A “Harry Potter” extra shares emotional reaction to seeing her deleted scene for the first time in 20 years: “My heart is racing”

For nearly two decades, actress Samantha Clinch held onto one hope: that one day, she’d see her missing moment from the Harry Potter films.

A long-lost Hogwarts memory

In her TikTok video, Clinch began with excitement and disbelief. “Something incredible’s happened,” she said. “So, as you may know by now, I played the most niche character in the Harry Potter films. This is Eloise Midgen. Now, the thing is, you only see me in the film for a split second because I had an entire dancing scene with Daniel Radcliffe, but it got cut.”

For years, she said she’d searched for any sign of that moment. “For 20 years, I’ve not seen a single photo, I’ve not seen a single clip of anything that happened that day,” she explained. “There was no photos of me, none of my friends. We lost contact. It’s genuinely so sad. Until now.”

Then, one evening, she received an unexpected message. “Someone said, ‘Hi, I may have accidentally come across one of your cut scenes on YouTube. If you search behind the scenes of Goblet of Fire, it’s 15:52,’” Clinch recounted.

After watching the short video, she admitted, “My heart is racing from not seeing a single photo or clip or anything from this time. I just.”

She continued, “The person who sent me this, I know it’s just my back, and I know you can’t even see my face, but just being able to look at that again. Oh my God, why am I so emotional? I’m crying on TikTok again.”

Despite the brevity of the clip, Clinch expressed immense gratitude. “To the person who sent me this, I honestly cannot thank you enough. I cannot tell you. I just—It’s literally made my last 20 years,” she said.

@samanthaclinch Words cannot describe how incredible this message was to recieve. Like imagine growing up with no evidence and starting to feel like you had some mad fever dream then bam a video of Mike Newall showing you the waltz you’re about to do with Daniel Radcliffe. IT WAS REAL XXX #harrypotterbts #danielradcliffe #cutscenes #storytime ♬ original sound – Samantha Clinch

When reached via email, Clinch told The Daily Dot, “The internet is incredible and the community I have on there are just the best,” calling it “an amazing moment.”

She explained that she’d been telling stories about being a featured extra in the Harry Potter films on TikTok for some time, sharing “how heartbreaking it was to have had my line and dancing scene cut.”

She identified Mike Newal in the video of her dancing scene, who was “showing us the blocking for the cameras” in the footage.

As for what’s next, Clinch is hoping to get Eloise an official wand. She shares, “My line got cut in the film, but so did my credit, so I’m currently on a mission to get the character of Eloise Midgen (who’s pretty well mentioned in the books) her credit so I can get a wand at the Warner Bros. studios.”

Fans celebrate with her online

After posting the video, fans flooded the comments with support and curiosity. One commenter asked, “Wait, it was real?! I thought this was some long-running joke with you and your followers.”

Clinch replied, “I feel like I can be fully understood now,” though the fan humorously responded, “Hey, so that comment actually doesn’t help clarify anything, girl.”

Others offered kind words and advice. “But it’s a memory, one that you can hold on too 🥰,” one person wrote. Another added, “Be sure to at least save the video and keep it safe because who knows what can happen to the original on YouTube.”

Some took a more playful approach, joking, “Anyone have any studio contacts? Perhaps a Mission Impossible-style heist to get Eloise Midgen her much-deserved screen time?”

One viewer summed up the sentiment many shared, saying, “I loved Eloise Midgen because I related to her and just wanted to give her a hug. Thanks for sharing ✨.”

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