Bonnie Wright – who played Ginny Weasley in the Harry Potter films – followed Rupert Grint’s footsteps and took the sorting quiz in a recent interview with Pottermore.
She first spoke a little about portraying Ginny:
‘My favourite idea I always had [about] Ginny, that David Yates and I always played on, was that Ginny was this warrior,’ Bonnie told us. ‘That was something I really enjoyed. I was such a tomboy as a girl growing up and I loved that idea you don’t have to be girlie to be a girl.’
She also said that the huge ensemble of characters in Harry Potter is one of her favourite things about the stories:
‘You find something within them all that lives inside you’
The detail of the sets was also one of her favourite memories, Bonnie said she loved being able to pick up a Daily Prophet and actually read it, and really get into acting as a part of the story.
When asked if she had any loyalty to Gryffindor, Bonnie, who is most definitely a Ginny Weasley fan, said:
‘As a strong, devout Weasley, it could only be Gryffindor’
After answering the intricate sorting quiz on Pottermore, Bonnie (to her delight) is sorted… into Gryffindor!:
‘I feel relieved… I feel proud’
Watch her chat with Pottermore below, and watch Rupert Grint’s sorting 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!
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.
Bonnie Wright (Ginny Weasley) has developed a career behind the camera, as much as she’s done work in front of the camera, since growing up within the realms of Harry Potter. Recently settled in New York City, she talked at great length with Suitcase magazine about her passions for acting, writing, and directing.
Growing up on the set of Harry Potter (beginning at age ten in Philosopher’s Stone, finishing the series ten years later at the age of 20), helped sparked Bonnie’s imagination and interest in film–all parts, infront and behind the camera. She has since moved on from Ginny, and carved her own path independent of the series. She has attended film school to get a three-year degree, and is gaining experience through her creation and adaptations of short films, hoping to write and direct a full-length featured film soon. Like her Harry Potter co-star, Evanna Lynch, Bonnie has worked a lot within the independent film industry. Suitcase reports:
Bonnie describes her consistent effort “to set that self-discipline” – making sure that each day reflects a proper day’s work. Currently in the process of writing her first feature film (she has already written and directed a short film) Bonnie’s new, self-appointed gig is a whole different ballgame from learning lines in a trailer. She is keen to emphasise the dedication and self-regulation required to create her own work.
That said, her decade spent in the Harry Potter franchise has not been a bad education. Working with some of the greatest British talent, including world-famous actors, directors and producers, has afforded Bonnie a solid understanding of what goes into creating a great film.
“Because I started acting at such a young age,” she explains, “I had no idea where the journey was going to take me. As a curious kid, on all the Harry Potter films, I became interested in filmmaking in its entirety.”
In the evolution of her craft, Bonnie hasn’t limited herself to one side of the camera. When I ask her which part of the world of cinema she prefers, she explains how intertwined acting and directing really are.
“Often, I’ll be writing and the idea of walking onto a film set in front of the camera throws me. And then sometimes the other way around, when I’ve been acting I’ll be like ‘Oh God, I don’t want to go back to my desk to write!’ But they inform each other so much. It is a collaborative medium and the boundaries between jobs often cross. Especially when you’re an actor and you’re working so much with the director. For me, that’s the funnest thing about being an actress: working with the director and working with their vision.”
She goes on to emphasise the importance of synergy when creating a successful film. “If you’re not a team player in the film industry it becomes very hard to share your message – and what’s the point of sabotaging your own work? It’s interesting to see the methods of different people, in the same way that it’s fascinating to watch another actor and see how they run a scene.”
“Anyone can write 10 pages,” she says jokingly. “Writing a huge script that has so much to do with plot, specific screenwriting techniques and devices is a whole new world to me. Even at film school all the work we did was short-form. We obviously studied feature film, but we never got to make one over the course of a three-year degree, so this has been really interesting.”
With this on the table, she goes on to discuss the culture of self-promotion that’s so ubiquitous in the United States – certainly not a quality that the average self-deprecating Brit possesses.
“When you’re having to speak up for your own work, you have to sell yourself in a way. Especially when every project is a new project, you’re having to find collaborators, you’re having to pitch your project all the time.”
She helped promote the Global Citizen Festival in Washington DC back in April this year and she continues to work with Oxfam, an organisation that is dear to her heart.
“I first went on a trip with them to Senegal when they were doing a whole push about the food crisis in West Africa,” she recalls. “They decided they wanted to push the story before it got to a level that would be a hundred times more expensive to save. So I travelled with them and through that trip they asked me to come on board long-term as an ambassador.”
What’s the craziest, most exciting thing that’s happened as a result of Harry Potter stardom?
“I got to meet Destiny’s Child when they were still together and dance on stage with them. That was pretty fun.”
To read more of this extensive interview, and learn more about Bonnie’s charity work and filmmaking, visit Suitcase.
Australian morning television show Sunrise Seven has a short video online from a recent Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows set visit, during which actors Dan Radcliffe (Harry), Bonnie Wright (Ginny), Rupert Grint (Ron), and Tom Felton (Draco) spoke briefly about their experience making the film. While discussing the end of the Deathly Hallows production, Mr. Radcliffe notes that the final le...
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A pair of new interviews with Harry Potter actors Bonnie Wright (Ginny Weasley) and Dan Radcliffe (Harry Potter), Emma Watson (Rupert Grint), and Tom Felton are now online over on TeenHollywood.com. In the first interview, Miss Wright speaks to the development of her character in the Half-Blood Prince film, and of her character's developing relationship with Harry Potter in the sixth film. On...
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We have for you today another special PotterCast, our Harry Potter podcast, extra with the audio from TLC's red carpet interviews from the Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince premiere earlier this week in New York City. In this special episode, we have interviews with many of the cast and crew members from the film, including the Trio, Tom Felton, Bonnie Wright, director David Yates, and ...
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As posted before UK Channel 4 was set to broadcast a special on Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Recorded during the London premiere of the film in Leicester Squarey, thanks to our Order partner BonnieWrightOnline, you can now watch the show with part one here, part two here, and part three here. In the program you can see footage of many of the cast and crew, as well as interviews condu...
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Thanks to the folks from the Kyle and Jackie show who let us know about the Australian radio program that went to London for the premiere of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. At this link,you can see new video interviews with the cast and crew on the soggy wet carpet, as well as hear a brand new radio interview here with Rupert Grint, Bonnie Wright and Jessie Cave.
Thanks so much guys!
There is a new article from the Los Angeles Times Hero Complex Blog which features an interview with actress Bonnie Wright (Ginny Weasley) who speaks to her role in the upcoming Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince film. This article delves into the differences between book and film, her reaction to the character of Ginny Weasley in the story, and much more. In this interview, the young act...
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The media barrage heralding the release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince continues today as there are two more features now online featuring the sixth Harry Potter film. Seen here courtesy of our Order Partner DanRadcliffe.com, SFX has a long and rather light look at the film, focusing on the old David Yates quote about the film "It's all Sex, Potions, and Rock n Roll" and subsequent r...
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