Harry Potter star Katie Leung has claimed that her publicists told her to deny that she was experiencing racist attacks while making the films.
Leung, now 33, played Cho Chang in the magical movie series, but on a recent episode of the Chinese Chippy Girl podcast, she said that she began to experience racist attacks when her role in the films was announced.
However, despite reading the comments for herself, the actress claims that her publicists advised her to deny that it was happening.
"I was, like, googling myself at one point, and I was on this website, which was kind of dedicated to the kind of Harry Potter fandom," Leung, who was cast in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire at the age of 16, said.
"I remember reading all the comments. And yeah, it was a lot of racist shit."
Leung said that there was even a "hate site" created about her, but when she told her publicists about it, she was told to brush it under the carpet.
"I remember them saying to me, 'Oh, look, Katie, we haven't seen these, these websites that people are talking about. And you know, if you get asked that, just say it's not true, say it's not happening.'"
"And I just nodded my head. I was like, 'Okay, okay,' even though I had seen it myself with my own eyes. I was like, 'Okay, yeah, I'll just say everything's great.'"
The actress said that while she was "really f**king grateful" to be part of the franchise, it was not without its downsides. She added: "I keep saying, like, 'Oh I wish I'd maybe said something.' But you can't do that."
Entertainment Weekly reports that this is not the first time that the actress has opened up about the racism she experienced while playing Cho Chang.
In an interview with The Herald in 2016, she claimed: "I can't remember much about that part of it because I was so in denial of what was happening."
"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."
