A Scottish Harry Potter actress has gone from appearing in a film based on a best-selling book series to writing her own stories - and even getting a degree in Edinburgh!
Scottish actress Katie Liu Leung played Harry Potter's first love interest, Cho Chang, in the multi-million Harry Potter franchise.
The story for her casting of Cho is rather sentimental - Leung's father saw an advertisement for a Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire casting call, and suggested she should try out for the part.
READ MORE - Katie Price chauffeured by funeral directors around Scotland after Edinburgh visit
Leung waited four hours in line for a five-minute audition, despite feeling she had little likelihood of obtaining the role.
However, two weeks later she was called back for a workshop and was cast as Cho Chang, beating out over 3,000 other girls for the part!
In retrospect, she stated in an interview with the Daily Record that her Scottish accent probably gave her an advantage in the casting, as the casting director asked the girls who attended the audition, "Is there anyone here from Scotland?", to which only Leung raised her hand.
In a 2011 interview, Leung said her fondest memory of the Harry Potter experience was the first audition, because both her parents, who were separated at the time, went with her.
"It was a really nice moment because my parents hadn't seen each other for a long, long time," Leung said.
So after this, Katie was now part of a massive franchise, and is instantly recognisable as Cho, the first girl Harry ever fell for (before his decision to date his best mate Ron's little sister Ginny!).
Following the release of the films, Katie took a special interest in the arts, and returned to Scotland to gain a degree in photography from the Edinburgh College of Arts.
Katie also has studied painting and design at the University of the Arts London, and has a degree in theatre from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
She is is also known for providing the voice of Caitlyn in the animated series Arcane.
Katie has even dipped into the industry of publishing herself, writing an essay titled 'Getting into Character', all about how her Cantonese descent and ethnicity has affected her experiences growing up and her acting career.
In January 2022, 'Getting into Character' was published in the book East Side Voices: Essays Celebrating East & Southeast Asian Identity in Britain, which Katie posted onto her Instagram.
The caption read: "HAPPY PUBLICATION (YESTER)DAY I’ve got an essay in this book alongside legends LEGENDS I tell you.
"Oh and I can’t thank @hels_lee enough for encouraging me to be brave so I could share a wee bit of me: my memories, my thoughts, my shame, my fears, oh and my granny god I miss my granny tons.
"Anyway I’m so jammy to be a part of this collection and community Buy the book aye cool thanks."
Fans flooded to her comments to leave messages of support, with one Instagram user writing: "I’ve just finished reading your essay and wanted to say thank you for being brave and sharing your story! The conflict between cultures is REAL."
Another said: "Congratulations on your essay and publication!"
And a third wrote: "I loved your essay. It was gutsy and heartfelt. Thank you for sharing."
Others commented: "can’t wait to read it!", and "Congratulations and well done @_katieleung_ Im glad there's finally more stories out about British born east asian identities which we can relate and identify with."
Now, Katie spends her time raising awareness for various charitable causes, and is tipped to appear as Ash in the upcoming Amazon Prime Video series, The Peripheral.
