Happy International Women’s Day! Celebrating the Women of Potter

Mar 08, 2017

Posted by: Emma Pocock

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, News, Sonia Friedman

Happy International Women’s Day!

For Hermione, Ginny, Molly, Luna, Cho, Minevra, Sybil, Angelina, Lily, Rowena, Helga, Tina, Queenie and the countless other strong females in the wizarding world’s present and past, and J.K. Rowling herself and all the brilliant, talented female cast and crew members, we hope you’ll join us in celebrating International Women’s Day. Whether you’re celebrating achievements and progress made or pushing for change and equality by striking, marching, protesting or educating, one thing should unite us all on this day, and that’s the hope that gender will not hinder a single soul on the planet someday (hopefully sooner rather than later).

The Harry Potter Film twitter account reminds us of the fiery women in the series:

Pottermore also honoured various women in the series:

UN Women Global Ambassador Emma Watson – who started her own feminist book club, Our Shared Shelf, over a year ago – sent out a tweet reporting that feminist books are being hidden for the world to find this International Women’s Day:

Watson’s HeForShe campaign are holding a Women’s Film Festival in honour of such an important day. The festival begins today and is taking place in New York, London, Paris, Madrid, Bangkok, Santiago de Chile, Sao Paolo and Panama City.

In the UK, t he HeForShe Film Series is being organised by the UK National Committee for UK Women. Forbes reports:

“This new film series will run every Wednesday night in March at the Curzon cinemas in Soho and Mayfair, London. There’ll be a Q&A after each screening, featuring guests involved with each film.”

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See her in Beauty in the Beast as a reimagined Belle in just over a weeks time, and listen to a new clip of her singing ‘Something There’ from her appearance on Jimmu Fallon below!

Emma also recently defended and explained feminism in her response to criticisms of her “topless” Vanity Fair photoshoot in a Hermione-esque, eloquent manner – she knows exactly what to say and how to say it, and inspires us with her strength and humility. See her iconic “If not me, who? If not now, when?” UN HeForShe speech in 2014 that inspired the world below, and join us in thanking Emma for her contributions to women’s rights, and her constant desire to learn from others and take an open, intersectional stance on progress and equality:

J.K. Rowling – the comedian she is! – tweeted reminding people that there is, in fact, an International Men’s Day, just incase:

She also sent out a few resources to read:

She continues to speak out against institution of orphan children with Lumos, and last year – alongside the amazing Julie Walters – Made the most Inspirational Over 50 list, which is no surprise! Rowling was a civil servant before her writing days, and her Harvard Commencement speech on failure (also in writeten form as Very Good Lives – all proceeds go to Lumos)  reminds us to keep going in spite of adversity and barriers – thanks, Jo!

Whats On Stage released a quiz of Great Women in Theatre, including Cursed Child producer, Sonia Friedman and Harry Potter‘s own Professor Umbridge, the incredible actress Imelda Staunton! Take the quiz to test your knowledge of women in theatre here.

In other news, the Wall Street Bull in the U.S. now has another iconic symbol opposing it: a girl! State Street Global Advisors – the world’s third-largest asset manager – installed a bronze statue of a defiant girl in front of the bull yesterday ahead of International Women’s Day, and the message was received. Of course, we wouldn’t recommend standing defiantly in front of a raging bull, but the plaque in front of the statue, saying “KNOW THE POWER OF WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP” clearly represents the point of the statue. Protests across the U.S. and Ireland are taking place against inequality ( #Strike4Repeal pro-choice protests in Ireland, and marches against the multiple declarations and defamations of Trump in the U.S.), and strikes representing #DayWithoutAWoman to show the power of women, and many are speaking out against inequality in the workforce by protesting the gender pay gap. It’s a busy day, an important day, and one of the most important things to remember is that it’s not just about the U.S. and Europe. Women around the world face various levels of inequality and barriers based on their gender, and it’s easy to think it’s just as simple as white men at the top of it all making women’s lives misery around the globe, but the reality is that it’s far more complicated than that, too! The patriarchy, as this male-centric gender-based force of inequality is called – also negatively impacts men, and there are various other driving forces behind inequality (class, race, age, disabilities and more) that mean it’s important to see feminism as an inclusive, international and multi-faceted issue.

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Lumos have been actively tweeting in honour of International Women’s Day to celebrate their awesome diverse workforce:

Chris Rankin (Percy Weasley) sent out this awesome tweet to thank the amazing women in his life, including J.K. Rowling herself!:

Anthony Boyle (Cursed Child‘s Scorpius Malfoy) also tweeted:

Jason Isaacs is a sure ally, telling men to ‘man up’ if they don’t believe in equality:

Dan Fogler retweeted this in support:

Cursed Child playwright Jack Thorne retweeted a reminder of the amazing women throughout history:

We’d also like to celebrate the talented and joyous graphic designer Miraphora Mina, one half of MinaLima, who’s art never ceases to surprise, amaze and delight us. Take a look at their latest release – Beauty and the Beasthere, and meet MinaLima at the Waterstones Piccadilly book release in London on the 16th:

Bonnie Wright producing her own film (Medusa’s Ankles) was a huge achievement, and Jason Isaacs (Lucius Malfoy) said she was a “talented young director”. Her Come Dream With Me t-shirt campaign for FilmAid has had the support of various other Potter women, including Jo Rowling! Read a recent interview with Bonnie on her creative journey here.

Evanna Lynch’s wonderful interview with us let us see her latest projects, and she thoroughly inspired us with her wisdom, activism and passion – we wish her every bit of success, and can’t wait to see her future endeavours. She’s currently kicking ass doing all manner of things – teaching yoga, promoting the vegan life and animal rights, writing, studying, acting and more. She’s set to feature in a play in London this summer, so keep posted for more information on this brilliant actress. Read our interview with Evanna here!

Imelda Staunton has been crushing it on stage: she’s been nominated for multiple theatre awards and won the Best Actress in a Musical Olivier last year.  You can currently see her in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf (which, surprise surprise, is also produced by Sonia Friedman!) until May, followed by Follies.

Dame Maggie Smith (Prof. McGonagall) is – as always – her esteemed, graceful and hilarious self. She’ll be attending the BFI and Radio Times Film Festival next month,  where we’re sure she’ll inspire guests and put a smile on everybody’s faces. Her career has spanned over six decades, and is one of six actresses who have won an Academy Award in both Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress categories.

Emma Thompson (Prof. Trelawney) continues to be a brilliant activist and actress, complementing her acting role in Alone in Berlin with letters on refugees to the UK parliament and helping Greenpeace with various campaigns.

Katherine Waterston (Tina Goldstein) is set to star in Alien: Covenant as a bad-ass alien hunter – check out the trailer here. Waterston is a delight to speak to, and is knowledgable and passionate about equality, politics and progress. Our interviews with her last year in the run-up to Fantastic Beasts were an absolute joy, Katherine revealed a deep understanding of Tina’s strengths and vulnerabilities, and a connection to the political undertones of the story – we can’t wait to hear more from her!

Alison Sudol (Queenie Goldstein) lights up the room with her grace and enthusiasm, and listening to her speak about anything is a delight. Her understanding of Queenie’s empathy, strength and depth is brilliant to hear (read more in our interview with Alison here). She continues to support Standing Rock, and also works with environmental groups (which you can see more of on her Twitter) to make the world a better place. Listen to her speech on creativity and environmental awareness here:

Sudol is also an AWESOME singer – she recently debuted a snipped of one of her new songs on Dan Fogler (Jacob Kowalski)’s podcast (listen here), and songs from her album A Fine Frenzy (named after a line by Shakespeare, by the way) even appeared in hit show The Vampire Diaries and Nicholas Sparks movie adaptation The Lucky One – she’s one hell of a creative and inspiring woman!

Julie Walters is an esteemed actress, a wonderful woman and will star in the upcoming Mary Poppins Returns, which we can’t wait for! She taught us to be compassionate through her performance as Molly Weasley, and we couldn’t ask for a better life lesson!

Helena Bonham Carter’s performance in Suffragette reminded us all of the power of women in history, and she continues to be her outspoken, eccentric self. She may not have been the best of role models as Bellatrix Lestrange, but Helena in real life is one hell of a woman!

Katie Leung (Cho Chang) has spoken out against the ‘causal racism’ of typecasting in multiple interviews, and recently discussed acting after Potter. She’s taken her talent to the stage, where she’s amazed audiences in Wild Swans, The World of Extreme Happiness, You For Me For You and Iho. She also had a starring role in  BBC Two’s One Child, a story of the impacts of China’s one-child policy. Read more here! She’s been speaking out against the lack of female education on Twitter with #GirlsCount. Join here below, and see her in Snow In Midsummer at the Swan Theatre until March 25th:

Noma Dumezweni – of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child – has been speaking out for refugees for many years, and recently spoke at the second National Refugees Women’s Conference: Building a Better Asylum System in London. She has faced situations unbeknownst to many of us as a child refugee form apartheid South Africa, and continues to use her voice not only to challenge those who ignorantly try to belittle her ability as an actress in Cursed Child due to the colour of her skin, and inspires all of us to fight, speak out and strive to do the best we can. Keep being you, Noma!

Cherelle Skeete (Rose Weasley in Cursed Child) also went wild on Twitter in honour of IWD, speaking on a podcast, retweeting celebratory fan tweets and sending out a clear message:

AND she also revealed that there had been celebrations backstage:

Many women from Cursed Child are nominated in this year’s Olivier awards, Noma Dumezweni for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, Christine Jones for Best Set Design, Katrina Lindsay for Best Costume Design and Sonia Friedman for Best New Comedy. Join us in congratulating them on the nominations, and read more here. Sonia Friedman was also recently named Producer of the Year for the third year in a row by The Stage, received an OBE and continues to bring multiple new productions to the West End stage, including 1984, Funny Girl, The Ferryman and Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour.

Christine Jones, Sonia Friedman and Noma Dumezweni also won big at this year’s Whats on Stage Awards, and Poppy Miller and Katrina Lindsay were also nominated in the publicly-voted awards, as well as Helen McCrory (Narcissa Malfoy) for The Deep Blue Sea. It’s no surprise that Potter dominates page, screen and stage – there’s so much talent in every single part of the wizarding world, and it wouldn’t be the same without the brilliant women at the forefront of bringing these stories to life!

Colleen Atwood recently picked up an Academy Award for her costume design on Fantastic Beasts, which we were absolutely thrilled about. This incredible woman won the first Oscar for the wizarding world, and it couldn’t be more well deserved! Read the full story here.

Thanks also to the women who help lead Harry Potter fan sites and conventions across the globe – we’re all in this together, and what’s celebrating achievements and progress if it’s not to hold up and celebrate up the achievements of others? It’s an absolute pleasure experiencing this crazy, beautiful fandom right alongside you all, and though we may be spread far and wide across the entire planet, we’ve all got one thing in common, and that’s our love of Potter and our dedication to keeping fandom inclusive, expressive, progressive and – most of all – a whole lot of fun.

Finally, of course, we send our endless love and thanks to the brightest woman of her age, J.K. Rowling, who brought all of us together. Keep being yourself, taking no prisoners and sticking up for what you believe in, Jo – we at Leaky are right here alongside you!

What are you up to this International Women’s Day? Which women would you like to honour and thank? Who’s your favourite woman in the wizarding world? Let us know in the comments, and tell us if you find one of Emma’s books!





The Leaky Cauldron is not associated with J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros., or any of the individuals or companies associated with producing and publishing Harry Potter books and films.