| Evanna Lynch | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born | August 16 1991 Termonfeckin, Ireland |
| Occupation | actress |
| Years active | 2007—present |
Evanna Lynch (born 16 August 1991) is an Irish actress, known for playing Luna Lovegood in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.[1]
Contents |
Personal life
Evanna is from Termonfeckin, County Louth, Ireland. She lives with her father Donal, mother Marguerite, elder sisters Máiréad and Emily, and younger brother Patrick.[2] As of September 2006, she is in her third year at Our Lady's College, Greenhills, an all girls' Catholic school located in Drogheda, Ireland.[3] During her primary school years, she attended Cartown National School.[4] She has been attending CTYI [5] and completed a 'Speculative Fiction' course. [6]
Career
It was revealed on February 2, 2006 that Lynch, who was then fourteen, had been cast as Luna Lovegood in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix after her father flew her to London for the open audition for the role,[7] beating nearly 15,000 girls in the auditions.[3] However, as Lynch has naturally dark blonde hair, her hair had to be bleached light blonde for the role of Luna. On set Lynch became very good friends with fellow actresses Bonnie Wright (who plays Ginny Weasley), Katie Leung (Cho Chang) and Afshan Azad (who plays Padma Patil).[8] Since the release of the film, she has received many positive reviews, being called one of the true "standouts" of the film.[9]
Fandom
Lynch is a huge Harry Potter fan and, according to her family, is obsessed with the series. As a younger child, she constantly wrote to J.K. Rowling, and in one such letter the youngster commented how much she would love to act in a Harry Potter film but doubted this would happen as she lived in "this sleepy little place called Termonfeckin, where nothing ever happened". To Lynch's surprise, Rowling replied, saying "Don't be too hard on Termonfeckin; it does have a brilliant name! And I come from a very sleepy place".[2] In 2003, aged eleven, Lynch was disappointed that she would miss the release of the fifth book in the series, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix as she had been hospitalised. However, the hospital released her for the morning of the launch and a local bookstore arranged for her to receive a copy signed by author Rowling.[10] Lynch's love for the novels even saw her choosing to name her cat Luna, who has had several kittens, one of them named Dumbledore. Dumbledore's siblings are named Lily and Alexander, whose names are derived from "the best fanfic ever", according to Evanna herself. Another cat she had owned which died in early 2006 had been named Crookshanks, after character Hermione Granger's cat.[11] Lynch is an avid visitor to the Harry Potter fan site MuggleNet. She also called in to the popular Harry Potter-themed podcast, PotterCast, to talk about the title of the seventh Harry Potter book (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows) on the day it was announced.[12]
Filmography
References
- ^ Evanna Lynch (Luna Lovegood). CBBC Newsround. BBC (2007-07-12). Retrieved on 2007-12-05.
- ^ a b First Interview with Lynch Family (English). The Tubridy Show. RTÉ Commercial Enterprises Limited (2006-02-15). Retrieved on 2007-08-01.
- ^ a b "Potter girl Evanna speaks only to the Drogheda Independent", Drogheda Independent, 2006-02-08.
- ^ "Evanna let out of hospital to get Potter book", Drogheda Independent, 2003-06-26.
- ^ "Potter star Evanna visits talented-youth centre", Ireland On-Line, 2007-07-24.
- ^ "Luna Lovegood's a wizard with words", Ireland On-Line, 2007-07-25.
- ^ "Luna Lovegood role has been cast", BBC, 2006-02-02.
- ^ "From Drogheda to Harry Potter – Evanna living every girl’s dream", Drogheda Independent, 2007-03-24. Retrieved on 2007-07-25.
- ^ "Comparison: 'Phoenix' Book Vs. Movie", WTAE-TV Pittsburgh, 2007-07-20.
- ^ "First official photo of Luna Lovegood actress", HPANA, 2006-02-02.
- ^ Mzimba, Lizo. "Lizo's interview with Luna Lovegood", BBC, 2006-07-20.
- ^ Evanna Lynch on PotterCast Transcript. The Leaky Cauldron (2006-12-23). Retrieved on 2007-07-27.
