Harry Potter star forced to join OnlyFans 15 years after series ended

Jessie Cave has revealed that joining OnlyFans has “saved” her family financially after the former Harry Potter star found herself struggling to make ends meet between acting jobs.

The 39-year-old actress, best known for playing Lavender Brown in the final three Harry Potter films, admitted she turned to the subscription platform at a “point of complete desperation” after an unsuccessful audition left her questioning her future as an actress.

More than 15 years after she made her final appearance in the blockbuster franchise, Jessie says she has now earned “more, easily, than my entire acting career within one year” through OnlyFans.

“I thought I’d make five grand, be on it for a few months, and it would buy me time to work out what we’re going to do,” she told The Times.

“But it’s now been over a year and a half, and it’s genuinely saved our lives.”

Jessie’s unusual OnlyFans career

Unlike much of the content associated with the platform, Jessie does not post explicit material. Instead, she charges subscribers $6 a month for what she describes as “hair content.”

Her videos see her fully clothed while brushing, braiding and styling her long hair, sometimes wearing costumes or fulfilling requests from subscribers about how they would like to see it styled.

Her unusual niche has proved remarkably lucrative, with The Times reporting that Jessie made approximately $20,200 in a single day.

Her guiding principle, she explained, is that her “hair is the main character.” “That’s how I justify it,” she said.

“And yes, [OnlyFans] is largely porn. But there are cooking videos, tarot readings, personal training. It’s just all done with a sexy edge.”

For Jessie, however, the appeal has not been entirely financial. After four children and years of deliberately shying away from presenting herself in a sexualized way, she admitted there was something empowering about being looked at differently.

“It is about wanting some kind of gaze,” she explained. “I wear baggy T-shirts on stage, I’ve never posted a bikini shot, I wear huge glasses. For so long I’ve just been this quirky figure.

“After having four kids and feeling invisible for so long, that was really appealing to me.”

Why Jessie Cave joined OnlyFans

Jessie shares four children with her fiancé, comedian Alfie Brown, and said the realities of childcare left her with limited options when acting work dried up.

“I couldn’t go and, say, work in a supermarket because I can’t afford the childcare, and also I don’t want people shouting Harry Potter spells at me as I work at Tesco,” she said.

“I could retrain, but I can’t afford to do a degree. I had a breakdown and I thought, ‘That’s it with acting, I give up.’ But also we have no money.”

Jessie first revealed she had joined OnlyFans in March 2025, explaining on Substack that her immediate motivation was getting out of debt and making essential repairs to the family’s home.

“I’ll try for one year,” she wrote at the time, before outlining ambitions to “get the house safe,” repair its roof and deal with potentially hazardous wallpaper.

More than a year later, the venture has become something she cannot simply walk away from.

Her success has also given Jessie a different perspective on the financial reality facing actors, particularly those who are recognizable enough to be famous but do not have the steady stream of lucrative work that audiences might assume accompanies that fame.

She suggested more creatives may ultimately find themselves turning to alternative platforms to support themselves during periods when they are not earning money from their art.

Life after Harry Potter

Jessie joined the Harry Potter universe as Lavender Brown in 2009’s Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, when her character became memorably infatuated with Ron Weasley.

She reprised the role in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 in 2010 and the franchise’s final movie, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, the following year.

Although the films made Jessie recognizable around the world, they did not guarantee a straightforward path through Hollywood.

She continued acting after the franchise ended, with appearances in shows including Black Mirror and Industry, alongside stage work and her career as a comedian and writer before joining OnlyFans.