Harry Potter star Jessie Cave says she was raped by her tennis coach aged 14

‘I think that there are still consequences from that period of time,’ says actor

Jessie Cave has opened up about being raped as a teenager.

The actor, who played Ron Weasley's love interest Lavender Brown in the Harry Potter film series, spoke of her experience during the first episode of her new podcast We Can’t Talk About That Right Now, which she hosts alongside her younger sister, Bebe.

During the episode, the pair began discussing their journeys into adulthood and who “had it worse” throughout their teenage years.

“I remember we had a really, really bad fight once when we tried to work out who had a harder teenager-hood,” Bebe said, to which Jessie replied: “I mean, come on, I was raped. I get the trump card.”

While Bebe argued that she had a tougher adolescence because she had braces for five years and experienced acne, her older sister said: “To be fair, acne and braces are bad, but I think rape at 14 is pretty bad. By your tennis coach, who you trusted, a position of power.”

Bebe joked: “Well, at least you were an athlete and you had good legs”, with Jessie replying: “That’s true, I was fit and I was very able with a tennis ball. But I was still taken advantage of, and he was sent to jail, so it’s fine.”

Jessie went on to explain that her rape meant she had a completely different adolescence and early twenties to her younger sister. She added that it took her many years to recover and that her “sexual journey was a completely abnormal road”.

“I think that there are still consequences from that period of time that I’m only realising 18 years later, and actually, the more time I have away from it – this is going to sound awful – but I do feel quite lucky in so many ways that I had a rape that was actually… it didn’t destroy me,” she explained.

“I think that’s something that people don’t talk about enough with sexual abuse and trauma. There are some people that are okay after, there are some people that do use it and find a way of living with it and definitely are not defined by it.”

Commenting on her family life after the assault, Jessie said: “It was something that wasn’t really talked about but it was obviously like, something bad had happened to Jessie and that’s why she’s being a complete b****.”

Later in the conversation, Jessie raised the death of their brother Ben Haddon-Cave in 2019, which occurred when Bebe was 21-years-old.

“I had a worse teenager-hood, but you’re definitely going to have a worse twenties,” Jessie said. “But not only with death but also corona.”

The actor has spoken previously about her sexual assault in stand-up shows and told The Times in 2018: “I had to really consider whether it was worth it, whether it was necessary and if it was going to be good for me. And weirdly, it has been cathartic.”

Following her roles in Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince and the final two Deathly Hallows films, Jessie went on to land roles in television shows such as Trollied and Call The Midwife.

She is also an accomplished illustrator, who sells her drawings online and released a book dedicated to her “neurotic doodles” titled Lovesick in 2015.

In June, Jessie announced that she is pregnant with her third child. She and her partner, comedian Alfie Brown, are already parents to five-year-old Donnie and three-year-old Margot.

You can find more information and advice for people affected by rape and sexual abuse at Rape Crisis or you can call the National Domestic Violence Helpline on 0808 2000 247.