Behind the Scene: Surprising Age Gaps of Harry Potter Cast & Characters

It's not uncommon for actors to play characters whose ages are very different from their own. In the wizarding world, this was a necessity. After all, some of the characters in Harry Potter lived into their hundreds. Some were even dead.

But what were the age differences between some of the main characters in the movie series?

The main child actors largely matched the age of their characters. Daniel Radcliffe and Harry were both 11 at the start, Ron and Hermione were only a year older than their real-life counterparts, and Tom Felton, although two years older than Radcliffe in real life, didn't look out of place as Draco Malfoy.

But there were some marked age differences between some of the adult actors and their characters when they were first introduced:

Maggie Smith 65/Minerva McGonagall 56: 9-year age gap

A half-blood who was a bit of a quidditch whizz in her younger days, when we first meet Professor McGonagall, she is 56. Maggie Smith, already a legend of the acting world at the time, was 9 years older than her character.

With the series spanning more than a decade, it's easy to forget just how young she looked in The Philosopher's Stone. But check back and you'll see she didn't look a day of McGonagall's 56 years.

Gary Oldman 44/Sirius Black 34: 10-year age gap

Sirius' age isn't explicitly mentioned in the movies. But it is in the books. If we take his birth year as 1959 and apply that to the timeline of the book series, Sirius was 34 when first introduced in The Prisoner of Azkaban.

But he'd had a hard life and was never going to look like a young thirtysomething. Besides, Gary Oldman was ideal for the role. Ok, so if asked you'd have probably put Sirius Black in his forties. But wasn't that just part of the character?

Robbie Coltrane 50/Hagrid 72: 22-year age gap

That Robbie Coltrane looked the right age to play 72-year-old Hagrid is testament to the makeup and costume departments. At the time the first movie was filmed, the late Robbie Coltrane looked his age.

But chuck in some wiry greying hair, a bushy beard and an explosion of brown clothes and hey presto – you have a man of 72. Easy!

Alan Rickman 54/Severus Snape 31: 23-year age gap

Let's be honest, Severus Snape never looked 31 in any of the movies. But who could have portrayed the character better than the late, great Alan Rickman? And it's in this portrayal that we see Snape was always old beyond his years.

A serious, dour character of layered personality, Professor Snape as we saw him played by Alan Rickman was the Professor Snape from the fingertips of JK Rowling and the imaginations of millions of readers. So, to hell with the actor's age.

Ralph Fiennes 41/Voldemort 68: 27-year age gap

Going by the birth year of Tom Riddle, Voldemort was 68 when we first saw him come to life. But while the actor's age and physical appearance may have been a concern for the casting of some characters, it was never going to be an issue with one so heavily made up.

Richard Harris 69/Albus Dumbledore 110: 41-year age gap

Richard Harris was 69 when he first played 110-year-old Albus Dumbledore, the oldest character in the movies. Sadly, he passed away after just two films. And when Michael Gambon took over playing the even older Dumbledore, he was a sprightly 64.

But it's amazing how a simple wizard's outfit can age a man. Although, Dumbledore was looking pretty good on over 110!