Harry Potter extra reveals how much she was paid for minor role, as new HBO series begins casting

Express Tribune

20-04-2025

As anticipation builds for HBO's upcoming Harry Potter series, a former child extra from the original film franchise has gone viral for sharing how much she earned during her time on set.
Samantha Clinch, known for her role as Eloise Midgen in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, opened up on TikTok about her experience working on the films, including what she was paid. Clinch, who also appeared uncredited in The Prisoner of Azkaban, revealed that as an extra, she earned £35 per day, which breaks down to just £2.91 an hour during 12-hour filming days.
Speaking under her TikTok handle @samanthaclinch, she said, 'We would be called for breakfast to be in the holding area outside the set for 5am in the morning and then be leaving at rush hour, on the bus in heavy, heavy traffic.'
When she was given a named role in the fourth film, her pay increased to £70 per day. 'Honestly, little did I know that day when I was going to set how the day would change for me and my bank account,' she said in the video, which has since garnered over 7.7 million views.
Despite the modest pay, Clinch described the experience as incredibly rewarding. 'It was genuinely the most incredible time of my life,' she said, recalling that child actors ate meals in the Hogwarts banquet hall and were treated to a steady stream of snacks. 'Seriously, the amount of Squares bars and iced buns we got through, minimum £15 a day, minimum.'
Clinch even remembered spending some of her earnings on a bottle of Jean Paul Gaultier's Classique perfume, calling it 'nostalgia in a bottle.'
Her reflections offer a glimpse into life as a background actor as the new generation of Hogwarts students prepares to take the screen in HBO's reboot.