most of her time alone. Emulating her character, Henderson revealed to The Independent that she filmed her scenes by herself, in front of a green screen.
The Harry Potter film series is streaming on HBO Max.
What did you think about the process behind casting Shirley Henderson as Myrtle? Drop your thoughts in the comments!