As the Harry Potter TV show draws ever closer, an actor from the previous movies has spoken out about the cultural representation of her character and how one crew member left her feeling like ‘the biggest girl on the planet’ when she was just 16 years old. Afshan Azad played Padma Patil in the Harry Potter film series, starting in 2005 with the Goblet of Fire. She quickly became a fan favourite alongside her on-screen sister, Parvati Patil (Shefali Chowdhury). But for years, there’s been criticism about the styling and costumes worn by the Patil twins during the Yule Ball sequence, arguing the films missed an opportunity to celebrate South Asian culture during one of the franchise’s biggest nights. There were also complaints that their characters were sidelined and not given the storyline they deserved, leading to calls for justice. Now, Afshan has opened up about her honest thoughts on the outfit, and how uncomfortable she was made to feel. Afshan Azad calls for justice for the Patil twins Taking to TikTok, the actress explained that she felt “triggered” while at a fan event in France after being handed a photo of Padma in the Yule Ball dress to sign. @officialafshan #justiceforthepatiltwins #harrypotter ♬ original sound – Afshan Looking back at the outfit, Afshan described it as “one of the worst Asian outfits I’ve ever seen on film or TV.” “Now that I’m older and I’ve got a voice, I can actually say it,” she explained, questioning everything from the length and colour choices to the styling of the look. Afshan went on to reveal that the experience behind the scenes was far more difficult than fans realised, claiming the costume designer made her feel insecure about her appearance at just 16 years old. “The costume designer woman, she made me feel like I was the biggest girl on the planet,” she said. “I’m looking at this 16-year-old girl and literally thinking, ‘You’re gorgeous, babe. You got into Harry Potter and you look amazing. You’re trying to make this work.'” The actress said she often sees memes and viral posts about the Patil twins’ Yule Ball looks, but believes viewers don’t know the full story behind the costumes. “There is so much conversation out there about that outfit, and I laugh at all of them because you guys don’t understand what I went through on this film,” she said. While fans have spent years calling for “justice for the Patil twins”, Afshan revealed she agrees with much of the criticism surrounding the representation of her character. Credit: Warner Bros. “Everybody asks me all the time about this outfit,” she continued. “The representation that they could have had.” Although she now looks back and thinks, “What the hell was that outfit?”, Afshan said attitudes towards representation have changed significantly since Goblet of Fire was released. “We’re a lot more educated now, and there are so many beautiful outfits,” she said, before turning her attention to HBO’s upcoming Harry Potter TV series. “It’ll be interesting to see in the new Harry Potter TV series, if they get to the Yule Ball, what outfits they put on the Patil twins because we’ll all be watching.” For all the latest film and TV updates and hot takes, like our Facebook page. Featured image credit: Warner Bros./TikTok/@officialafshan Post navigation Next storyPrevious story
