TF meets Dumbledore's Army: Luna Lovegood

How did you feel to be on the set of Harry Potter after being such a big fan?

I was just very wide-eyed, I wanted to take in everything, and I wanted eyes all around my head. I just love it.

Is it how you imagined it would be?

Yes it was. I was a very serious fan so it was fun to see everything with my own eyes and to see bits of Hogwarts just strewn around the place. Although they don’t film it in sequence, which I didn’t know, and to see the difference between the characters and the people who played them was a bit of a shock.

When you say you were a serious fan, how serious do you mean?

Huge. It is my main interest, like my brother has sport and my sister has music and mine is Harry Potter. I always say I wish we could study it in school because then I wouldn’t have to do any homework.

How does it feel to be acting out things that you’ve read so many times?

It’s so weird because, I used to play it out with my friends and now when I hear one of the actors say one of the lines my friend would say, I just laugh because it seems so strange.

Is it quite overpowering to be in this world that you love so much?

Yes, the first two weeks I went from doing homework and just boring things at home to being with all of the cast. They were a very fast two weeks. I’m getting more used to it now. People say ‘ok, you’re coming in and you’re going to be fighting a death eater’ and I’m like ‘yes, ok’.

Seeing as you are such a big fan, how did you feel when you got the part?

I was very stunned, I got over it kind of quickly though because I didn’t hear about it for two weeks and I had been dreaming about it for so long that after a while I was like yes, cool, I’ve got it and I was quite calm about it.

You described Harry Potter as your hobby. Now it’s your job, is it still your hobby as well?

Yes definitely. It’s great I can live it and even make money out of it.

But you must be so well up on it you put the other actors to shame…

Yes! I know all their lines.

Do you try to pinch things when you are on set?

Yes, you can try it but you won’t get away with it. I tried it with wands and Luna has some amazing clothes that I wanted. They have about five of everything but they’re so worried you’ll show it off to people that you won’t ever get away with taking it. When you’re going off set, you would stand in line and they would take your wand off you, but sometimes they would be distracted, talking to someone, and you would run off set with it, but they always come and find you.

Did you get any special Harry Potter gifts that the rest of the crew got?

I did, I got casting crew t-shirts and that was cool, I was like, yes, I’m part of this! And we had bags saying Order of the Phoenix. I carry that around school and I’m very proud of it.

How do you think you’ll feel when you see yourself on screen?

Well I’ll be so excited just to see the film, as always. But I’m not sure, I’m a bit worried that I’ll think I didn’t do well enough.

Do you have a favourite of the films?

They’ve all been great but I think Prisoner of Azkaban is my favourite. It was the most artistic of them, people always go by the books too much when choosing their best film, but I think that one really changed the mood. I liked seeing that different take on the films.

Have you got your premiere dress sorted out yet?

It’s under construction. I usually make a Harry Potter t-shirt to go to the premieres, last year I had one with flame sleeves for the Goblet Of Fire. But I couldn’t do that this year so my mum said how about a Harry Potter dress? So that’s what’s happening.

Will it be strange being the other side of the barrier?

Yes, so strange. I can remember last year, I had to do my homework really quickly so that I could watch it online. It will be so strange to be there.

What’s the reaction been like back home, from your family and friends?

Oh ,very nice. Everyone was very excited, they could believe someone from Termonfeckin could be in it, they said ‘no, that’s not what we do here!’ They’re all kind of used to it now.

Are you with these films for the rest of the journey?

I hope so, if they ask me back.

There are so many online fan sites that you used to visit regularly, do you still?

Yes, everyday. I’m in school, bored and I get home and I always know there’s my little net there and I’m always excited about what will be on those sites.

Where will you be when the new book is released?

I’m not sure, I think I’ll go to England because in Ireland they’re not as hardcore as the English and Americans, so I’d like to come over here and be where all the excitement is. I’m waiting to see what JK does, because last time she went up to Edinburgh, so if she does that again, I’ll probably go there.

Have you met her?

Yes twice. She was really nice and there’s also something really mysterious about her.

Being a huge fan, how were you when you first met Dan?

I was calm on the outside, but inside I was screaming and jumping, I couldn’t say anything I was just watching him. It was strange to see him moving in front of me and see that he was a real person.

So is he just Dan now or still Harry Potter?

I think I will always be like, ‘oh there’s Harry’. But now he’s mostly Dan. At first I called everyone by their character’s name and I was quite stubborn about that. If they were doing something out of character, like if Tom (Draco Malfoy) said ‘oh I was just talking to Dan’, I’d say, ‘no, you weren’t talking to Dan, you don’t like him’.

What was it about Harry Potter that made you become such a fan?

It was escaping from normal life, it was fantasy. They were magical but they were really normal and you think of wizards and witches to be odd people who live in huts and are really lonely. But they’re just like everyone else, but with this magical power.

Have there been any disappointments being on the film?

The only thing is getting to know that the actors aren’t like their characters and I had this image that it was Hogwarts, just in a different place. I learned very quickly that they are very different and I tried to preserve it for a long time saying no, it is Hogwarts.

If you suggest something on set, you could have influenced this thing that you love so much…

Yes, that’s nice. Maybe I’ll be stronger in the next one and speak up more. Bonnie and me were saying maybe the six of us could direct the next one! But I don’t think that will happen.