A FORMER Harry Potter actress has revealed the paltry amount she and her fellow extras were paid for gruelling 12-hour days.
Samantha Clinch was just 13-years-old when she appeared in the third and fourth films of the blockbuster franchise, playing background character and Gryffindor witch Eloise Midgen.
The 32-year-old now works as a BBC presenter but has revealed her experience being on set and the pay she received for her work.
Video shows Samantha standing in front of a green screen backdrop of the Hogwarts Great Hall as featured in the Harry Potter films.
Samantha says: “Right, let’s talk about how much we got paid as extras for Harry Potter films and how much I got paid when I became Eloise Midgen.”
She explains that the move to being a named character in the films was a “big jump in cash” but nowhere near co-star Daniel Radcliffe who famously played the titular character.
She then speaks about her time on set for the Prisoner of Azkaban as an unnamed extra: “So, for context, Daniel Radcliffe got paid $11,000,000 – that’s nine and a half million pounds.”
She smiles enviously off camera as she says: “Now, for extra context, we would do 12-hour days – big 12-hour days.
“We would be called for breakfast to be, like, in the holding area outside set for 5:30am – in the morning – and then be leaving at rush hour and be on the bus in like heavy, heavy traffic.”
A shadowed backdrop appears behind Samantha as she says: “Are you ready for how much we got paid?”
The backdrop then changes to a photo of the wizarding world’s Gringott’s Bank and shows a goblin banker watching a pile of gold as Samantha reveals: “£35 a day. That’s £2.91 an hour.
“Is that legal? That’s chaos. Looking back, that’s chaos.”
She goes on to reveal: “So, when I became the part of Eloise Midgen, honestly, little did I know that day how the day would change for me and my bank account.”
Samantha points to a photo of herself dressed as Eloise as the character watches Professor McGonagall teach the students how to dance for the upcoming Yule Ball.
She then points to the unnamed extras beside her character in the photo as she says: “So before, like my friends – humble extras – £35 a day, £2.91 an hour.
“I then got paid – when I got this part – I got paid…£70 a day. They just doubled it.”
Samantha then justifies the pay as she says: “I mean, really though. Getting paid £2.91 an hour isn’t that bad and there’s this constant stream of food. It’s like an all-inclusive.
She points to a photo of the Harry Potter students sitting at a table in the Great Hall and enjoying a feast.
She jokes: “Seriously, the amount of Squares bars and ice buns we got through.
“I think I need to do a whole separate video on the catering though, because honestly the catering was so elite.”
However, Samantha looks back on her time on set fondly as she shares that she chose to spend her hard-earned cash on a perfume bottle.
She relays: “I’m 13-years-old, okay? It’s the weekend. I’m going to Fenwick’s with my paycheck. What do I buy?”
Samantha then reveals a pink Jean Paul Gaultier perfume bottle as she concludes: “Nostalgia in a bottle.”
She took to social media late last month to share the video, writing: “The money video. How much I earned as an extra, how much I earned as Eloise Midgen.
“How much Danielle Radcliffe was paid, how we got the most for our money and what I spent it on.”
The post received over 561,800 likes and more than 1,900 comments as many Harry Potter fans were left amazed by Samantha’s pay rate.
One person wrote: “I thought extras were volunteers. I’d be an extra in a movie for free. I just want to be on a movie set.”
Another said: “My daughter did a 12h day (scene was two minutes) for Fantastic Beasts 2 in 2018. She got just under £600 for the day.”
A third commented: “I’d pay extra to be on there.”
A fourth added: “Why did I think your pay jump was going to be in the thousands?”
