Evanna Lynch » Quotes: Acting and On Set Know-How!

Coming from a non-acting background and initially a fan, Evanna's first day on set would've been completely different from any other actors'! Her insights into the acting field and her co-stars give a jittery and endearing account of the transition from 'Potter' fangirl to 'Potter' superstar! Her views are unique and completely different from those in her field.


- on acting
"Don’t ever give up. Don’t see the obstacles, just the way around them. For me, of course it looked improbable, but not impossible. So as long as there was a way, I would not be discouraged."

"Keep your options open though. I mean don’t put your future on the line for one dream that may never come true-have lots of dreams. And work to make them come true."

"But if it doesn’t all happen as you planned, don’t worry, there’s other ways. So, definitely, keep at it, it pays off. Why did you just say girls though? Boys can follow their dreams too."

"Not so far, no. But I definitely don’t call myself an “actor”. I do want to act more, but I was in Harry Potter first and am grateful for everything I’ve got from it. I find it only opens doors for me."

"Everything [inspires me]! I couldn’t limit myself to just one form of art. You never know and can’t help what you’re inspired by; I want to see all of it! Films, books, they all do it. I think dancing and movement are my passions, though."

"If I weren’t an actor ... I’d be in school right now! But no, I would be a dancer. I want to keep acting, but I think I’d like to make dancing my career ... it changes every week, though ..."


- on creating the on-screen portrayal of Luna
"I think I’ve had to learn to be more detached. I am sensitive and when you spend your time desperately seeking others’ approval, you always end up getting hurt and then worse off. Being in the public eye and knowing other people will judge you a lot has made me lean to only every rely on what I think of what I am doing."


- on the expectations of her Luna portrayal
"I promise to work hard to do a good Luna!"

"I can’t fulfil everyone’s vision of Luna but I would like to please a lot of them."

"But the most important and scary thing is will I be pleased with myself? I would be devastated if I saw the movie and thought 'what an awful Luna'."

"Whereas if I see it and I am happy with my Luna but most of the fans aren’t, I won’t mind, I’m doing my idea of Luna."

"I also want more than anyone for JK Rowling to be pleased with my Luna, because it’s her character."

"I have a nightmare of being at the after-party and meeting Jo and she’s just standing there shaking her head, and looking sad. That’s my boggart (worst fear). But she has been positive so far, so I am optimistic."

"At first when it was announced I did check [the Internet] but then I got kind of upset because, you know, there are some people who will love you and some people who won’t, and it will never happen that everyone will agree, so you just have to try and do your best. I have to do what I think Luna will be, and if that pleases some people then that’s good."

"I would like to say to all the fans that are disappointed in the choice for Luna having seen the photo of me in the papers, is that this was my first photo shoot and I felt a bit awkward."


- about acting with the other cast
"The screen test I thought went OK and it was really fine because Daniel was really easy to be with because he’s very good at acting so you just believe he’s Harry and he talked to me a lot. And he was nice. Then I found out three days later so that was good because I couldn’t have stood all the waiting. I got a call when I was in a shop and they just told me then and I was just shocked."

"It all happened so fast, because one week I was in school and the next I’m at Leavesden Studios in Dumbledore’s office reading scenes with Daniel Radcliffe. Weird. And terrifying for such a huge Harry Potter fan. It was mad. Brilliant, but mad."

"It’s really fun. I just really enjoy the filming part and everyone’s really, really nice. And you don’t get nervous when you are talking to everyone. Well the first few days I was nervous but then when you start talking to people it’s fine."

"It was a bit unreal and daunting. You’ve been watching them for so long that you forget they are real, you know, because they seem kind of fictional. When I first went to the set and saw them (Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint), I wanted to touch them to see if they were real."

"I was also afraid of being the one who would mess up the scene and they would have to keep cutting because of me. But the nerves also went quickly because there is such a nice atmosphere on set and it is easy to fit into the family quite quickly. It calmed me down to see that most of the time no-one gets the scene on the first take."

"I was quite intimidated by all the actors having worshipped them for a long time. They didn’t try to be intimidating but that just happened. I was so afraid of being the one who would mess up a scene but the nerves went quickly because there is such a good atmosphere on set."

"It was this feeling the whole time like I shouldn't be here among all these stars and professionals. I was trying to keep my distance because I wanted to watch everyone. But they want you to feel at home and be part of it, and it became normal very quickly."

"One week I was in school and the next I’m at Leavesden Studios in Dumbledore’s office reading scenes with Daniel Radcliffe. Weird. And terrifying for such a huge Harry Potter fan."

"The best part of this experience has been meeting the people who were idols. That has been great because they are amazing people and they do achieve so much though working so hard. But they’re so normal as well and they don’t have airs and you see all sides of them."

"I used to be afraid to appear on the film set because I felt I was not ready and what would I do, you know? But I learned that they don’t expect you to be perfect, and that was a great thing to learn. Just to be a part of the film is thrilling, because I’ve always been a huge fan of the books, and now I can say I did my part for it."

"I used to be afraid to appear on the film set because I felt I was not ready and what would I do, you know? But I learned that they don’t expect you to be perfect, and that was a great thing to learn. Just to be a part of the film is thrilling, because I’ve always been a huge fan of the books, and now I can say I did my part for it."

"[I've gelled with] Katie and Bonnie and Ryan, probably the most (they play Cho Chang, Ginny Weasley, and Slightly Creepy Boy respectively). Also Afshan, Shefali, Nick and Matthew (Padma and Parvati Patil, Somewhat doubtful Boy, and Neville). We had some lovely times during filming, they made it fun."

"Working with all the famous actors who I adore, and getting all the behind the scenes secrets. But I’m looking forward to all of it really!"

"[Daniel's] a brilliant Harry. I’m excited about filming alongside all of them. They’re all amazing. And this is the closest I’m going to get to going to Hogwarts (because unexpectedly, I never received my letter to Hogwarts) and they all bring the characters of the books to life so I know I’ll enjoy it all."

"Unlike a school when you have to be friends with those from the class, then it is more easier to find friends on a big set with so many different people. But I am most together with Bonnie, Katie – who is playing Cho Chang and then there are always coming new people you can be friends with."


- on working on the sets
"I was a little bit heartbroken to find that all the sets were in separate parts of the studio or that some of them had been dismantled. Also as I got to know the other actors I realised how different a lot of them are from their characters, extremely nice but different. As a fan that was tough to learn at first."

"We have school tutors on the set and we have to do three hours a day minimum with them. Everyone in my school thinks that makes me lucky but it’s not true at all."

"It’s one to one tutoring, so it’s quite intense, and they really make sure we get our tutoring in. It’s kind of hard to combine the tutoring with the film work. It’s hard to focus on both sometimes."

"[It's] very hard to summarise in words! I’ll try. It was like watching a story you imagined for years write itself."

"It was just as brilliant and as perfect as I had hoped and even though I was determined that I would get into a HP movie before it all, I was a bit stunned. Everytime I stopped and thought and realised how smoothly it had happened. It reminded me of playing the Sims (except that my Sims often die)."

"All of the Luna scenes are quite funny because she's a down-to-earth character even though sometimes she comes up with witty things and with very accurate observations. She talks about strange animals and when everyone sees her they thing of her as strange and then when she talks not always people feel comfortable but what she says. Then I also like what she wears and the costumes are fantastic especially her accessories as everything is multicoloured. I really like the hat that I had to wear during the Quidditch scene and I also like that Luna in the scenes, she's always very comfortable while the people surrounding her aren't at all."

"They add a few lines to lines which are present from the books which mostly highlight the peculiarities of Luna especially the fact that she's always talking about these strange creatures rather then emphasizing her wise character which are brought out through the observations that Harry Potter makes. This always remains below the surface of the movie but I was never shocked about the changes of my character in the screenplay. For the other characters, yes, for example I remember that Dumbledore made a comment about a waitress and this was something that surprised me and I thought that you surely wouldn't expect this comment coming out from the mouth of the wise Dumbledore but overall they're faithful to the books. "

"I don't think it will as in the books there's this balance between the dark side and the Harry's quest to learn as much as he can on Lord Voldemort and his past and then there's this soft side, the romantic side where Harry is followed by Romilda Vane where he realizes that Ginny doesn't feel indifferent to him. So in this aspect I don't think that the movie isn't faithful to the book and Rowling in this book has painted it with comedy and she plays with the characters' emotions, otherwise the book would have been too dark and too heavy if there wasn't this continuing banter between Ron and Hermione.."

"The best is that you are able to say that you are in the Harry Potter movies and then the friends I have got. The worst part is that you cannot be a Harry Potter in the same way as earlier. You need to have a life outside the work. I used to discuss Harry Potter on the Internet but I don’t do it anymore because now there are comments about myself. I loved to be in the line to get cinema tickets and make my own Harry Potter T-shirts. But that is not a very high prize to pay to be a part of the Harry Potter movies."


- on the difficulties of playing Luna
"I think that would just be her consistent positivity. It’s hard to accept that someone can be so adjusted to life and its problems, and to deatht oo. During the filming of ‘Order of the Phoenix’ ... I had trouble in the Ministry scenes where she had to be terrified of the Death Eaters. I couldn’t see her terror when the worst thing that could happen to her was death. But we resolved it by saying the terror she felt was for her friends’ lives."

"I think it will be Malfoy Manor [in 'Deathly Hallows'], as that is quit a frightening experience for Luna and she has to show a lot of her Gryffindor side (yes, I do believe everyone has a Gryffindor side!) and take responsibility in ways she hasn’t really had to do on her own before. It’s a real test for her and I am still am not quite sure how she will go about it ... and I am excited to discover!"


- on acting against green screens and SFX
"It certainly is odd. You go on set all ready for the scene to take off, but that just can’t happen when you’re surrounded by blinding acid green colour and there’s a man brandishing a pole with a big red X right next to you. It is quite off-putting. However, it’s just one of those things where you have to totally detach yourself from everyone around you who’s laughing at the way you’re gazing lovingly at a metal pole. You just go into your own world, like when you were seven years old, and make what you imagine real."

"My most challenging scene in the Harry Potter films to date was ... the Ministry stuff. Green screens and SFX – it’s hard not to feel foolish screaming, "Stupefy!" at thin air!"


- on which other 'Potter' characer she'd play
"Dumbledore! I love him! He’s not unlike Luna in many ways ... But Dumbledore is different in that he has so many worries and struggles that in a way make him more human. I think I would enjoy the challenge of trying to create a balance between his quirky detachedness and serene wisdom. Plus, I love his robes!"