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In Paper Magazine’s ‘Girl Crush’ series, women get together for conversations that offer a glimpse into what is it like to be a woman in contemporary society. On 18th of February, Paper published a conversation article by feminist scholar Bell Hooks and Emma Watson, in which they share their inspiration for each other, discuss how they became feminists and what feminism means to them.

Hooks, a cultural critic whose career so far has focused on writing about women and representation in media, recounts her experience of watching Harry Potter movies, saying:

“I was fascinated by the character of Hermione. It was both exciting and at times infuriating to watch the way the character of Hermione developed and to see this vibrant image of a girl who was just so intelligent, who is such a thinker, then to also witness that that intelligence was placed in the service of boy power. Even so, it remains an important representation for girls.”

In reply, Watson recounts her own experience of “getting to know” Hermione, stating that as an 8-year-old student “whose hand shot up to answer the questions”, she was able to identify with Hermione, adding that “the character of Hermione gave me permission to be who I was.” 

Watson and Hooks go on to discuss Hermione’s character development, the representation of intelligent older women in movies, feminist literature, feminist stereotypes and the problems related to communication in media. Hook praises Watson’s work, saying “Emma, you are such a perfect ambassador. You have such a global presence.”

Watson, who has decided to take a year away from acting, explains her decision by saying that she wants to focus on her own personal development through reading and personal education. She points out to all the experience she gains from her work, saying “I want to listen to as many different women in the world as I can.” When posed with the question “If you could give females, women, one thing in this world towards this vision of female liberation and power, what would it be?”, Watson answers by saying that she wishes it would be easier for women to learn self-love and to get rid of self-critiquing.

If you are worried of not hearing about Emma Watson during her break of acting, you can stop worrying! While she might be on a break from making fictional appearances, she is heavily focused on her HeForShe campaign through organizing a HeForShe arts week, a university and launching a HeForShe website.

For more about Emma Watson’s break from acting, see these articles by Vanity Fair and Vulture.

The 2016 BAFTA Film awards took place in the U.K. last night, at London’s Royal Opera House. Stephen Fry hosted the event, and Eddie Redmayne, Dame Maggie Smith, Julie Walters were also in attendance, with nominations in the Leading Actor, Leading Actress and Supporting Actress categories respectively.

Dame Maggie Smith also got caught on the kiss cam (see below), with none other than Leo DiCaprio! After the initial shock she pulled him in for a lovely hug – probably the most adorable kiss-cam we’ve seen (Stephen Fry called it “a marriage made in heaven”:

Giving a shout-out to Dame Smith in his opening speech, Stephen Fry joked  “If she were any more of an institution, she’d have railings around her!” – we can’t help but agree!

Eddie Redmayne also presented the award for Best Supporting Actress (which went to Kate Winslet). Radio Times caught him on the red carpet, where he spoke about the event’s hype:

“There’s still an adrenaline buzz and an excitement that comes. You give your everything and hope people enjoy it so when you get to these things you hope people have seen the films.” 

They also reported on the winner’s press conference, in which Julie Walters admitted to losing her (expensive) earring:

“Julie Walters has been backstage in the winners press conference, discussing her role in the Brooklyn TV spin-off and the worrying misplacement of her earring on the way up to the stage. Apparently it’s borrowed and worth more than her house!”

Halfway through the evening marked the time for a tribute to huge contributors to the film industry who have sadly passed away, which included a touching tribute to Alan Rickman, featuring clips from Harry Potter, Robin Hood and Truly Madly Deeply.

The award for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema went to Angels Costumes, who provided costumes for Harry Potter, along with James Bond, Pirates of the Caribbean and Star Wars.

Domhnall Gleeson presented the Best Film In a Foreign Language award, alongside Star Wars co–star, Carrie Fisher.

Leonardo DiCaprio gave a shout-out to Gary Oldman in his acceptance speech for Best Actor.

Though Maggie Smith and Eddie Redmayne may not have won Best Actress / Actor (losing out to Brie Larson of Room and Leonardo DiCaprio for The Revenant), Brooklyn – starring Julie Walters and Domhnall Gleeson – won the Outstanding British Film Award, whilst Star Wars: The Force Awakens (also featuring Domhnall Gleeson) won Best Visual Effects – congratulations!

Next up, the Oscars (28th February)! Eddie Redmayne is nominated for Best Actor, his film The Danish Girl is up for Costume Design and Production Design, whilst Julie Walters and Domhnall Gleeson’s Brooklyn is nominated for Best Picture and Adapted Screenplay.

Huffington Post and Hollywood Life have recently published two cast interviews with Matt Lewis, Rupert Grint, Evanna Lynch and Katie Leung following A Celebration of Harry Potter.

Rupert Grint thinks Hermione and Ron would be separated (if not divorced), none of them would overlook a role in Star Wars, and Rupert thinks Cursed Child made a huge mistake.

First up is Huff Post, and their representative really got the cast talking, giving a great introduction about the importance of breaking out of viewing these great actors as their characters:

“What I enjoy as I sit down to speak with the group is how much these adults are unlike their characters (except for maybe Lynch, who is still delightfully Luna Lovegood-esque). It seems obvious, but we’ve such a tendency to want to lock actors into their iconic roles. It is challenge breaking out of that, especially when you’re remembered as being a cute, or awkward, or weird, or chubby kid on screen. Yet each has grown up, and gone on to other acting gigs and new pursuits.”

This interview gave a broad sweep of the actor’s opinions on Fantastic Beasts, their characters, further roles in big franchises and more!

On giving advice to Fantastic Beasts and Cursed Child cast members: 

Matt Lewis: I don’t know how much advice I could ever give anyone. The people who have been cast, as far as I’m aware of, are very, very experienced. They don’t need any advice from me. But I guess just enjoy it. It has been a hell of an experience for me, and everything associated with it: the people, the fans, the environment. It was a good gig to be on! Just enjoy it because there’s nothing else like it, literally in the world. It is unique.

Rupert Grint: I think it’s going to be a very different film, I think. I don’t know much about it, but as Matthew said, just enjoy it. Go with the flow.

Evanna Lynch: I’d say trust David Yates, as well. He always knows better on the film. Sometimes I would go, “Oh, I’m doing terrible, I’m messing up.” He would come along and suggest something tiny, and it would change everything. He is very clever. And he is the one who has transitioned from one to the other. He has the whole picture.

On involving themselves in any large-scale productions again:

Q: This was very much your childhood, and your job growing up. If you had the opportunity now to enter another franchise that would consume multiple years – like Lord of the Rings or Star Wars – would you be reluctant to join that production?

A:

Lynch: No. I loved it. I love the family feel, and the idea you can get deeper into your character over a year. I have been on films that were just three or five weeks, and sometimes I’ve been like, damn, I’d only just started to get into it. It was nice to have something you could develop it, and learn and grow alongside your character. And I just loved the family thing. I got very comfortable there.

Lewis: Hey, if Star Wars come knocking on the door tomorrow, I’m not going to go, “Um no, guys, I’m sorry, I don’t want to do four films, it’s fine.” No, of course not. I’d think about it, and I love Star Wars, etc. But there would definitely be a bit of trepidation in joining a big franchise again for that amount of time. Just simply because I’m really enjoying the diversity of the roles I’ve been given recently. Playing a character is great, but I love the process of finding someone, finding a character, creating and drawing it up. And trying to figure out what makes that person tick. When you do something for however many years, it can start to become – I don’t want to say mundane because it was never boring on the films. But you kind of lose that spark a little bit you get in that first day of school, or on a new job. It is exciting. And I’ve gotten that so often in the last couple years, I’d be reluctant to give that up.

Leung: I kind of agree with Matt. If it goes on for any longer than a certain period of time, you do get really comfortable and feel very safe. Having done all the projects after Potter, it has been a few weeks, a few months for a project. You do really get to know a character, and it is wonderful knowing that, once you stop filming or being on stage and being that character, it essentially dies. So I quite like that. Of course, it depends who the character is you’re going to be playing. But yeah, if it’s Star Wars …

Lewis: Star Wars is welcomed.

Grint: I don’t know. I don’t think it’s put me off. There’s pros and cons. Harry Potter could be at times quite suffocating. It did take up our whole lives. So yeah, I suppose there would be tiny bit of reluctance. Now that I’m out of it, I can see beyond it and it’s nice to have a real life, and do things you want. There’s a lot of freedom in that. But yeah, I think it all depends on the material.

Who knows – maybe a role as another Resistance pilot, or as a key character to unveiling Rey’s mysterious past will come up. Make it happen, Disney!

The Huff Post representative also asked where they’d like to think their Potter characters will be in the future.

As we know, Ron and Hermione were married with two children (Rose and Hugo) at Nineteen Years Later, all of whom attended the 427th Quidditch World Cup in 2014. Ron and Hermione’s relationship seems to be going well – that is, unless you take Rupert Grint’s word for it:

Grint: [laughs] I would expect Ron has probably divorced Hermione already. I don’t think that relationship would have done very well.

Lynch: What?!

Like living in his own, low-rent bachelor pad?

Grint: Yeah. Exactly. He’s living on his own, in a little one-bedroom apartment. He hasn’t got a job.

Lynch: Don’t say divorced. Say they’ve split up. They can reconcile.

Grint: Yeah, they’re briefly separated.

Ron is on Tinder doing horribly…

Grint: Yeah!

Lewis: Living in a one-bedroom studio apartment all alone, doing nothing. He lives in Kings Cross, right in that area.

Evanna took a more career-related view for Luna, and we can definitely see this happening:

Lynch: I think Luna would have an adventure documentary series. She becomes a naturalist, and I think she’d travel the world and have a show. I could be a wildlife narrator.

Like a David Attenborough of the wizard world?

Lynch: Yeah, and she would prove all her creatures exist. Everyone is so dubious of her, and I’d like her to show they’re real.

Anybody else want this to become a mini-series?!

Katie Leung had aspirations for her character – we love her no-nonsense view of Cho:

Katie Leung: I reckon Cho would probably have become a really successful entrepreneur, and really cold and ruthless.

Lynch: Oh my god! [laughs]

[Interviewer] I like this. 

Leung: Yeah, she’s cried all the tears she could cry, and now she’s become real cold and heartless.

Lewis: This is dark! I love this!

[Interviewer] What kind of entrepreneur? She runs a tech company? Or a developer who tears down bachelor pads like Ron’s?

Leung: Yeah, yeah, that! Exactly.

Lynch: Oh…

Matthew Lewis bases his on information he received from J.K. Rowling herself, and even works Rupert’s view of Ron into his vision:

Lewis: Oh god. Neville works at the school, right? So he’s a professor, just enjoying that. Maybe he’s trying to get Ron a job, man. And he keeps throwing it back in his face, like, “I don’t need your help, Neville; Jesus, just leave it.” And I’m like, “Come on, it’s fine, we’ll sort it out, just trying to get you back into the fold.” Yeah, him and Hermione don’t see eye to eye because I’ve taken Ron’s side in the relationship, obviously. They’ve got everyone split off, friends wise. I don’t know who you guys chose? Did you choose Hermione?

Lynch: Ron!

Leung: No, Ron.

Lewis: Are you Ron as well? Jeez, Hermione is thin on the ground with friends!

Leung: Well, I’ll go with Hermione, then.

Lynch: I think Ron would need more help. Hermione would handle herself better.

Grint: Yeah, he’s in a bad way.

[Interviewer] But Ron could have a job as a replacement for Mr. Filch

Grint: Yeah!

Lewis: Yeah, I’ll get you in as the caretaker of the school, man. We’ll sort it out. Don’t worry about it.

Grint: Just get me out there. Just get me out of the house.

Lynch: And we’ll get you back together.

Read the full interview here!

Hollywood Life‘s interview focussed on J.K. Rowling’s newest endeavour: Cursed Child. Rupert Grint thinks they’ve made a huge mistake!:

“Um yeah, I think they made a huge mistake in not casting me,” 

He reportedly said, but of course he was joking – we’re all sure Paul Thornley is going to do an amazing job!

 “No, no. I think it’s going to amazing, that it’s going on, and I can’t wait to see it.”

In a similar vein to his interview with MTV, Matthew Lewis spoke about feeling like his role as Neville was complete:

“I feel like the story arch that Jo wrote and that we tried our best to put on screen was a complete one,”

“I took that journey and finished it the way I wanted to. He will always hold a fun place in my heart, but I don’t feel like there is more that I can do with Neville. I’m happy to leave him.”

Evanna Lynch, however, has something to say about not being cast!:

“I don’t feel that way at all …  As happy as I am that they are exploring the universe and that there are new stories in the universe, I’m so angry I’m not a part of it…100% I’d go back and do more.”

Read the full Hollywood Life interview here. 

So there you have it – Evanna will soon be portraying a Resistance Pilot, the Wizarding World’s very own David Attenborough, and a West End star (kidding, unfortunately). 

You can read more about cast interviews from A Celebration of Harry Potter here and here!

News on Matt Lewis’s (Neville Longbottom) new role in BBC One’s popular dramatic TV series, Happy Valley, is starting to emerge. Radio Times gave insight into the second season of Happy Valley, which is to make its season premiere next week, February 9, at 9:00 PM.

We’ve noticed that new mustache on Matt’s up lip, and it has already made its appearance in his role as Sgt. Drum Drummond in Ripper Street. Pictures released by Radio Times show that the ‘stache is staying, and will also star as apart of Matt’s character in Happy Valley.

Matt is joining the Happy Valley cast with another face that is familiar to Harry Potter fans. Shirley Henderson, who plays Moaning Myrtle in the Harry Potter series, will be joining ranks with the killer Sarah Lancashire’s Catherine Cawood is hunting for. Matt will be playing a character named Sean Balmforth.

Not much is known about Matt’s character, Sean Balmforth. The BBC recently released an extended media pack full of interviews with the cast, including Matt, who offered a little insight into his new character. The BBC interviews reported:

“Q: How would you describe your character?

“A: Sean has had a bad start in life and it’s defined him in ways that are out of his control. He’s not an alcoholic, as in he doesn’t need it to function but he is well on his way to becoming one. He’s angry and lost and finds it difficult to express his emotions which when coupled with his drinking can become a tinderbox.

“Q: Was your character challenging to play?

“A: It was tough to get into his mind. I can’t say too much without giving away parts of the story that we will discover along the way with Sean but he’s in a very dark place and it gets worse for him throughout. Getting into the mind of somebody like that with those problems and those thought processes was daunting. Luckily I had a superb cast and crew around to help out.”

Matt talked of his experiences on set, why he chose to take on this roll in Happy Valley, and being able to watch and learn from the show’s the two leading ladies.

“Q: What appealed to you about this project?

“A: Sally Wainwright and Sarah Lancashire. I hadn’t seen the first series until after I’d been cast but I knew the sheer talent involved in the project and how successful the first series had been. I’d worked with Sarah and Siobhan Finneran about 20 years previous and the chance to do that again was amazing. The opportunity to work with Sally and the complexity of the character she had created meant I couldn’t say no even if I wanted to.

“Q: Are there any anecdotes you can tell us about that happened during filming?

“A: There was a wonderful moment off set when the crew were setting up and Sarah and Siobhan were talking about a big scene they had coming up in a few days. Sarah half knew it and Siobhan hadn’t really looked at it. They decided to run it together and I feel so fortunate that I was there to watch it. It was a big scene, about ten pages or something and after about 4 or 5 pages Siobhan had gotten as far as she’d prepared. Sarah kept going and so Siobhan basically guessed what her character would say in the situation and it just fit. Every single time it fit and Sarah had a cue and was able to keep going with her dialogue. It was mind-blowing, they inhabit their characters so well and they work off each other like real sisters. It was such a pleasure to watch. I wasn’t there for the actual shooting of the scene a few days later but I bet it was a corker.”

 

As to the other Matt Lewis film and tv appearances we can look forward too,

“I shot a film for Warner Brothers called Me Before You a few months before Happy Valley so that’ll be out in 2016 and I’ve just finished a new season of Ripper Street which is also on in 2016. Filming on the next season of that starts late January so I’m growing my 19th century sideburns and moustache back as we speak.”

More on Happy Valley, including an interview with Shirley Henderson as she discusses her character, can be seen in the media pack, here, and on the Happy Valley BBC program web page, here. Thanks to MuggleNet for reporting the scoop. The trailer released for Happy Valley can be seen below.

Last Friday, IGN published an interview with Rupert Grint covering everything from his latest appearance in Moonwalkers to his attendance of A Celebration of Harry Potter next week. Entertainment Weekly published an interview on the same day, and extracts from both can be read below.

During the interviews, Grint spoke about working with Fantastic Beasts actor Ron Perlman – hopefully we can expect to hear more about Ron Perlman on the set of Rowling’s newest screenplay!:

IGN: You and Ron Perlman together is an interesting pairing. He seems like such an intense guy in his onscreen presence. What’s he like to work with?

Grint: I remember first meeting him. He’s such an imposing guy. He’s huge. He’s Hellboy! So I was kind of quite scared. He’s really sweet and hilarious and has so many stories. He’s hilarious and fascinating to be around and he’s really funny as well. You don’t really associate him with comedy but he was cracking us up, especially in that scene where he’s tripping acid. I remember it took us a few takes to get that right.

Much alike his recent interview with IMDb, Grint spoke about the differences of working on a huge budget film like Potter, to working on a smaller film like Moonwalkers:

IGN: Having worked on movies with big special effects sequences, was it fun to do a film where you’re purposefully trying to portray a goofy side to it, with these guys trying to pull this stuff off, bouncing around on wires, out of control?

Grint: Yeah, that was one of my favorite scenes, I think, was messing around with wires in an astronaut suit. We were surprised how easy it is to recreate the moon. It really did look very realistic. It was a very different experience from Harry Potter, but in a way I find it a lot more fun. it’s quite exciting. The story for this whole film is very spontaneous and had this crazy energy where you never knew what was going to happen next or what was around the corner so it was very exciting to work with.

He was also asked about his opinions on Fantastic Beasts and Cursed Child, and no longer being a part of the cinematic (and theatrical) process of building the Wizarding World:

IGN: The first teaser for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find them was recently released. Is it interesting for you now, having been a part of Potter for so long, to sit back and observe and just be a spectator?

Grint: It wasn’t a thing I had thought a lot about until now, when things kind of started to move. It’s a weird feeling but also it’s great. It’s an amazing testament to J.K. Rowling that it’s kind of living on even more. It’s exciting. I’m really looking forward to seeing it and it’s going to be really different. It’s a different perspective and a different side to the magical world. I’m looking forward to it. It’s an amazing cast. Ron’s in it – Ron Perlman! It’s very surreal but I’m looking forward to it.

IGN: I imagine it’s also pretty surreal for you that the Harry Potter play is happening. Again, it’s a testament to what Rowling has created, and there will probably be a lot of people that portray these characters down the line, but is it strange for you that someone else is playing Ron Weasley for the first time?

Grint: Yeah. It’s kind of weird. It will be very strange to watch. I’m looking forward to it. it’s very fresh and it feels like a new thing. It didn’t feel like that long ago we were filming the last film. it’s great that it’s living on. It’s all really exciting.

He also says he’s excited to be attending A Celebration of Harry Potter next week, and that he’s still astounded by the loyalty of Potterheads:

IGN: You’re appearing at and event at the Wizarding World in a couple of weeks in Orlando, and obviously see the fandom has not gone away. I’m guessing there were moments in the middle of it where it was a bit overwhelming. Now, in some ways, are you able to appreciate it a bit more?

Grint: Completely, yeah. When we were filming it, you don’t get a huge sense of that because you’re in that moment and it’s a laborious kind of routine. You get lost in that. Since we’ve finished, it’s really amazing to see how loyal [fans are] and people haven’t really forgotten about it, which is amazing. It makes you feel very proud to be a part of it. It’s great. I’m looking forward to Orlando. It’s great to see everyone still really excited and enthusiastic about it.

Rupert also spoke about the ‘unusual’ type of film Moonwalkers presented itself as, saying that he was surprised by the end result:

IGN: This is a fun, unusual concept. How did they first describe Moonwalkers to you and what was your reaction?

Rupert Grint: It kind of blew me away. It was just ridiculous. I had known about this conspiracy theory before because I’m into all manners of conspiracy and this just seemed like so much fun. I can really see it. I met the director [Antoine Bardou-Jacquet] and he’s crazy himself, very French, and he just had this vision. It was great fun. I was working with two amazing actors, Robert Sheehan, who I’d worked with before, and Ron Perlman, who was great. It was this crazy kind of two months in Belgium. It was good fun.

IGN: The film opens and it’s quirky comedy, but then it gets pretty intense on the action side. Is that appealing to you when a movie can take a quick veer like that?

Grint: I didn’t realize it was that violent until I saw the finished product. At no point was I concerned with how graphic some of the violence is, so it was quite a shock when I saw that. But yeah it just adds to the craziness and stupidity of it. it’s a lot of fun. It’s an hour and a half of mayhem.

During Entertainment Weekly’s interview, Rupert also discussed conspiracy theories, and how Moonwalkers make him feel differently about their plausibility:

“It felt really free and spontaneous,” Grint says. “We had the freedom to do what we wanted. You get that sense watching it that it was fun to make.”

Grint says he’s always been interested in conspiracy theories. Despite Moonwalkers’ obvious farcical aspect, he says it did make him think twice about the real life moon landing. The film, in fact, remains slightly vague about whether the actual moon landing was successful or not.

“The conspiracy was something I’ve always read a lot about, but I kind of dismissed it,” Grint says. “Filming this, it gave me a few second thoughts. Our fake moon was easy to make, and a lot of the film is pretty ambiguous either way. That’s quite a human instinct as well, coming to your own conclusions that not everything you’re told is real.”

Entertainment Weekly also discussed Rupert’s views on the extensions to the Wizarding World universe in their interview, and apparently it makes him ‘feel kind of old’ – we’re with him on that front – Deathly Hallows was finished by Rowling nine years ago last week, and this year marks the 15th anniversary of The Philosopher’s Stone!:

“It feels very strange not to be involved in that world anymore,” Grint says. “It’s nice to see it from a different angle. I think both projects are both kind of reinventing it. They kind of feel like their own things, which is really cool. It’s really amazing to see it move on and still be relevant to people.”

Grint, for one, is happy to see the franchise continue to stay relevant even after he has moved on.

“It makes you feel kind of old,” Grint says. “I never would’ve dreamed this. You thought people would just forget about it. I meet new people every day and see that new generations are discovering it. It makes you proud to have had a part in it. I’m really looking forward to the play, and the cast of Fantastic Beasts is amazing. It’s gonna be great.”

Read more from IGN’s interview here, and Entertainment Weekly’s article here. Make sure you see Moonwalkers – now out on Netflix, and watch out for more updates from A Celebration of Harry Potter!

Rupert Grint recently appeared in a comedy sketch with Tracey Ullman portraying Dame Judi Dench on The Tracey Ullman’s show. 

The sketch features a ‘Dame Judi’ and Grint on set, where Ullman’s Dame Judi Dench wrecks havoc upon Rupert’s iPad. You can watch the sketch below:

Rupert also made a rare social media appearance yesterday, when Alchemy and IMDb announced that he would be answering questions from the public through IMDb’s Twitter Account:

The first questions related to his role as Jonny in Moonwalkers, out on Netflix on January 15th:

There had to be questions about his role as Ron Weasley, of course!

Then a fan had a question about his fan club, which Rupert answered with the good news:

Others asked about Rupert’s past roles, future aspirations and his thoughts on acting:

Other questions were about his t-shirts, superstitions and favourite book and pizza toppings:

Catch the full interview on IMDb’s Twitter here, and be sure to watch Moonwalkers on Netflix from January 15th!

The latest issue of Britain’s GQ magazine was released today, and features Fantastic Beasts leading man, Eddie Redmayne, on its covers. Eddie has been deemed the best dressed man in the world by the magazine. The full article discusses “privilege, Harry Potter and LA parties,” but offered a few sneak-peek snippets about Eddie that would make anyone’s heart melt.

GQ’s website posted:

Eddie Redmayne on occasionally paying young actors’ rent

“The greatest privilege that I had was that my parents lived in London. So when I was out of university and out of work for a year, working in a pub, I didn’t pay rent. And I get letters from people trying to go to drama school and needing to pay their rent. And so that’s something I occasionally do. It’s impossibly expensive to live in London.”

Eddie Redmayne on the challenging acting roles he chooses

“I think people look at it and go, urgh, you want to try and do something transformational. And it’s not true – just, if you’re lucky enough in your lifetime to get two parts that are interesting and challenging to play, then it’s a privilege really.”

After those two teasers, if you would like to read the full article, the February edition of Britain’s GQ is available on newsstands and e-readers today (January 7)!

Daniel Radcliffe had the opportunity to sit for an interview with Italy’s Vanity Fair. The interview was a part of his extensive promotional campaign for his new movie, Victor Frankenstein. In Italy, the movie will be titled Victor – The Secret History of Dr. Frankenstein, and coming to Italy in April.

The article opens with Dan discussing the affects of his fame. With fame, he could name the precise moment his childhood ended and his adult life began. He had to grow up young. Roughly translating from Italian used in the article, Dan said:

“The first time I went to Japan to promote Harry Potter I was 11 and waiting for me at the airport, I found something like five thousand people “he says with his fast-talking, sitting in a hotel suite in London. “There were girls screaming my name, I touched it by mistake and fainted. For me, so small, it was an amazing thing, insane. At that moment I realized that my life had changed, and what it meant “to be famous. ‘”

To read more of Dan’s article, and the discussion of his character, Igor, in the new Frankenstein movie, read here.

Matt Lewis is lovingly known by all of us as Neville Longbottom. Quite understandably, after being known as our geeky hero for many years, Matt wants to be known as himself.

Matt Lewis sat down with the Evening Standard for an interview, and talked of his career post-Potter, the different directions he has gone, wanting to “mix it up” after doing a franchise for ten years, and those photos in his underwear (taken for June 2015 of Attitude magazine) that are still causing quite a stir.

The Evening Standard reports:

‘We are at the Soho Hotel to discuss his role in Ripper Street, the Victorian crime series that has been resurrected by Amazon Prime, as well his turns in police drama Happy Valley, and the film adaptation of Jojo Moyes’s novel Me Before You, out this summer, in which he plays a triathlete. 

‘This year’s roles appealed because “they were totally different”. “Having played the same character for 10 years I jump at every opportunity I have to mix it up. Going away to do Harry Potter was a bit of a ballache,” he continues in his deadpan Yorkshire accent, before realising this could sound brattish. “Don’t get me wrong, I sound like a twat. It was such an opportunity and there’s me going ‘I want to go to the pub with my mates’. That feeling disappeared. I realised I was doing an incredible job.” 

“I would never in a million years regret doing Harry Potter. I owe so many things in my life to it,” he says.

When Lewis revealed his newly ripped body to the world by posing topless on the front of Attitude magazine’s June 2015 issue, he received so much attention that he had to turn off his phone for three days. The worst comment was from Harry Potter author J K Rowling, he says. “She told me, ‘I’ll fully support you in everything you do, but next time keep your clothes on’. That was awkward.”‘

Matt went on to discuss more awkward moments. The lowest point in his Harry Potter career, Helena Bonham Carter accidentally puncturing his eardrum with a wand. Matt also discussed how his acting life began–even before Potter. He started very young, and even after Potter, took a few stage acting roles for a challenge. He didn’t know about the Harry Potter plays (Cursed Child), though. The Evening Standard wrote:

Lewis has been acting since he was five, following his older brother Anthony, who is also an actor, and has appeared in Casualty. They now live together near Alexandra Palace (“further north than Jeremy Corbyn’s constituency”).

“I assumed everyone acted when they grew up,” says Lewis. “I copied my brother on everything he did so I fell into it. I don’t remember deciding I wanted to act. My parents encouraged but never pushed.” 

After Potter finished he did a play “to learn my craft” and it took him four months to be given a good review: “I hadn’t appreciated there would be paying customers and it was a [job.] Suddenly I was out of my depth.”

Ripper Street appealed because, Lewis says, “I have a morbid fascination with serial killers. This show is about dramatic human stories that happen to be set in Victorian England. The first episode deals heavily with imperialism, immigration, Islam, murder, police corruption and all these things we are still talking about today. Man’s inhumanity to man is an interesting topic.”

Happy Valley is another police story, set in the present day but again with “horrible people doing horrible things”.

“Without sounding like a wanky actor, it was one of the toughest challenges I’ve ever undertaken. I had to go to some pretty dark places. I was strung up really tight.”

If Lewis has time he reads all his Twitter mentions “because if people are taking the time to write you a message the least you can do is read it. Jo Rowling has the same attitude.”

Matt goes on to discuss body image and of the pressure and lessons he learned from his Attitude magazine photos. He, a dream bachelor, even received a few marriage proposals. To read more about this discussion, his roles in his current television projects, and hobbies, please read the Evening Standard, here.

Yesterday, Herald Scotland released an interview with Natalia Tena, discussing Tena’s role as front woman of the band Molotov Jukebox, and her role as Tonks in Harry Potter and Osha in Game of Thrones.

In the run-up to the release of their second album (‘Tropical Gypsy’), Tena’s band (for which she sings and plays accordion) are playing a series of exclusive UK shows, and Tena talks about her choice of King Tut’s for their Glasglow venue tonight (1st December):

NME recently released their cover interview with Daniel Radcliffe – which is hilarious as usual – and definitely worth a read.

Here are a few extracts:

‘Bouncing into a huge wood-panelled conference room above the photography studio where he’s just been shot for NME’s cover, Daniel Radcliffe is presented with a cup and reaches for the sweeteners. “How many of these are you supposed to use?” he asks, merrily clicking little white pellets into his drink. Each of those is one sugar, we tell him. You’ve just given yourself seven sugars. “Oh, right,” he laughs. “Well, we’ll leave that then.”’

Radcliffe was asked about his choices in on-screen and stage appearances since Harry Potter. From The Woman In Black, Horns, Kill Your Darlings and The Young Doctor’s Notebook, to Equus, How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying and – most recently – ‘Igor’ in Victor Frankenstein (released December 3rd):

‘“No, I don’t really have mainstream tastes,” he says. “People do ask me, ‘Why do you choose such weird movies?’ but I don’t think they’re weird, they’re just stories I’m interested in. Isn’t having weird tastes good, though? I think so. I think that’s better than always wanting to play the handsome hero. You think I’m weird? I’ll take that.”’

Answering on expectations of his acting abilities after Potter, and on his appearance in studio films:

‘“I had a huge amount to prove [after Potter],” continues Radcliffe. “Proving that you can be a young actor and not be a complete f*****g disaster when you grow up. That is the – quite unfair I think – image that people have of young actors. There are a huge number of child actors who grow up fine. Always with my career in film, I saw Potter as an amazing beginning to it. I’m sure I’ll never hit that kind of commercial peak again but very, very few people will.” ‘

…

”Doing studio movies is fun because you get to do stuff that you mostly wouldn’t get to do on an indie movie, in terms of action. There is a part of me that, because I grew up doing it, loves that stuff and really misses it. Frankenstein was just the most interesting and original script I’d seen from a studio. It looked like fun to make, and it was.”’

Dan even commented on the first images of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them:

‘We meet on the day that the first images were revealed of Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them, the 1920s-set Potter spin-off that stars Eddie Redmayne as a magical explorer who collects bizarre creatures. Radcliffe hasn’t seen the pictures and jumps up to look at them on my phone, clocking Redmayne’s swishy cerulean coat and barking, “Oh f*** you, Eddie, in your brilliant costume… I got jeans and a zip top for 10 years and you’ve got a greatcoat already?”’

The prospect of anybody else playing Harry is strange to all of us (including Dan), but exciting at the same time – so exciting that Dan says he wants to wants to see Cursed Child:

‘What’s it like knowing someone else is going to play Harry? “It’s weird,” he says. “But I’m happy for it to go on without me. I’ve no ownership of it.” Would he go and see it? “Now that I know [Harry’s in it] I actually really want to see it. It would be a mental thing to try and see it with lots of very excited Harry Potter fans. But I kind of would like to know what happens now.”’

And – finally – touching words regarding the success of Harry Potter in continuing to inspire the world, and the part he plays in its influence:

‘He goes all wistful for a minute. “I’d always thought in the years after Potter finished that it would die down, but it’s just grown more because the people who were massive Harry Potter fans in their teens are now adults. So you meet them more. They’re not at home with their parents, they’re out in the world. It always amazes me when someone says what a huge part of their childhood it was. I still have a natural reserve that makes me go, ‘Oh don’t be so silly, I wasn’t responsible for your childhood.’ But I think about the stuff that means a lot for me from my childhood, like The Simpsons, and how, when I did a voice on The Simpsons I got a signed thing from Matt Groening and that was so f*****g exciting. The thought that I might occupy that space in somebody else’s childhood…”’

We’d definitely recommend reading the rest of the interview here!

Daniel Radcliffe will be joining the cast of the Now You See Me prequel, the first of which was a smash hit film in 2013.

In an interview with Buzzfeed, Radcliffe spoke about being in a movie that  involves “magic” again.

Now You See Me: The Second Act will be released June 10th 2016. Watch the teaser trailer here.

Radcliffe spoke about his past and current roles, ‘proving himself’ as an actor, his attachment to independent films and his personal life. The excerpts on Now You See Me: The Second Act are below:

What are the things that hook you in when you are looking for a movie now?

Daniel Radcliffe: In this one, there was definitely a challenge of creating a character that everyone has an impression of and thinks that they know, but trying to do something that is your own with it, and fits in this world that we’re creating. Somebody asked me the other day, “What’s more important to you: plot or character?” And I’d never really thought about it before, but it became apparent to me very quickly that plot is more important than character. I’d rather be a semi-interesting character in a fantastic story than [have] an incredible, showy part in a film that no one cares about, in a story that’s irrelevant. Ideally, I’d like both, obviously.

Now You See Me 2, what was attractive about that was the cast. The first movie’s really fun. It’s great. But, like, the thing that made me want to do it was the fact that I would get scenes with Mark Ruffalo and Michael Caine and Woody Harrelson and Jesse Eisenberg.

Will you be doing any magic in that movie?

DR: I don’t want say too much of what I’m doing, but I feel anyone who knows me generally will have known that I’m not going straight back into, like, a full-on magical role. I did get to learn a couple of cool card tricks, just from hanging around on set. But I don’t really have a reason to apply them in the movie.

When you were approached about that film, did a part of you think, Well, it’s about magic…?

DR: It didn’t. Like, it f***ing should. But it didn’t until later, and I was like, oh, it’s magic. Everyone’s going to ask about that. Oh well.

It’s funny. I don’t have as much of a sense of that as everyone else does. When I did Kill Your Darlings, the first scene in that film was me sweeping the floor, and I never fucking thought anything of that until somebody in an interview was like, “So, first scene, you’ve got glasses on and you have a broomstick.” I went, “Ugh.”

And then in Horns, you know, my character wore Gryffindor colors. I was like, I should have thought of that said, “Don’t do that!” But I don’t think about things like that. In a way, I’m glad I don’t think in those terms, because then I probably would have gone, “Oh no, I can’t do Now You See Me.” And I had a fantastic time on that movie.

Read the rest of the interview here!

Ice Cream Man recently highlighted the release of new Moonwalkers material on the film’s official Facebook page, including a new clip, stills and a promotional shoot.

The clip features Rupert Grint, Ron Perlman and Robert Sheehan – you can watch it here.

A brand new interview with Rupert Grint was also released on the Facebook page yesterday, which you can see at this link.

The plot of the film is as follows:

“What if Apollo 11 never actually made it? What if, in reality, Stanley Kubrick secretly shot the famous images of the moon landing in a studio, working for the US administration?

This is the premise of a totally plausible conspiracy theory that takes us to swinging sixties London, where a stubborn CIA agent (Ron Perlman) will never find Kubrick but instead is forced to team up with a lousy manager (Rupert Grint) of a seedy rock band to develop the biggest con of all time.”

They have also recently released a new still, again featuring Rupert, Ron, and Robbie:

You can view more stills in Ice Cream Man‘s gallery here.

Rupert also appears in a promotional shoot for the film (below):

The comedy is set to be released in Japan on November 14th. Watch the trailer here and some promotional clips here!

The Evening Standard have recently released an interview with the fantastic Julie Walters.

Walters (who played Molly Weasley in the Harry Potter films) features in Brooklyn alongside Saoirse Ronan and Domhnall Gleeson as boardinghouse landlady Mrs Kehoe. The film was released in the US on November 4th and the UK & Ireland today (November 6th). Watch the trailer below:

She attended the Burberry Festive Film Premiere on the 3rd November, alongside Victoria Beckham, Olivia Grant, James Bay and Ezra and others, remarking to the Standard: “Even when I was younger I never thought I’d be the star of a fashion campaign, let alone at my age. It’s rather marvellous.”

Walters spoke about her home life on a 300 acre estate with her husband (Grant Roffey) and daughter (Maisie), along with her choice to be more picky with new roles. She told the Standard:

“I’ve got a pair of tracksuit bottoms I’ve had for about 20 years I go out walking in with various old tops. It’s muddy — I walk through the woods and around the farm.

“I do love nice clothes but I never get a chance to wear them. There’s no point — we’ve got dogs, you come in and they jump up. You can’t have a pair of pristine trousers on.

“Things I’ve worn to Bafta have still got paw marks on them. I remember turning up at a Bafta thing and looking down at my feet and thinking, ‘Oh no, I’ve got mud on my dress!’”

…

‘The actress — last seen on TV in British Raj drama series Indian Summers — said she was now only picking roles that were of particular interest to her.  “I just pick what I fancy,” she said. “You take jobs when you’re young because you think, ‘This will be good for my career.’ Now I choose things if they sound really good fun. I do get offered lots of things but for the most part I’d really rather be at home with my husband.”

She said of their long-lasting relationship — they met in 1985 — “We do talk about things. You’ve got to be prepared to say sorry and have a bit of an understanding. We both have our own lives. He’s always allowed me to go off and be an actor and I’ve allowed him to disappear on the farm.”’

Read more on the Standard here!

Harry Potter fans in Texas got a special treat this October.  Bonnie Wright, our beloved young Ginny Weasley, spoke as a featured panelist at Dallas Comic Con 2015.  Her mediated Q&A session lasted about 45 minutes and covered everything from her casting to the final days of filming Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2.  She also talked about her more recent projects and met with fans and signed autographs all weekend.  Snitchseeker.com was lucky enough to witness the event.

Here are some highlights of Bonnie Wright’s interview:

On her casting:

So I was 9 years old when I was cast. So I, at that moment, hadn’t had any previous experience outside of school plays. My older brother, who’s kinda my Ron of real life, he had started reading the Harry Potter books. He was a fan of the books and as his younger sister, he saw me as his Ginny and we heard these were doing these auditions and they were going to make these books into films, he said “You should go and audition for the role of Ginny.”

And so, my mom came home from work and I was like “Can you get me an audition?” and obviously my parents didn’t have anything to do with the industry. So, anyway we managed to get an audition. At the time, Ginny’s character was quite a small role, we didn’t know where it was going to go. My first day on set was on Platform 9 ¾ and I remember being, when you’re that young every increment is so important, and I remember being 9 ¾ on 9 ¾! It was like a big deal at the time.

On director Chris Columbus:

I think Chris Columbus is sometimes often forgotten for the amazing work he did to establish us. He established us as a family; he established what coming home to Hogwarts meant. He really understood telling that family story, also his other work. He really brought out the comedy in all of us. He really brought out the performance in all of us. I just felt so comfortable with him on set. He was just amazing. He would just talk and joke with us.

On the butterbeer on set:

We had the first scene where the Great Hall was dressed for Halloween, I’ve never seen so many sweets in my life! By about mid-day we were all like ahhh, sick. I didn’t have pumpkin juice, we did butterbeer. They used to use, like to make butterbeer, they got orange juice and they whisked egg whites to put on top to make the foam. Which is horrible. When they open the Wizarding World in Orlando, all of us were so excited to try the butterbeer. I don’t know if anyone’s tried it here, it’s pretty good. You get like 5 sips and then it’s like sugar overload. I wish they had gotten it quicker in inventing that.

The Harry Potter characters she wishes she could play:

For pure fun and ridiculousness, probably Hagrid, because I always used to say that and people would say, “What do you mean?” and I would tell them I really want to stand on stilts and walk around. And then they were like, would you really want to wear all that….. There was a guy for the far away shots, I think he was like a rugby player, and they expected us to walk beside him. He had this huge costume and stilts and this giant automated head. I thought that was pretty cool. I always loved McGonagall. She was like that teacher you had at school that you looked up to and wanted to be but was also terrified of her, at the same time. I loved that bit when she was a cat and turned back into herself. It was funny to watch.

On filming around the CGI in the Hall of Prophecy:

Stuart Craig, who designed the sets, his attention to detail was like incredible. But, there was one scene that I remember just being like “What? Are they joking? Who does that?” There were like grates on the floor and green screen everywhere and these like, tiny white pathways. In that scene we were in the Ministry of Magic and we were meant to be running through the like glass orbs, which we’re trying to find… and they are all falling, and obviously they couldn’t have thousands of glass balls falling on top of us, and that I remember being really ridiculously stupid. All of us just laughing cause we were like “Where do you want us to run?” We all needed to ask, “Are we walking into glass? What are we walking into?” And we were just running down these tiny pathways chasing each other.

On kissing Daniel Radcliffe:

Never Kiss and tell.  You can probably imagine. I don’t know. The thing is, like I said, it’s not ….. the reality is very different than kissing like your partner, whoever in your life. It’s like, by the 80th take with like 6 cameras and lighting being fiddled around and like fifty people sitting around watching it’s not as romantic as it looks on screen.

The hardest scene to film:

I would say the last one in terms of the epilogue scene that we did, the 19 years later, was something so bizarre– I think because at the same time as shooting that I think going through all our heads was “the ending,” that sort of weird sense of ending. We never thought it would come to an end, but it was. That being the end of 10 years of my life and I was having to play a mother. It was so far from my reality. That was a real challenge I think. I think there was so much, all the casting process we did for the children, was really, really extensive.

Dan and I sat in a room and they came in one at a time. We sat around a table like a family. They wanted to make sure that dynamic between us and the children felt real, and so we spent a lot of time with them, getting to know them. What was really bizarre was we were back on Platform 9 ¾. The littler girl that was playing the youngest was, you know, close to 10 I think so nearly close to the age I was when I started so it was bizarre, kinda full circle. So, not only was there this emotional strain of finishing there was also this challenge of playing a new role. That was quite intense.

Her favorite behind-the-scenes moment:

I think, for me, the best moments were probably during the battle of Hogwarts in the last film just because it was this really strange thing that like loads of people that hadn’t been in the last films came back for the battle so there was this amazing reunion feeling when we were shooting those scenes. And they were quite intense, there were a lot of night shoots a lot of dawn, sunrise shoots. It was pretty challenging few weeks. All of us had like cuts, and bruises and scars and so dirty, yet our friendships and comradery between us made it so enjoyable. So I think for me, in that moment, behind the scenes it just made me realize what a family I’d become a part of. It made me grateful to be a part of it.

To read a full transcript and see video of Bonnie Wright’s session in Dallas, see Snitchseeker’s report, here.  Thanks for recording it, Snitchseeker.com!

Yesterday Playboy released a 20Q interview with Daniel Radcliffe, centred around his role as Harry Potter, his personal life and beliefs, Victor Frankenstein, Equus and the price of fame.

Here’s some of the Potter highlights from the interview!:

Q1
You were 12 years old when the first Harry Potter film came out. At what point did you realize the role was going to follow you for the rest of your life?
It may have become clear to me only in the past few years. In your head, you imagine it will all go away once the series is over. When I was first going out to bars and pubs, I was trying to pretend I could have a normal existence. Then you realize that people know who you are, and when you’re in a bar they take out their camera phones. Eventually you accept that you have to adapt how you live.

Q2
The Potter series is over. Has the attention gone away?
It feels like I get recognized more now. Here’s what’s scary: If you were 14 when the first film came out, you’d now be almost in your 30s and could well have a child under 10 whom you’re now introducing to Harry Potter. We’re already getting the next generation. That’s just bizarre. It’s never going away.

Q3
Why hasn’t the appeal faded?
Because the stories are great! A huge part of our culture now is that if something becomes successful there’s a backlash. Harry Potter didn’t have that. There are people who don’t want to read it, but the number of people who actively dislike it is very low. The books are great, and they came along at the perfect moment, when there was a fear, because of the rise of computer games, that reading was going to become a thing of the past. When kids suddenly found these books, it was something everyone could get behind as a global populace.

Q8
You’ve said that your performance in Harry Potter  and the Order of the Phoenix, the fifth movie in the series, was your best, but you hate watching yourself in the sixth, The Half-Blood Prince. How did your best and worst performances come back-to-back?
In every movie up to the sixth one, you can see a big step forward in my acting. And then it stopped, or went backward maybe, in the sixth film. I really enjoyed my performance in the fifth—part of it was how much I worked with people like Gary Oldman and David Thewlis. On the sixth, I remember watching it and thinking, Wow, there’s been no growth. You’re watching a mistake you made every day for 11 months—that’s the way I saw it. I had the idea that Harry was like a soldier traumatized by war, and as a result of that, he shuts down emotionally. That’s not a bad idea, but it’s not the most interesting thing to watch for two and a half hours.

Q13
You’ve focused mainly on low-budget independent films since playing Potter. Will people ever not think of you as Harry?
One of the positive by-products of celebrity culture for actors like me who’ve been stuck with one character for a long time is the opportunity for people to get to know me. I don’t think Mark Hamill, for example, had the same opportunities for people to get to know him. When I went on Jimmy Fallon and rapped a Blackalicious song, I got a job off that—playing Sam Houser in Game Changer, the movie about Grand Theft Auto. It made the guy in charge go, “Oh, he’s interested in hip-hop. He’s not just a typical posh white boy.”

The full interview can be read here.

Victor Frankenstein – Daniel Radcliffe’s newest appearance as Igor – is released on November 25th. Watch him talk about this role at Comic Con here!

OKREAL, a new website “that gives you the tools to choose your life,” sat down for an exclusive interview with Bonnie Wright (Ginny Weasley). Bonnie Wright was selected as one in a range of women the site talks to about their successes and how they achieved them, but most of all what is important to them.

Bonnie Wright talked of discovering the difference between being what people expected of her, and being her true self. The article focused on Bonnie’s success as a story teller and post-Potter work, refusing to introduce her as the girl who played Ginny Weasley in the Harry Potter series.

It is true, Bonnie has taken on many impressive projects since her Potter days, successfully creating an independent image of her self. Like many of her Harry Potter co-stars, Bonnie still discussed how Harry Potter played a role in her life then and now–dancing the tango between their love and appreciation for what the series brought them, and breaking out of the mold their 10-year roles created for them.

In the interview conducted by OKREAL founder, Amy Woodside, Bonnie said:

I graduated film school 3 years ago. Since then, slowing down and figuring out what I actually want to do has taken a lot longer than I thought it would. Harry Potter was 10 years of my life, and when you finish a huge chapter like that, it’s this exciting new phase where you want to do new things.

With any career, creative or otherwise, there’s always more to learn and always room to evolve. It’s not about finding a finite point when you’re all done. It’s a continuum: nothing is ever secure or fully realized. People might think because of my experience, I’m all set. But just because you’ve had that kind of privilege, doesn’t mean it’s always going to work in your favor. You have to respect the times when it does and respect the times when it doesn’t. Sometimes people will pigeonhole you, or won’t listen because they assume you have it all figured out. And it’s like, actually, no, I don’t.

It’s taken me a long time to have confidence in writing and directing. I thought—people see me as an actress, so that’s what I should be doing. Also, having grown up with people constantly liking the work that we were doing, it’s taken me a while to learn how to take compliments. There was always this enthusiasm, ‘Oh my god, I love you. I love Harry Potter.’ Which makes it hard to accept any encouragement as genuine.

It’s a doing thing. And it goes so fast, if you don’t experience it at the time, it’s gone before you know it. Often you’ll build up some destination or end point… you’ll have this vision of the feeling that you’ll have when you get there. Like this script I just finished, I thought I’d feel relief and that it would be so great. But the reality is, I finished it and felt unsure about it. The idea of the destination and the reality of the destination are often very different. It’s a theme in this feature that I’m writing, where the main character is living in New York City. It’s not about the place she’s going, it’s the moments in between that she’s missing, because she’s too busy thinking about how she’ll feel when she gets there.”

Upon completing film school, Bonnie Wright has appeared in several independent films, written and directed various short films, taken on the role as a charity ambassador, and is the lead actress in The High is for Gamblers. Bonnie had much more to tell Ms. Woodside about all that she is involved in. Please read the entire interview on OKREAL. You can learn more about OKREAL by visiting their Twitter and Instagram (@heyokreal), or their Facebook page.

After being knighted by the Queen for his acting achievements, Sir John Hurt told the Eastern Daily Press that he was feeling surprisingly well.  As we reported here at Leaky, Sir John, who played Mr. Ollivander in the Harry Potter films, was recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

Speaking after the Windsor Castle Investiture ceremony he said: “I’m halfway through my chemotherapy and I’ve got a whole load of tests next week.

“I’m not feeling any of the side effects you’re suppose to feel, or at least you can feel, as everybody’s different I’m told.

“It’s extraordinary, I haven’t lost weight or anything and I’m feeling good – it’s crazy.

“My oncologist is extremely optimistic, as indeed I am, so everything is going really well.”

Sir John’s wife, Anwen, was also present for the knighting ceremony, but he wished his parents had still been alive to see it, too.

In spite of his illness, Sir John has continued to work, just finishing a performance for BBC Radio 4 of Jeffrey Bernard is Unwell.  Sir John says that the reporter, whom he knew, was “part of my life,” so his interpretation will be different from those done before.

Congratulations, Sir John Hurt, on this well-deserved honor, and our thoughts and prayers are with you as you continue chemotherapy.

To read more, see here.

Rhys Ifans plays many ostensibly “quirky” characters, and is best known to us as Xenophilius Lovegood. Like many other Harry Potter actors, Rhys Ifans works to be apart of the community of which he is from, and give back in anyway he possibly can. Originally from northern Wales, Ifans has become patron of a school near where he grew up.Ysgol Plas Brondyffryn in Denbigh, the school that Ifans is patron of, is the regional center for autism education. Of its importance to him, Ifans said thatYsgol Plas Brondyffryn feels like “home.” On a recent visit to Ysgol Plas Brondyffryn, Ifans hosted a Q&A about his acting career, and spoke to The Daily Post about his work there. The Daily Post reports:

The Ruthin-born actor was treated to an impromptu performance of the song from Oliver! by youngsters at Ysgol Plas Brondyffryn, the regional centre for autism education in North Wales of which he is a patron.

Ifans, who has appeared in blockbusters such as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and The Amazing Spiderman, responded with applause and said: “That was great guys. When are we going on tour?”

He spoke of his rise to fame and the pros and cons of life in the spotlight during a question and answer session which followed.

“They (the staff) very kindly invited me to be patron. I thought it was just a great opportunity.

“I have many friends with children who suffer with varying degrees of autism, so I am familiar with the condition.

“My friend’s kids who are autistic, I am so very, very fond of them. They’re just such amazing kids on every level.

“Given that there was an establishment like this doing such great work on my doorstep, it made sense to get involved as much as I can.

“For all my success, being able to give up my time and energy to support this beats any award you can ever be given.”

The BBC reported, Alan Rickman appeared on The Tonight Show to ‘confront’ Jimmy Fallon regarding his ‘Rickman-Off’ with Benedict Cumberbatch in 2013. Hilarity ensued as Rickman presented two ‘truth-telling machines’ (helium balloons) to Fallon, leading to them conversing in comically high-pitched voices.

You can watch the segment below:

Miss Watson posted a tweet earlier today, with an attached photocopy of a segment from her interview with Wonderland magazine. As reported previously, Miss Watson was the guest editor for the newest edition of Wonderland, for which she was interviewed as well as conducted interviews (including one with J.K. Rowling). The picture can be seen here on Miss Watson's twitter, and below:

In a recent, brief interview, Helena Bonham Carter (Bellatrix Lestrange) commented on her role in Harry Potter. The actress told reporters of her dream to play a witch, and of the advice she liked to give younger actors on set (Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson). TV3 reports:

She said: ''That was my dream come true, playing a witch. My daughter asks me, 'Why do you always play baddies mama?'''

Playing the role made Helena known to many young girls and she thinks she sets a good example - because she enjoys her food.

She said: ''Am I a good example? Well, at least I'm not too thin. I eat.''

The actress is also a source of advice for her young 'Harry Potter' co-stars, recently advising Daniel Radcliffe during a discussion for Interview magazine, though he isn't the only star to come to her for help.

She said: ''I've had lots of conversations with Emma Watson too. She is very, very bright.''

In the new issue of Attitude, Matthew Lewis talked about his acting career after Harry Potter. He told the magazine that he enjoyed being challenged with his acting carreer now that the comfort the Harry Potter movie franchise provided is gone. Matt Lewis also commented on his new movie, Wasteland, which is scheduled to be released later this year.  Excerpts of the interview read:

JustJared.com has published a new photoshoot and interview with actress Evanna Lynch about her upcoming projects, her time on "Harry Potter" and other personal favorites. Since finishing Potter, Lynch filmed a part for a TV show, Sinbad, to air this summer on SKY.

Images from the photoshoot can be seen in the Leaky galleries. Read the complete interview at this link.

JJ: How did shooting TV compare to your film experiences?

EL: I was excited and nervous because it was the first thing I did since Harry Potter, so it was the first thing I kind of felt like, you know this is job. Harry Potter was my childhood and it felt very safe and this was something I was excited about. I wanted to work and meet new people.

JJ: Did you take anything from set?

EL: I didn’t steal any props. I collected all the call sheets (laughs) and I took the sign from my door that said my name. I wasn’t very daring.

JJ: Are there any books that you’d love to see get adapted into a movie?

EL: “The Hunger Games” is the big one for me recently. I don’t know, can I get back to you on that? I always liked that book, “Star Girl”. Have you heard of that one? She was very much like the character of Luna so that’s why I liked it. She was more damaged than Luna. I’m going to go look at my bookcase when I go home.

MSN has released a video of Tom Felton answering the questions of fans around the world. The MSN interview asked fans' questions from notecards and added some of her own. Felton answered questions about his favorite Harry Potter creature, his audition for the role as Ron Weasley, and his "boy-crush" on Helena Bonham Carter. You can view this video below:





It will be in the galleries soon!