Daniel Radcliffe in Prisoner of Azkaban was about as close as the movies got to an accurate portrayal of book Harry, but let's be honest: We're all still annoyed about the green eyes thing.
"Harry had a thin face, knobbly knees, black hair, and bright green eyes. He wore round glasses held together with a lot of Scotch tape because of all the times Dudley had punched him on the nose. The only thing Harry liked about his own appearance was a very thin scar on his forehead that was shaped like a bolt of lightning."
– Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
"Harry had a thin face, knobbly knees, black hair, and bright green eyes. He wore round glasses held together with a lot of Scotch tape because of all the times Dudley had punched him on the nose. The only thing Harry liked about his own appearance was a very thin scar on his forehead that was shaped like a bolt of lightning."
– Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
"Harry had a thin face, knobbly knees, black hair, and bright green eyes. He wore round glasses held together with a lot of Scotch tape because of all the times Dudley had punched him on the nose. The only thing Harry liked about his own appearance was a very thin scar on his forehead that was shaped like a bolt of lightning."
– Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
Rupert Grint was a pretty convincing Ron, but he didn't exactly live up to the constant references to Ron's freckly face and long nose in the books.
"Someone was goggling through the bars at him: a freckle-faced, red-haired, long-nosed someone. Ron Weasley was at Harry's window."
"Someone was goggling through the bars at him: a freckle-faced, red-haired, long-nosed someone. Ron Weasley was at Harry's window."
"Someone was goggling through the bars at him: a freckle-faced, red-haired, long-nosed someone. Ron Weasley was at Harry's window."
Emma Watson lost Hermione's trademark bushy hair in Prisoner of Azkaban, and it all went kind of downhill from there. She also never had Hermione's "large front teeth", but Hermione got rid of those in Goblet of Fire anyway, so she can be forgiven.
"She had a bossy sort of voice, lots of bushy brown hair, and rather large front teeth."
– Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
"She had a bossy sort of voice, lots of bushy brown hair, and rather large front teeth."
– Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
"She had a bossy sort of voice, lots of bushy brown hair, and rather large front teeth."
– Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
While Richard Griffiths was ~basically~ the perfect Uncle Vernon, Harry Melling and Fiona Shaw both lacked the blonde hair that JKR mentions pretty often in the books.
"Mr Dursley ... was a big, beefy man with hardly any neck, although he did have a very large moustache."
– Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
"Mrs Dursley was thin and blonde and had twice the usual amount of neck, which came in very useful as she spent most of her time craning over garden fences, spying on the neighbours."
– Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
"Dudley looked a lot like Uncle Vernon. He had a large pink face, not much neck, small, watery blue eyes, and thick blonde hair that lay smoothy on his thick, fat head."
– Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
"Mr Dursley ... was a big, beefy man with hardly any neck, although he did have a very large moustache."
– Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
"Mrs Dursley was thin and blonde and had twice the usual amount of neck, which came in very useful as she spent most of her time craning over garden fences, spying on the neighbours."
– Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
"Dudley looked a lot like Uncle Vernon. He had a large pink face, not much neck, small, watery blue eyes, and thick blonde hair that lay smoothy on his thick, fat head."
– Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
"Mr Dursley ... was a big, beefy man with hardly any neck, although he did have a very large moustache."
– Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
"Mrs Dursley was thin and blonde and had twice the usual amount of neck, which came in very useful as she spent most of her time craning over garden fences, spying on the neighbours."
– Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
"Dudley looked a lot like Uncle Vernon. He had a large pink face, not much neck, small, watery blue eyes, and thick blonde hair that lay smoothy on his thick, fat head."
– Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
Evanna Lynch was perfect for Luna personality-wise, but her platinum-blonde hair didn't quite fit the description of Luna's "dirty blonde".
"She had straggly, waistlength, dirty blonde hair, very pale eyebrows, and protuberant eyes that gave her a permanently surprised look."
– Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
"She had straggly, waistlength, dirty blonde hair, very pale eyebrows, and protuberant eyes that gave her a permanently surprised look."
– Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
"She had straggly, waistlength, dirty blonde hair, very pale eyebrows, and protuberant eyes that gave her a permanently surprised look."
– Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Ralph Fiennes was already pretty terrifying as Lord Voldemort, but he would have been even scarier if he had had book-Voldemort's "livid scarlet eyes".
"The thin man stepped out of the cauldron ... Whiter than a skull, with wide, livid scarlet eyes and a nose that was flat as a snake's with slits for nostrils..."
– Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
"The thin man stepped out of the cauldron ... Whiter than a skull, with wide, livid scarlet eyes and a nose that was flat as a snake's with slits for nostrils..."
– Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
"The thin man stepped out of the cauldron ... Whiter than a skull, with wide, livid scarlet eyes and a nose that was flat as a snake's with slits for nostrils..."
– Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
And finally, there's no arguing against it: Richard Harris literally was Dumbledore.
"He was tall, thin, and very old, judging by the silver of his hair and beard, which were both long enough to tuck into his belt ... His blue eyes were light, bright, and sparkling behind half-moon spectacles and his nose was very long and crooked, as though it had been broken at least twice."
– Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
"He was tall, thin, and very old, judging by the silver of his hair and beard, which were both long enough to tuck into his belt ... His blue eyes were light, bright, and sparkling behind half-moon spectacles and his nose was very long and crooked, as though it had been broken at least twice."
– Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
"He was tall, thin, and very old, judging by the silver of his hair and beard, which were both long enough to tuck into his belt ... His blue eyes were light, bright, and sparkling behind half-moon spectacles and his nose was very long and crooked, as though it had been broken at least twice."
– Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone