Fans Surprised to Learn Shirley Henderson’s Real Age When She Auditioned to Play a 14-Year-Old in ‘Harry Potter’

Shirley Henderson is making headlines after she revealed to The Independent that she was already in her late 30s when she auditioned for the part of Moaning Myrtle, even though the character was meant to be a 14-year-old student.

Henderson said she was told by the casting team not to bring up her real age during the process. She remembered walking into the audition dressed like a schoolgirl and feeling unsure about the whole thing. “I went to the audition dressed as a schoolgirl — white shirt, black skirt, ponytail — thinking, ‘This is ridiculous,’” she recalled. Even so, she ended up getting called back months later and was officially offered the role.

She explained that being a ghost helped the character look younger on screen. “Myrtle is an old person in a young person’s body and because she’s ghosty, there’s a kind of mistiness,” she said. She added that viewers were not focused on her face in a way that made her real age obvious.

Henderson also said she didn’t deal with the same level of public attention as many of the younger stars. “I don’t think anybody recognized me at all,” she said.

She admitted she didn’t know much about Harry Potter in the beginning, but her sister had read the books and encouraged her. Even so, she doubted she could play a teenager, saying, “I wasn’t convinced I could play a 14-year-old girl because I was in my 30s at the time.” One casting director believed she was perfect for the part and kept her age private during the audition stages.

Once fans online learned how old Henderson really was at the time, social media filled with reactions. Many joked about the situation, with one person writing, “imagine being 37 doing ghost teen cosplay for a billion-dollar franchise.”

Others brought up past memes, like someone who said, “Remember when people thought she was Daniel Radcliffe in a wig.” Some fans said they might see certain scenes differently now, including the one who commented, “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.”

But not all reactions were jokes, some people pointed out how the choice made sense, including the fan who said, “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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