Actor and comedian Jessie Cave says she has made more money from one year of sharing hairbrushing videos on OnlyFans than she has done throughout her “entire acting career”.

The performer, 39, who is best known for her role as Lavender Brown in the Harry Potter films, started to post videos showing herself brushing her long hair on the social media platform last year, after dealing with rejection in the entertainment industry and struggling financially.

OnlyFans is a subscription-based platform best known for its adult content, although it is also home to plenty of creators who share non-sexual content too.

Cave was clear from the start that her account would not be “a sexual one” and would instead focus on “sensual” videos of her hair.

Speaking to The Times, Cave, who shares four children with comedian fiancé Alfie Brown, said that she had reached “a point of complete desperation” after being rejected from an audition.

“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 told the paper.

“I could retrain but I can’t afford to do a degree. 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.”

She initially thought that she would be on OnlyFans “for a few months” to “make five grand” and buy herself some “time to work out what we’re going to do”, but instead the income she has made on the platform has "genuinely saved our lives”.

Her subscribers pay $6 each month for access to her content, and she also earns additional income from “paid-for messages”.

Within just one day, she told The Times, she managed to earn back the £15,000 cost of her accommodation at the Edinburgh Fringe the year before, and she has “earned more, easily, than my entire acting career within one year”.

The actor admitted that there is “a stigma” attached to the platform because of its association with adult content, and said that she initially “didn’t really understand the risk of people thinking I’m doing porn”.

Last year, Cave claimed that she had been left off the line-up at a fan convention because of her account.

“I found out that I didn’t get booked for a Harry Potter convention recently, as I’m now doing OnlyFans,” she wrote in her Substack.

“They explained it was because it’s a ‘family show and OnlyFans is affiliated with porn,’” she added. “This was baffling to me as some actors who do conventions (most actors, actually) have done TV and films in which they’ve done sex scenes and nudity. I’m just playing with my hair!”

OnlyFans has become a popular side gig for celebrities. In 2024, singer Lily Allen used the platform to share photos of her feet to paid subscribers, while musician Kate Nash has also used her account to raise funds for her live tour.