Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Emma Watson addresses Emma Roberts photo mix-up in Return to Hogwarts: ‘I was not this cute’

Photo of ‘American Horror Story’ actor Emma Roberts was misidentified as Watson in reunion special

Maanya Sachdeva
Thursday 06 January 2022 02:41 EST
Comments
Fans ready for 'emotional rollercoaster' of HBO Max Harry Potter reunion special

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Harry Potters fans have been delighted by Emma Watson’s response to the “hilarious” Emma Roberts photo mix-up in the new reunion special.

On Saturday (1 January), social media user Vee Delmonico discovered that a childhood picture of American Horror Story star Emma Roberts was shown by mistake during a segment about Watson (who played Hermione Granger).

Shortly after Delmonico’s post gathered steam online, HBO Max acknowledged the error and re-released Return to Hogwarts without the misidentified photograph.

On Wednesday (5 January), Watson posted the photo of Roberts sitting at a table with Minnie Mouse ears – which had erroneously appeared on screen during the special – on her Instagram account.

She captioned the photo: “I was NOT this cute Emma Roberts” alongside laughing emojis.

Fans were thrilled by Watson’s good-natured response to the editing mistake, noting that she had “handled it like a queen”.

The use of Roberts’s picture wasn’t the only error in the highly anticipated reunion special, which was released on New Year day.

Harry Potter star Oliver Phelps, who played George (one of the Weasly twins), pointed out that the makers had misidentified him as his identical twin brother, James Phelps – who played the other Weasley sibling, Fred – and vice versa.

Under a screenshot of the twins, Phelps joked: “I guess after all those pranks over the years somebody decided to get their revenge.”

Tom Felton, who portrayed Draco Malfoy in the films, jokingly commented: “It was my doing.” He added a snake and lion emoji to symbolise the rivalry between Slytherin and Gryffindor, the Hogwarts houses of the Malfoy and Weasley families.

Return to Hogwarts is currently available for viewing on HBO Max in the US. Fans in the UK can watch the re-released reunion special on streaming platform Now.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in