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First-time actress Evanna Lynch is just perfect as Luna Lovegood, a girl who believes in faith, in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

In her debut performance as Luna Lovegood, 15-year-old Evanna Lynch virtually steals many of the scenes in the movie. Playing Harry Potter’s newfound friend at Hogwarts, Lynch is soft-spoken and slightly quirky, uncannily like the character she plays.

Her performance has been described by director David Yates as being “remarkable, very believable and real”. Author J.K. Rowling has said that Lynch was perfect for the role.

Every fan’s dream: Evanna Lynch (pix below) was selected from among 15,000 girls to play Luna Lovegood in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
According to producer David Heyman, “The difference between Evanna and the other girls we interviewed for the part is, the others could play Luna; Evanna is Luna.”

Luna, says Rowling, is the anti-Hermione; she believes things on faith alone as opposed to the always-logical Hermione. Though the Lovegood family is mentioned in the fourth book, Luna only appears in The Order of the Phoenix.

An avid fan of the Potter books and movies, Lynch fell in love with the character of Luna as soon as she read book five.

“I didn’t immediately say ‘that’s me’. I never thought that actually. But she was someone whom I thought was quite perfect whom I aspired to be like. I felt I understand her thoughts and how she came to be, who she is and I felt I could do her justice,” said Lynch.

She felt so strongly about the character that she made tapes of her acting out the role and sent them to casting agents.

“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,” said Luna in a recent interview with the online edition of New York Post.

Unfortunately, Lynch’s audition tapes amounted to naught. She did, however, write to Rowling and, believe it or not, she got a hand-written reply.

“I was overjoyed. It gave me hope. It showed me that us regular fans can connect with those elite people,” said the Irish lass.

Fast forward a few years. Lynch is no longer just “a regular fan”. Not only did she secure the part of Luna (a major role), she aced it.

From the straggly, waist-length blond hair to the slightly dazed look, the misty eyes and the slightly loopy behaviour, Lynch has got it down pat.

How did she finally land the part?

When she heard there were going to be open auditions for Luna, Lynch knew she had to try out.

“I had to go…I was meant to go,” she said.

She persuaded her father to take her (her mother was not as enthusiastic, not wanting her daughter to be disappointed) to London (from their home in Termonfeckin, southern Ireland) for the auditions.

Once there, Lynch found herself competing against 15,000 other hopefuls for the role. She was unperturbed.

“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,” Lynch told reporters at a press conference to promote the fifth movie in London recently.

Added producer David Barron, “Actually, you did say at the time, Evanna, that if we did not choose you it was not because you weren’t good but it was because we were wrong!

“Of course, you said it in the nicest possible way.”

Unfazed, Lynch said, “That’s what I meant. If you did not choose me it meant you did not understand Luna.”

Said Barron, “Fiona Weir (the casting director) met all 15,000 of the girls and eventually distilled the choices down to 29 whom she put on DVD and sent to us.

“She told us there was one girl to watch out for but she did not tell us which one. I got as far as the ninth one and rang Fiona and said, ‘It must be number nine’ and it was. It was Evanna. She was just fantastic.”

Lynch was thrilled, naturally. However, it took some time for reality to sink in.

“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,” she said.

Source: Star e-Central

The Irish star of the new Harry Potter movie says she will definitely be in the next one – but she doesn’t intend to make a career of acting.

Dozens of fans turned out to greet Evanna Lynch as she arrived at Dublin’s Savoy Cinema this evening for the premiere of ‘The Order of the Phoenix’.

The 15-year-old from Termonfeckin in County Louth said she thinks the film is ’spectacular’ but admitted she’s nervous about what her friends will think of it.

The teenager, who plays the young witch Luna Lovegood, said she always knew the part was for her.

“It wasn’t any part and it wasn’t any movie: it was Luna in a Harry Potter film, and I didn’t think, ‘oh there’s going to be thousands of people, how am I going to do it’, I just thought ‘I know Luna more than anyone could’,” she explained.

She said she hasn’t got any sneak previews of the final book in the Harry Potter series, and said she’ll be “queuing up” to buy the book when it’s released on July 21st.

Source: Belfast Telegraph

She’s gone from super fan to superstar.

Harry Potter freak Evanna Lynch, 15, steals the spotlight in her silver-screen debut as Hogwarts space cadet Luna Lovegood in the highly anticipated film “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,” which opens July 11.

Lynch’s spot-on portrayal of the eccentric outcast in the fifth Harry Potter flick cast a spell over the crowd at a screening last week and is sure to capture the hearts of fellow fans all over the world.

Author J.K. Rowling, who penned the absurdly popular Harry Potter series, is already impressed. On her Web site, Rowling said “there is only one possible thing to say” about the young actress: “Perfect.”

Lynch, a diehard Potter fan since age 8 who grew up in Termonfeckin, Ireland, has always had a connection with Luna, immediately loving the character when she first appeared in the book “Order of the Phoenix.”

“I loved her disarming honesty, her unassuming wisdom and her innocent purity,” Lynch told The Post. “She has no masks or insecurities. She simply is.”

Lynch, an avid fan of the Potter films who “quite enjoyed acting,” dreamed of playing Luna on the big screen.

She “was not happy to just sit and wait for date to take its course,” so she recruited some friends to play fellow Hogwarts students, made tapes of herself playing Luna, and sent them to casting agents at Warner Bros.

“In the end, the tapes came to nothing,” said the Lynch, who has waited in line for Potter books, routinely reads fan sites such as The Post’s Potter blog and has a cat named Luna. “But it is still a cool fact that we made them.”

Lynch even sent a letter to Rowling telling her how much she wanted to play Luna, but feared it would never happen because she was from a “humble village where not much happened.” She got a handwritten letter back.

“I was overjoyed,” Lynch said. “She told me that she also came from a sleepy little village, so how could that not give me hope? Of Termonfeckin, she also said, ‘At least it has a great name.’ ”

“I read that letter to death and I still do,” she said. “I carry them with me in my handbag always.”

Lynch eventually got her opportunity to try out for Luna at an open casting call – along with 15,000 other girls.

“I loved Luna as much as anyone could,” she said. “I knew that I had just as much of a chance as anyone else there.”

Lynch nailed the audition and got the part.

She said she is “extremely grateful” that Rowling, whom she got to meet in March 2006, has divulged some secrets about Luna’s future to help her play the part, but is glad she hasn’t shared too much before the last Potter book’s July 21 release.

“I wouldn’t want to know before anyone else,” she said. “I think that would be like Christmas coming early.”

Source: NY Post

The cast of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix on what it’s like to be a child actor, kissing Daniel Radcliffe, and keeping secrets for JK Rowling.

Evanna Lynch plays Luna Lovegood, an oddball but endearing Hogwarts student and DA member. She is a huge Harry Potter fan and bombarded the production company with letters until she got the part of Luna

What was it like entering an already well-established cast as an outsider?
They were very welcoming. Being a fan I had expected to be out of it a bit, but they really wanted me in their circle.

Do you think you are like your character?
I think I am like Luna, but not as much as everyone thinks I am. She’s not as determined as I am. She wouldn’t have chased the part in the film the way I did. But we both believe in things that don’t have to have facts to back them up.

What would you like to happen to your character in the last book?
I can’t really say too much, because JK Rowling has told me some things about what happens to Luna. I would like to see her find more people like her though. Harry, Ron and Hermione all really like her, but they don’t really get her.

When did you first meet JK Rowling?
The 30th March 2006. It was very special. I was in the hair and make-up department on set and she walked in. I couldn’t believe it. They hadn’t warned me that she would be in that day. For a minute I just stared at her – and she stared back. Then I jumped up and hugged her and asked her lots of questions.

Are you still as much of a fan as ever?
More. It just keeps growing and I’m definitely going to be queuing outside the bookshop for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I have had to tone it down a bit though. At home I would use the swear words they use in the books, and I would relate all my homework to Harry Potter. But now when I do that people think I’m just doing it to draw attention to the fact that I’m in the film.

What do your friends think of you becoming a film star?
They were very excited when it happened. No-one has been negative about it. Everyone is just curious to know what happens in the story.

What do you tell them?
I just keep it to myself. I’m great at keeping secrets. I’m honoured that JK Rowling shared that secret with me, so why would I go round telling other people?

Did you ask Daniel Radcliffe for his autograph when you met him?
No – I restrained myself. But my friends were asking for it. That and marriage proposals.

Source: Telegraph.co.uk

It’s just over a year since Drogheda teenager Evanna Lynch was thrown under the world media spotlight when she clinched the coveted role of Luna Lovegood in the Harry Potter movie ‘The Order of the Phoenix’.

She talks to Marie Kierans EXCLUSIVELY for the Drogheda Independent. During the past year Evanna Lynch, a die-hard Harry Potter fan for years, has been living the dream, acting alongside the actors and actresses she admired and adored for so long from afar.

In an exclusive interview this week with the Drogheda Independent Evanna recounts those first few days of filming and how nervous she felt.

‘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.’

The film is due to be released in July with the premiere in London expected to be a star-studded and high-profile occasion.

Evanna will be there amongst the stars and as she told the Drogheda Independent it’ll be worlds apart from the last Harry Potter film premiere which she watched live through a link on the mugglenet internet site!

‘It will be amazing to be on the other side of the barrier this time. For the last premiere I watched the actors arriving and it will be so odd this time to be there also arriving with them.’

And whilst she spent six months of last year filming in England the Sandpit girl’s feet are now firmly on the ground as she prepares to sit her junior cert at the beginning of June.

She admits that it’s been difficult to combine her studies with filming because she was having so much fun on set!

‘I got very carried away with my Harry Potter life and we did have school but I didn’t study. I just had fun. After all the school I missed I have so much work to catch up on.

‘I just have to do solid work now and that is hard because there are so many distractions. I think it’s just because it’s my first film, hopefully on the next one I can balance the two worlds a bit.

It’s a year since we did our interview with you, has your life changed much since then?

Yes and no. While I was in London it was completely upside-down.  I got a whole new life and it was a challenge to keep in touch with my life in Ireland, but it was great fun.  Now though, I’ve been back home since November and gradually all connections with my HP life have been fading.  It’s gotten to the point where I feel like it was a dream because everything has gone back almost exactly to how it was before it all happened.  It’s possible to forget and it’s only when someone asks ‘when’s the movie coming out?’ that I remember ‘oh yes, that’.

How much time have you spent filming in England?

I was there from March to May and then September to November.

What has that been like?

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).

Which actors / actresses have you gelled with the most?

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.

Was it nerve-wracking on those first days of filming?

Yes, extremely. 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 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.

The film is due to be released in July. Have you stopped filming?

Yes, we stopped in November.

Are there many similarities between yourself and Luna Lovegood?

Yes, quite a few. 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.

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.

The new Harry Potter book, ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’ is due out in July. Have you any idea what is going to happen in this book and what is ahead for Luna? Do you know what the Deathly Hallows refers to?

I know some things about what is ahead for Luna so I can’t give you my ideas there . . .  Deathly Hallows, well, none of us (‘us’ meaning the fans, we’re a community ) know, but we have theories.  My favourite theory is that it refers to the veil in the Department of Mysteries.  All Hallows Eve is the time when the ‘veil’ between the two worlds is at it’s thinnest.  I think Harry will have to go through the veil for some Horcrux-hunt related reason and he’ll have to get to understand death more and he may meet Dumbledore because apparently JKR told Dan that DD was giving her ‘trouble’.  Also JKR is always emphasising that there are worse things than death and I think it would be very like her to trick us like that, so that Harry is ‘dead’ but we’re still with him, death isn’t the end.

Most people think that he either lives or dies but I like the idea that it’s an in-between.  We would have the best of both worlds because we’d still be with Harry and he’d destroy all the horcruxes and also Jamie from mugglecast would have to eat 50 sausages (a mugglecast joke).  To ‘hallow’ also means ‘to consecrate, to make holy’ and that makes me think of exorcism and that maybe Harry will have to ‘exorcise’ the horcruxes.  I don’t have much faith in this theory though because I don’t think JKR wouldn’t like to make religious references. So, yes, the veil I think.

There is much media speculation in Ireland this week that Warner Brothers is looking to shoot a large number of scenes of the next Harry Potter film in Ireland. Would that excite you?

Yes, I would love that. I think some of the cliffs in Ireland would be very beautiful for The Cave chapter.  There would also be some great spots for Dumbledore’s funeral. Needless to say I would be watching every day even if it wasn’t a Luna scene!

Has appearing in ‘The Order of the Phoenix’ lived up to your expectations?

Yes, but in a different way to what I expected. I thought I would be reliving Order of the Phoenix but it wasn’t like that at all.  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.

But I made so many good friends and met so many interesting people and I didn’t expect that at all.  I didn’t think I’d fit in as well as I did but I had the best time with all those people and I looked forward to it everyday.  It didn’t matter whether it was a Monday morning or a Saturday morning, I loved either.

Are you looking forward to seeing how HP fans will react to the movie or are you nervous?

Both, I suppose. 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.

I believe that the premiere is in London. Who will be accompanying you to that? Are you excited about going?

I don’t know yet who’s accompanying me. Of course I’m excited!  It will be amazing to be on the other side of the barrier this time.  For the last premiere I was watching the actors arriving live through a link on mugglenet and it will be so odd this time to be there also arriving with them.

Have you found it difficult to combine your filming with studying for your junior cert?

Yes, very, very hard. I got very carried away with my HP life and we did have school but I didn’t study, I just had fun.  So now I find it very hard to motivate myself to do work. And after all the school I missed I have so much work to catch up on.  I just have to do solid work now and that is hard because there are so many distractions.  I think it’s just because it’s my first film, hopefully on the next one I can balance the two worlds a bit.  I’m grateful it’s the Junior Cert because it won’t really affect the future much. But I’m studying hard now, I do want to do well.

Finally have you any behind the scene secrets to reveal. In our last interview you said that you were looking forward to finding them out!

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.

Source: Drogheda News

EVANNA LYNCH, the 14-year-old local girl who has just clinched the coveted role of Luna Lovegood in the next Harry Potter movie is living proof that dreams do come true.In a worldwide exclusive interview with the Drogheda Independent Evanna, a daughter of Donal and Marguerite Lynch from Termonfeckin, has revealed how she turned to the Harry Potter books to escape from the stresses of everyday life.By Marie Kierans

EVANNA LYNCH, the 14-year-old local girl who has just clinched the coveted role of Luna Lovegood in the next Harry Potter movie is living proof that dreams do come true.

In a worldwide exclusive interview with the Drogheda Independent Evanna, a daughter of Donal and Marguerite Lynch from Termonfeckin, has revealed how she turned to the Harry Potter books to escape from the stresses of everyday life.

‘Sometimes I’m stressed and I’m sick of things and I need to forget about them for a while, so in Harry Potter you’re taken to this wonderful imaginary world where everything is so different,’ she said.

‘But also the main characters are completely real and modern so you can relate to them.’

A Harry Potter fanatic she dreamed of playing the role of Luna. She and her friends even made a recording of her acting out the part and sent it to Warner Brothers but without any success.

When Evanna read about the open auditions in London she knew she just had to go. ‘I knew if I didn’t I probably would regret it for the rest of my life’.

That life changed forever on January 23 last when Evanna was told via a phone call that she had won for part, beating 15,000 other young hopefuls.

‘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 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.’

Evanna is a second year pupil of Our Lady’s College Greenhills which became the focus of world media attention on Thursday morning when the official announcement was made by Warner Brothers that she had gotten the part.

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

Source: Drogheda Independent

Lucky Evanna Lynch won the part of Luna Lovegood in the Harry Potter films after beating thousands of girls at open auditions.

She chatted to Newsround’s Lizo Mzimba.

You’re a big Harry Potter fan. How long have you wanted to play Luna?

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

How difficult was it persuading your parents to let you come down to the audition?

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.

What were the auditions like?

It was mad it was, all the people, and it was really fun though because everyone was really excited. It was good.

Did I get to interview you in the queue or get close to interviewing you?

No you interviewed a girl two places in front of me!

What happened inside the audition?

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.

What happened the following week?

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.

What was the screen test like and when did you find out you’d got the part?

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.

What was it like when you finally found out you had this dream part of playing Luna who you always wanted to play?

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.

You had to keep it a big secret didn’t you, how difficult was that?

It was fine. 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.

What was it like on the day it was announced you had the part, how did your life change?

It was mad. 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.

What’s filming been like so far?

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.

How similar are you to Luna and why do you think people like her so much?

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.

Do you ever look at the Harry Potter internet fan sites to see what people think of you?

Well not about me. At first when it was announced I did check 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.

Are you looking forward to filming the fight scenes in the Ministry of Magic at the end of the film?

Yes very much. That’s going to be exciting. I was watching them building the set and it looks really good.

What was it like meeting JK Rowling, your favourite author?

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.

Are you a really big Potter fan then?

I’m a huge fan. So it’s not just like I wanted to be in a film. I wanted THIS part. I love the books – they make me feel happy. And it’s something to do as well because of all the fans sites you can talk to people about it. The books are about magic so you can escape all the world here, and also they’re about teenagers. They’re normal teenagers, but they’re magic, so you can still relate to them.

Tell me about your room and your pets

I redecorated my room recently. It’s orange and I put my favourite quotes from the books in turquoise. I have loads of posters but they’re too black so they make the room look really dark.

My cats – I have Luna who’s just had kittens recently and we called one of them Dumbledore. They’re nice but they’re not like their characters. I had a cat called Crookshanks but he died.

Source: CBBC Newsround

Drogheda’s new Harry Potter star Evanna Lynch talks exclusively to Marie Kierans.

What age where you when you first started reading Harry Potter?

I was eight, nearly nine. 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.

What drew you to the books, what is it about Harry Potter that appealed to you?

It’s difficult to say exactly. I read books to escape from my surroundings and to make me forget about my own troubles. And Harry Potter does that.

Sometimes, I’m stressed and I’m sick of things and I need to forget about them just for a while, so in Harry Potter you’re taken to this wonderful imaginary world where everything is so different and it’s refreshing but also the main characters are completely real and modern so you can relate to them, whereby they’re not fire-breathing monsters bent on conquering the universe-they’re normal teenagers, just in different situations.

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…

When and how did you hear that they were auditioning for the part of Luna?

Before I got the part I used to go on Mugglenet (a Harry Potter fansite) every day and about four weeks ago I was checking the news and it said there were going to be open auditions for Luna Lovegood.

What inspired you to go and audition. Was it a spur of the moment decision?

No, 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.

And I was surprised when I read about the open auditions because WB had already said they had picked five finalists to play Luna so I thought the part was out of reach. So when I realised that Irish girls were allowed to go I knew that I was meant to go.

Were your family supportive and who accompanied you?

Well, they all 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.

The audition day in London, what was it like? Was it nerve-wrecking?

No, not nerve-wracking. I feel very close to Luna, so acting as her was just natural. 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.

We had to step forward and say our name and where we were from and then two ladies would pick one or two out of each line. After that we were told to go into another room and read over a script and try and learn it.

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.

What happened after you were called back. Is it true you had to do a screen test, what was that like?

Yes, I had a screen test a week later. 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.

How did you find out you got the part, and what feelings did you experience?

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.

Who were you able to tell before the official announcement?

No-one really! I found out on January 23 and the official announcement was made on February 2.

How did you manage to keep it a secret?

I had to keep it quiet for days and pretend everything was normal which was hard considering my dream had just come true and each day my friends would ask was there any news. So, when I went home that day I had to study for my French test as if everything was normal!

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!

Would you encourage other girls to follow their dreams?

Of course! 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.

When do you start filming and how long will it take?

Well, for me it doesn’t start until March but some of the actors are already back. The filming goes from February til October but I won’t be constantly filming the whole time. Some months are heavy, others not so much. Filming is completely off for June because some of the actors have exams.

How do you feel about moving to London, will anyone accompany you there?

Can’t wait! I love London. I’ll be back regularly though. It’s not like I’m going ’til October. During the months I’m there a lot I’ll stay but when there’s only a few days I’ll be back a lot. I have to get a chaperone over there. I don’t know much about it yet. But my mum and dad won’t be coming because they have jobs, my brothers and sisters, their own lives.

What are you looking forward to the most?

Just playing Luna. 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. And, 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!

How have your school friends in Greenhills reacted. Did you expect such a media frenzy?

My friends are great. They’re happy for me and they were all so excited when I told them. Yes, I was given a hint after I saw the 15,000 people queue at the auditions that there would be excitement. And because I’m a fan, I was vaguely aware what it would be like. Still, it was a shock to be on the news.

Is there anything you’ve read about yourself that you would like to correct?

Not any lies really, no. 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.

And you have to remember that this is not how Luna will look in the film at all. So I ask that you please wait and reserve judgement ’til after you’ve seen the film. I promise to work hard to do a good Luna!

Is it true that you have a cat called Luna, named after the character you are about to play?

Yes. She has huge eyes like Luna. Otherwise, she’s nothing like her though.

What appeals to you about the character Luna?

It’s like how I was saying before about the books making you forget everything around you and taking you somewhere else.

Luna does that. 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.

They need them for support and feel insecure without them but because Luna is so comfortable with herself, this doesn’t bother her. She is the perfect role model.

Are you excited about filming alongside Daniel Radcliffe?

Yes. Wouldn’t you be? He’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.

Source: Drogheda Independent

WITH Celebrity Big Brother rumours and tales of hungry hacks flashing large cheques, it certainly wasn’t an average day for the Greenhills’ girls last Thursday.

For those who hadn’t heard on the grapevine, that Evanna Lynch had won a part in Harry Potter: The Order of The Phoenix, it was only when they arrived at school that the news broke.

Within minutes of the doors opening at the modern school, hordes of reporters and photographers descended, although they were kept at a distance from the teenagers.

The talented second year student herself was spotted being escorted around the leafy school grounds by two burly security guards, who looked more like part of a rock star’s entourage than protection for a 14-year-old.

The Big Brother connection came from Lizzie Butterly (13), who said she had been told that one of Evanna’s bodyguards had just finished working on the Channel 4 television show.

‘Both of them were huge men, both tall and wide, and we were told that one of them had just finished guarding the celebrities during the Celebrity Big Brother show,’ said the Togher girl.

The rumour mill, always a hotbed of gossip at any teenage school, went into overdrive during the long school day.

Milling around the gates as the day ended, dozens of girls, joined by a few boys from St Joseph’s CBS, seemed dazed by the attention of the world’s media.

It had been an unreal day according to Nicole Byrne from Ballypark. The 14-year-old said she had been told that one of Evanna’s friends had been offered money by reporters who were looking for information.

‘They were shouting through the front gates and one said that she could have e1,000, if she just told them exactly where the Lynch family lived.’

The hysteria of some of the press pack seemed to have rubbed off on some of the older girls.

They would not speak to the Drogheda Independent claiming they had been told (by other reporters) that they would get in trouble if they did.

Principal Padraig Byrne certainly had no problem speaking to the local paper and although he seemed tired, he was happy that his school had coped with the fuss of the day.

Then he gathered together a group of first and second year girls and headed back inside the school to get ready for the next normal school day.

Source: Drogheda Indendent