Fans Shocked to Learn How Old Actress Shirley Henderson Was When She Auditioned to Play a 14-Year-Old in ‘Harry Potter’

Shirley Henderson is well known for playing Moaning Myrtle in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, but many fans are only now learning how old she really was when she auditioned. The story comes from her interview with The Independent, where she talked about how she first got the role and why her age was kept quiet during the process.

Henderson said she was told not to bring up her age when she went in to audition. At the time, she was 37 years old and trying out for the part of a 14-year-old Hogwarts student.

She explained that she showed up dressed like a schoolgirl and tried not to feel silly. “I went to the audition dressed as a schoolgirl — white shirt, black skirt, ponytail — thinking, ‘This is ridiculous,’” she said. She didn’t expect anything to come of it, but she later got a call asking her to return, and eventually she was offered the role.

She also said that Myrtle being a ghost helped things work on screen. “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.”

Henderson explained that she kept her privacy after the movie came out and that most people had no idea she was the one playing Moaning Myrtle. “I don’t think anybody recognized me at all,” she said.

She also shared that she wasn’t familiar with the Harry Potter books at first, but her sister had read them. Even so, she didn’t think she could play a teenager. “I wasn’t convinced I could play a 14-year-old girl because I was in my 30s at the time.” According to her, one of the casting directors believed she was right for the part and didn’t reveal her age to others during the auditions.

When fans on social media found out she was 37 at the time, they reacted with a mix of surprise and humor. One person joked, “imagine being 37 doing ghost teen cosplay for a billion-dollar franchise.”

Another person wrote, “Remember when people thought she was Daniel Radcliffe in a wig.” Someone else said, “The bath scene in The Goblet of Fire is going to have a different vibe to it when I watch the film in the future.” Others pointed out that casting an older actor made sense, with one fan saying, “I think it’s smart. A ghost can’t age, so casting someone older than the character helps prevent that happening.”

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