Harry Potter star who delivered iconic line in Prisoner of Azkaban to appear in Shakespeare play in London

Harry Potter star Ekow Quartey, known as Bad News Bem for his Prisoner of Azkaban role, will star in a play at Shakespeare’s Globe in London this year.

The actor will play a lead part in Shakespeare’s comedy Much Ado About Nothing, 20 years after he found cult fame in Harry Potter. Ekow, 33, takes on the role of Benedick, a soldier who falls in love with Beatrice, a local woman in the Italian town of Messina, as a result of the trickery of his friends.

Ekow shared the news of his latest part on The Globe’s TikTok account, where he makes references to his Harry Potter part. Ekow will perform at The Globe, a reconstruction of Shakespeare’s Elizabethan theatre in central London, in April this year.

Who did Ekow Quartey play in Harry Potter?

Ekow made his debut screen role as a character called Bem, a classmate of Harry’s in his divination lessons.  When reading Harry’s tea leaves, his teacher, professor Trelawney, is terrified by what she sees in his cup, she claims: ‘my dear, you have the Grim.’

Harry has no idea what the Grim is but Bem suddenly offers a grave warning, stating: “It’s among the darkest omens in our world, it’s an omen of death.” 

If that wasn’t unsettling enough, Bem speaks up again as Harry and his friends read a story in the newspaper about supposed murderer Sirius Black’s movements. Bem says: “That’s right, Black could be anywhere, it’s like trying to catch smoke, trying to catch smoke with your bare hands.”

Since his appearance in the film he has been praised for his dramatic delivery of the now iconic lines, which were especially prominent because they were his only dialogue in the entire franchise.

The only other appearance he made was as an uncredited member of Dumbeldore’s Army in the fifth film, Order of the Phoenix.

What has Ekow Quartey done since Harry Potter?

Ekow has had a series of minor roles since appearing in Harry Potter - he’s had parts in single episodes of Call the Midwife, Porters, and Breeders. Since his renewed fame as ‘Bade News Bem’ in Prisoner of Azkaban, aided by social media and a stream of memes, he has had recurring parts on sitcom This Way Up, and historical drama Becoming Elizabeth.

He has also had prior experience treading the boards, appearing in Shakespeare plays As You Like It, and Macbeth, in which he played the title role, and played Nana and Tootles in the Peter Pan stage show.