Alfred Enoch
“How to Get Away With Murder” star Alfred Enoch got his big break in Hollywood after playing Dean Thomas in the “Harry Potter” movie franchise. In the photo, the actor attended the Essence Black Women in Hollywood Awards at the Beverly Wilshire Four Seasons Hotel on Feb. 23, 2017. Getty Images/Leon Bennett

There is no denying the worldwide appeal of the “Harry Potter” books and films, and a lot of its cast members got their big breaks because of the franchise.

One such star is Alfred Enoch, who eventually starred in the ABC series, “How to Get Away With Murder.” Because he played Gryffindor student Dean Thomas in the “Harry Potter” franchise, Enoch’s star continued to rise.

“I think you can’t really front on Harry Potter,” Alfred told Sunday Brunch. “That's just such a phenomenon.”

“It was massive for me,” he continued. “I’m of that generation that we had the books as they were coming out. We’re pretty much the age of Harry Potter, so we grew up with it. So that’s a huge, huge thing.”

Enoch said he learned a lot about acting while playing Dean, and he was glad the movie franchise was his “start” in Hollywood. “And for something on that scale, but for me ... It was a lovely experience, it was a big learning experience, but I didn’t have so much to do – you know, I wasn’t Dan [Radcliffe], Rupert [Grint] or Emma [Watson] – so I didn’t have all that visibility.”

“I’m not as associated with it in that way, so I had a little bit of freedom, I think, when I started doing other things. But it was a nice thing to be able to be associated with,” he continued.

On the other hand, joining the cast of “How to Get Away With Murder” was different. Enoch did not expect it would be a big hit, but he’s glad to have been part of its journey.

“‘How to Get Away With Murder’ has just sort of taken over in a way that I couldn’t have imagined. When I got myself involved with that, I didn’t know what it was going to be,” he admitted.

Enoch’s character, Wes Gibbons, was killed off in Season 3. Wes’ friends are still trying to figure out who ordered him killed this Season 4, according to Digital Spy.

Meanwhile, Enoch has joined the cast of BBC One’s “Troy: Fall of a City.” He will play Aeneas, the Trojan hero who is the son of the prince Anchises and the goddess Aphrodite.

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