Katie Leung.Photo: Dave Benett/Getty Images
Katie Leungis speaking out about the racist abuse she endured when she was cast as Cho Chang in theHarry Potterfranchise.
The 33-year-old actress recounted the bullying she faced during Monday’s episode of theChinese Chippy Girlpodcast, saying that it all began when news of her role was leaked before she had started filming.
“It had got to the papers and then someone secretly took a photo of me,” she remembered. “I just broke down. I just started crying.”
After that photo was published, Leung — who was a teenager still in school at that time — said she started receiving a lot of hateful and negative messages.
“And then somebody had actually created a website, a hate site — it was like, if you disagree with this casting, then click on this button and then it would just be like a count of how many people disagreed with the casting and you would just see a number,” Leung continued. “I know, it’s awful. It’s so awful.”
Katie Leung as Cho Chang inHarry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.courtesy Everett Collection
Leung, who didn’t have any media training at the time, said she approached a publicist about the online abuse, but was told not to talk about it to the press.
“I remember them saying to me, ‘Oh look, Katie, we haven’t seen these websites that people are talking about. And if you get asked, then just say it’s not true. Say it’s not happening,’ " she recalled.
“And I just nodded my head. I was like, ‘Okay, Okay,’ even though I had seen it myself with my own eyes,” Leung said. “I was like, ‘Okay, yeah, I’ll just say everything’s great.’ "
It’s unclear if the publicist was working for Leung or Warner Bros. Pictures, the studio behind theHarry Pottermovies. A spokesperson for the company did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
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“Of course, I was grateful. I was really very f—— grateful that I was in the position I was in,” she said of her role. “But then, yeah … it wasn’t great.”
Leung played Cho, a Hogwarts student, in fiveHarry Pottermovies.
She previously spoke about the backlash over her casting in a 2016 interview with Scottish newspaperThe Herald.
“Looking back I can’t remember much about that part of it because I was so in denial of what was happening,” Leung said. “I put it to the back of my mind. I don’t know if that is the best way to deal with it, but that is naturally what I did in order to move on and be a good actor.”
source: people.com
