Jessie Cave worked as an actress for 18 years, and most of it was a struggle. She played Lavender Brown in three “Harry Potter” films starting at 19, appeared in “Call the Midwife” and “Black Mirror,” but didn’t find much success on the screen otherwise. She did stage acclaimed one-man shows and write a Sunday Times bestselling novel, all while having four kids with her partner, comedian Alfie Brown. But last year, at 38 years old, she hit a wall. An audition rejection was her breaking point, and she realized she was left with no savings and no viable backup plan. “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 says. “I had a breakdown and I thought, that’s it with acting, I give up. But also we have no money. It was a point of complete desperation.”

So she made the decision many actresses have made in recent years: she joined OnlyFans. It was March 2025, and headlines were all about the Harry Potter actress turning to a subscription platform best known for its adult content. But that’s not the kind of content Cave posts. When she began posting, she commited to keeping her clothes on, and over a year later, she kept that promise. Her videos are all about her long hair: brushing it, braiding it, and simply playing with it. She’ll also play characters like her former Harry Potter role, or as an elf. But it’s all about the hair every time. “My rule is the hair is the main character,” she says. “That’s how I justify it. It’s literally about hair: the texture of hair. The fetish. It’s very, very niche.” Her first post went viral off the Harry Potter connection, pulling in 3,500 subscribers immediately and making £15,000 (roughly $20,000) within 24 hours. 

Her plan was to use the OnlyFans income to figure out a real plan. Instead she says, “It’s now been over a year and a half and it’s genuinely saved our lives.” In fact, she insists she’s made more from OnlyFans in one year than she made in her entire acting career. That’s not a knock on the acting career as much as it’s indicative of what acting pays most working actors, even those who were in Harry Potter films. 

But Cave is honest about the downsides of her new career, including that her subscriber numbers dropped once people realized her page wasn’t explicit and wasn’t going to become explicit anytime soon. She won’t say how many subscribers stayed, calling the number “embarassing” but she describes those who did as loyal. Though she added there are “people who want to see you do gross stuff the whole time.” When asked if that gets to her: “Yeah, of course it does.” 

She has been influenced by the industry, getting a breast enlargement surgery earlier this year that was funded by her subscribers, calling it a “business decision.” She also acknowledges that she may not be able to rely on her hair alone to sustain the account, but she is adamant about her boundaries. “I’m not going naked. I don’t even talk on it. But I don’t know how long I can last if I don’t start giving more.” She has also been turned down from a Harry Potter convention because of her career, which she finds baffling as many of her costars who did attend the convention have done nude scenes in films. Apparently being nude on the big screen is considered better than staying clothed on OnlyFans to the industry.