Evanna Lynch was a Harry Potter fan long before landing the role of Luna Lovegood in the film franchise. So, meeting Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint on set for the first time was a bit overwhelming, to say the least.
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“Emma was always so nice to me and made an effort to get to know me and make me feel at home, which was a huge deal coming from her. And because I was such a big Harry Potter fan, I was very nervous around those three and intimidated by them,” Lynch, 29, exclusively told Us Weekly. “And I used to be in the car on the way to set, kind of rehearsing conversations I’d have with them. And obviously, the conversations never worked out like that. I was so nervous. So, I just remember her being really kind and making a lot of effort to make me feel at home.”
Lynch’s Luna struck up a special bond with Harry Potter (Radcliffe) in J.K. Rowling’s books. The Boy Who Lived invited her as his plus-one to Professor Slughorn’s party, they both — unlike others — can see Thestrals because of their experience with death and Luna wore a full lion hat headpiece to cheer on the Gryffindors at Quidditch matches.
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“I really liked the scene in the woods with the festivals because that was one of my first ones and it was on location. So it was big and sort of an adventure. And we were all in this very peaceful, beautiful woods together. And it’s just a quiet moment between the characters,” Lynch told Us. “And I think up until that point, Harry’s been sort of seeing her as this odd [person] to avoid. And then they have this moment and I think he sees, ‘Oh, there’s more to her. She has all this depth. And she’s actually been through some quite well, very sad things in her life.’ And that’s when their relationship and their friendship develops. I love that scene.”
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Luna was an intricate part of Dumbledore’s Army and shared the screen with Radcliffe, 31, Watson, 31, and Grint, 32, when Bellatrix Lestrange (Helena Bonham Carter) killed Dobby. There were countless times, however, when Lynch would spend time with the other cast while the leads worked in front of the camera.
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“The thing is they were always working every day on set. The rest of us, we’d have breaks and we’d be off getting to know each other and playing games and stuff,” she explained.
Lynch joined the franchise in 2007’s Order of the Phoenix. The final scene she ever filmed was during the Battle of Hogwarts in 2011’s Deathly Hallows: Part 2.
“That was good because it was like a very climactic scene because on other movies, you know, you’d want it to be that, that they finished. But then it would be like just a very random shot of like your hand or something. You can just be like, ‘Oh, this is such a disappointing finish.’ But it was during Battle of Hogwarts and we were all standing there and there was the scene where the death eaters, Voldemort’s crew, were facing off against all of us at Hogwarts basically,” she explained to Us. “I didn’t have much to do. I was just standing there fighting off death eaters. But it was just nice to feel like part of a team, part of a family. And when they said cut everyone hugged each other. And there was a sense of joy, euphoria, sort of tinge of sadness. Very much sort of sweet. I wasn’t ready for it to end, so I didn’t, I just kind of pretended it was another day on set. I definitely cried, but I didn’t cry until I went to say goodbye to the producers in the office. To me, that’s when it was like, ‘Oh, this journey is ending.’ That was that last day.”
The cast has remained close since filming wrapped, often sharing their reunions on social media. Some — including Grint, Scarlett Byrnes, Jessie Cave and Devon Murray — have become parents since leaving Hogwarts behind.
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“I haven’t seen his daughter. I heard he is a father,” Lynch said of Grint. “It’s very hard to imagine! I’d say he’d be a wonderful dad and unusual dad. Scarlett, who played Pansy Parkinson, she has a baby. She was pregnant throughout the whole pandemic and now she’s a mom and I haven’t met her daughter — just over FaceTime. I think it’s the same for everyone, that people are going through big life shifts and changes, but a lot of us are not there to witness it. It’s gonna be such a shock to meet her again and to meet her as a mother.”