Evanna Lynch » Quotes: Auditioning and Being a Fan

Evanna was found at an open audition, selected from 15,000 candidates. While she had no previous acting experience, she was a major 'Potter' fan and it was the fact that she was a fan that drove to her audition, all the way in London. Here are her quotes on the subject of auditioning, acting and being a fan - perhaps you may even pick up some pointers!


- on being a fan
"I've been a Harry Potter fan for years and years."

"I read that letter [from JKR] to death and I still do. I carry them with me in my handbag always."

"I was eight, nearly nine [when she began reading the books]. At that time I was reading girly books and the idea of an eleven year old boy with glasses didn’t appeal to me so it took a bit of coaxing from my mum. But after the first chapter I just fell in love with the books."

"I read books to escape from my surroundings and to make me forget about my own troubles. And Harry Potter does that."

"I think that’s part of why I love them but even I don’t know exactly what it is. And I like it that way ..."

"Oh, I’m sorry to end the interview with a disappointing answer. No, no secrets that I can reveal. But I think perhaps that is a good thing, because if you knew all the secrets, there’s no magic left."

"Well just meeting JK Rowling was amazing because she created all this world. And all the fans, we all get so obsessed with it and then you met the one person who made it all up. It was just so amazing. And I was just so amazed that that she wrote this book and all of the films have happened. She was really, really nice and she’s really easy to talk to. I was telling her my theories about what will happen and she just nodded. But she kept it secret, I don’t want her to tell me."

"I told [JKR] how much I wanted to play Luna in the movies. And then I got a handwritten letter back from her. She was very nice. She even wrote that she maybe could help me with a role as an extra. I answered, that then I could not play Luna ..."

"My favorite book is the fifth one and the last one. In the fifth one Harry learns so much about himself and everybody is expecting so much of him. In the sixth one he much more idenpendent and he does not care, what others think, that thing he learnt in book five. And he last one I love because they all get their big moment. My favorite movie is the last one. It is not driven so much of the plot as the all fans already know but is more about the characters."


- on the chacter of Luna
"I promise all Luna fans that I will stay completely true to her because she deserves no less."

"Well, since she came into the book, you know, I loved her all of a sudden, and I always wanted to be in the films but then I didn’t know who I wanted to be, and then she came in and I wanted to be her."

"Luna is so free and seems to drift along with life, dealing with everything as it comes to her. I have more goals so I’ve more worries. I think that’s why I love Luna so much. She doesn’t have to have achievements or approval to feel satisfied and she’s as wonderful and balanced a person as anyone could be. She knows worrying is pointless so she just floats and I really admire that in her."

"I think she is a very balanced, well-rounded person and far wiser than her age would imply. I love her detachment, how she never needs approval from other people. She is not cocky, nor is she insecure, but just comfortable enough in her own mind not to let others’ opinions affect her judgement. She listens to her own heart."

"Luna doesn’t change but her position changes in this new film [Half Blood Prince]. Most people are aware of her reputation for being crazy. She’s certainly picked on by the other student."

"Luna seems small and young and not noted for being brave, and yet she is. She’s really calm though, she doesn’t get surprised by anything, and she accepts people’s differences."

"J.K. Rowling told me as a character she’s the most adjusted to the idea of death in the whole series. That cuts out a lot of fear for her. She tries to impress it on Harry. She’ll take it as it comes."

"I think Luna is very sure of herself and comfortable with who she is, whereas I am more like most people in that I can get preoccupied with what people think of me. I worry about that when really it doesn’t matter because that’s just someone else’s perception, you know? Luna inspires me to not let it affect me as much."

"I loved her disarming honesty, her unassuming wisdom and her innocent purity. She has no masks or insecurities. She simply is."

"People like her because she’s like a breath of fresh air. Because in the fifth book it gets so dark and Harry’s always cross and then every time Luna comes in all the tension goes and she makes you laugh because she’s so funny and really honest. I don’t know how much I’m like her, there are some similarities but I’m more determined than her."

"She’s such an amazing character and I really enjoy being her. I feel comfortable. And I want to do her character justice. And, I promise to all Luna fans that I will stay completely true to her because she deserves no less."

"I also love Luna’s clothes."

"Sometimes, the other characters are too normal and then you start to be brought back to reality but then Luna shows up and she is just so funny and cool and honest and slightly mad and she’s all that matters. She is 100% true. She puts on no shows, because she is so comfortable with herself."

"She’s not rebelling and being all consciously ‘I’m proud of me’- she’s just being how she’s meant to be. It doesn’t occur to her that she’s different, because she’s not."

"Most people have their masks that they wear for other people so that they’ll fit in and be ‘cool’ but she doesn’t and that is what ‘cool’ is. She is also completely independent."

"She has no friends and while she would like them, she doesn’t brood on it because she can support herself. Most people would be unhappy without their friends."

- on the relationship between Luna and Harry
"As in any school people are reluctant to be close to that kind of person. Or to be seen to be close to her. But Harry is a lot more comfortable with himself in this film. He’s not as conscious of what people think of him or he just doesn’t care now."

"He accepts Luna and he calls her a friend and she’s thrilled. She helps Harry to see sense when he gets caught up in his struggles. She reminds him who he is."

"As her personality, I find her to be a very free and open minded girl. She doesn't judge people and accepts everything and this isn't because of ignorance and I don't think that she's crazy at all. It's just that she's honest, free and respects everyone's opinion."

"Her character shows that innocence found in children that is lost by growing up and that is like that small voice in your head that in a sense disappears when growing up as it dissolves in the traditional world all around you, but she isn't like that, she doesn't try to conform with society. She's still a very smart and bright girl which I think is a perfect combination that is difficult to keep once one grows into an adult."


- on why she is similar to her character Luna
"I feel very close to Luna, so acting as her was just natural."

"People like her because she's like a breath of fresh air because in the fifth book it gets so dark and Harry's always cross. And then every time Luna comes in all the tension goes and she makes you laugh because she's so funny and really honest. I don't know how much I'm like her, there are some similarities but I'm more determined than her."

"Our taste in clothes is very similar. I proudly and happily wore her clothes and I think she would wear mine too. I believe that almost anything is possible if you see the possibilities rather than the obstacles; Luna has some very unconventional beliefs that need no basis of fact and while I don’t share them I think it shows us that she won’t believe things are untrue until you have some very firm evidence. There is no evidence to suggest that The Crumple Horned Snorkack exists but there is no evidence to suggest that it doesn’t exist, therefore she can believe in it. I think the main difference between us is that I am a lot more ambitious and that makes me serious."

"And about my character, people think that I was stuck with this character, especially in the beginning when Luna was seen connected to the innocence which is difficult to see when one grows up but I could still interpret parts which are similar to Luna and I'm not preoccupied with prejudice and I would eventually accept the roles that I like which is the fundamental thing. I'm sure that I'm different than Luna as a character so if I choose to interpret a role it's because there's something that I like"

"I am like Luna is very open. We believe things until the opposite is proven and don’t judge things on forehand. Luna is like the opposite of Hermione. Hermione has to read it in a book to believe in it. I believe in magic and angels. But if you reject things, you don’t see them."

"I would like to see [myself in] Gryffindor but I think it would be Ravenclaw like Luna Lovegood."


- on auditioning for the role of Luna
"Well, [my family] knew that it was my dream but they also thought that the chances were very low because I’m Irish and had no big acting achievements so they thought I was being a bit too hopeful. But my Dad realised how important it was to me and said I should at least have a chance so he took me. I thought that if I got there and played true to Luna then I had as good of a chance as anyone. And I knew if I didn’t even go I’d probably regret it for the rest of my life."

"Well my mum didn’t want me to go, she thought I didn’t have a hope. And then I told my dad and he thought I should go because he knew I really wanted it, so he brought me."

"I really wanted to go, because if I didn't I never would have known, and I'd have been annoyed with myself. They had to pick someone, so why couldn't I have a go? It's like in the script, when Harry's trying to encourage some students to be in Dumbledore's Army, he says, "Think of all the great wizards in history, and if they can do it, why can't we?" It was kind of like that."

"I always wanted to be Luna. She has been my favourite character since she was introduced in the fifth book and it was always a dream to play her. I had written to Warner Bros. before asking them for an audition and my friends and I made tapes of me being Luna but we never had any success."

"I had to go ... I was meant to go."

"I knew if I didn’t I probably would regret it for the rest of my life."

"I’m a huge fan. So its not just like I wanted to be in a film, I wanted this part and, just, I love the books, they make you feel happy, and, something to do, as well, like all the fan sites that there is you can talk to people about it. They’re about magic, so you can kind of escape all the world here. But also, they’re about teenagers and they’re normal teenagers, just that they’re magic, so you can relate to them."

"I was not happy to just sit and wait for fate to take its course. My friends were great ... they played Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville, Ginny and anyone who was needed."

"In the end, the tapes came to nothing. But it is still a cool fact that we made them."

"I did not think (at the auditions) whether I was going to get this part or not. I said to myself, ‘I am going to do my impression of Luna ... my vision of her and I hope it matches."

"It wasn’t like a Maths test where I have to strain to get it all right. And if I had got too nervous I’d have done terribly. Of course I was a bit nervous, but only a bit. We waited in the queue for four hours, then went in and stood in lines with other girls."

"[I told the casting directors] if you did not choose me it meant you did not understand Luna."

"I loved Luna as much as anyone could. I knew that I had just as much of a chance as anyone else there."

"[Going to the audition] was mad it was, all the people, and it was really fun though because everyone was really excited. It was good."

"About 200 girls went into a room and there were two casting agents and they asked you to say your name and where you came from and then they picked two or three out of that. And they sent you into a room and I was really nervous and kept dropping things and I was going the wrong way and everything. Then she gave us a script and you had to learn it."

"It was nice there because we all talked and it calmed you down. Then you went into a room by yourself and you said the script with another lady and the girl kept asking me to say it again and then she called in Fiona Weir (the casting director) and then they told me that they wanted to see me again."

"And then, one by one we went into another room (alone) and had to read the script with another lady and a man with a camera. They kept asking me to read it again and I was just hoping that was a good sign. At last they let me go and by then I did feel rather shaky."

"I came home from the screen test a bit down-hearted knowing that it was highly possible that I may never visit that fantasy studio again. I expected either to be told ‘nope’ or ‘come for another test’. So I was stunned when I got a call on Monday (four days after the screen test) telling me I got the part. I was completely shocked and couldn’t quite understand that I had got the part. I thought it was some awful joke or they were testing me or something but I still got so excited. Unfortunately I couldn’t jump up and down and scream or anything because I got the call in the local shop, grocery shopping for my mum and that might have attracted a bit of attention."


- on receiving the role of Luna
"I was completely shocked, I thought it was some awful joke or they were testing me or something but I still got so excited."

"I got a call on the Monday and they said we want you to come for a screen test on the Friday. And they were saying things like the director is going to call you today and you’ll be doing your scenes with Daniel Radcliffe. I was a bit freaked out by that because it all happened so quickly. I thought there’d be loads of auditions but it was really quick."

"I was just stunned because it was such a big dream and you always wish it will happen but I couldn’t believe that it did happen."

"I was resigned to the fact that I couldn’t tell anyone so I just blocked it out and pretended it wasn’t happening. I didn’t have to worry because before I was waiting for the call and I was nervous. But this time I knew I had the part and I could just forget about it for a few days."

"I had to keep it quiet for days and pretend everything was normal which was hard considering my dream had just come true. When I went home that day I had to study for my French test as if everything was normal."

"I went into school and all of my year were at the windows and they were all waving when I came in. And then all these camera people starting coming into the school and all the other girls were outside waving and I stayed inside and they didn’t notice me. I think they had dyed my hair at that point so it was different and I had to have security people."

"I wouldn’t want to know before anyone else. I think that would be like Christmas coming early."

"My friends are great. They’re happy for me and they were all so excited. It was a shock to be on the news."

"I did get to tell my closest friends a day before the announcement but they promised they wouldn’t tell a soul. I’m quite sure not all of them kept that promise!"