February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
A huge fan of the novels on which the magical movies are based, Lynch says she always adored the character of quirky Hogwarts student Luna and was desperate to play her when she heard auditions were being held for the role in the fifth installment in the movie series “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.”
Now 17, the Termonfeckin, Co. Louth native is busy promoting her second “Potter” outing, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” which topped the box office charts in its first week of release. She will also be seen in the series’ two-part closing chapter, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” to be released in 2010 and 2011.
“I was a really, really big fan the whole time, Lynch told the Irish Echo in a recent phone interview. “I started reading the books when I was about eight years old. My mom was trying to get me to read something different. I was reading the ‘Babysitter’s Club’ and all those little girl books . . . but then I started reading [“Harry Potter”] and I just got hooked.
“I never loved something as much as I love ‘Harry Potter,'” she continued. “Always, I would read [them] and they would make me happy — it changed my life! . . . ‘Harry Potter’ is [something you can] grow along with. I think that’s what people have done, especially [teens] around my age.”
The actress reportedly beat out 15,000 other girls for the chance to play Luna in the movie versions of her favorite fantasy novels.
“It was crazy,” Lynch recalled. “[But] I wasn’t all the time thinking: Look at all these people. Look, the world wants it. It was within two weeks that I heard about the part and got it. But it felt like it was an amazingly long time before because I had been such a big fan of the books and [Luna.] I tried to send letters and tapes to [the filmmakers] so I wasn’t so daunted by all the people. No matter how many people audition for something, there’s always going to be just one person and everyone has just as good a chance, if they’re the right person for the part.”
So, what made Lynch feel such a connection to the character?
“It was very specific. I always thought I would never turn down any part in ‘Harry Potter,’ but when the fifth book came out [with Luna in it] I just knew. I just loved her. Not that I thought we were really similar. I just understood her and I found her really inspiring and I thought I could play her well and I wanted to prove that.”
Lynch said acting in the films, thus far, has lived up to her expectations.
“Being such a ‘Harry Potter’ fan, I thought it would be like re-living the books and it wasn’t that, obviously. You can’t recreate that,” she noted. “It was different in that I met so many great, amazing people and it opened so many doors. I just feel like I’m part of something to be proud of. . . It’s definitely been a dream come true.”
Lynch admitted she still gets a little thrill each time she returns to the “Potter” set.
“It’s just nice to come back — it’s like a family,” she said. “I think everyone knows how lucky they are to being doing this and they love the books and the films — me especially! I never get tired of it.”
Asked how life has changed since she has become a movie actress, Lynch said that her family is amused more than anything else.
“It’s like another world,” she laughed. ” When you’re here and working and at the peak of it all, it’s really exciting and you can get caught up in it. But then you go home and you’re the same again. My family, they love it, but they know I haven’t changed because they know me all the time. The same with my friends, too. They like to hear all the news and what’s going on when you’re filming. It’s only really people who don’t know you who are fascinated by it. My town is so small and everyone sort of knows. It’s weird. Even at school, some of the new students will ask for your autograph and it’s bizarre because I feel so normal at home and it hasn’t changed, but I’m jolted back to reality when someone asks for an autograph. I’m like, ‘Oh, yeah, there is that film life, as well.'”