Since Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince breakout star Bonnie Wright was a ginger-haired tot, the pretty 18-year-old actress has been playing Ron Weasley’s baby sister Ginny in the Harry Potter films.
Early on in
the Harry Potter series, Wright was a pert and pretty child in the background emerging later as a victim of dark magic or looking shyly at Harry, beginning to develop a shadow of the
attraction that would draw the duo together in their more advanced teen years.
Check out our interview with the entire cast here!
Potter’s soulmate
Now, in the sixth Potter film Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,
Ginny becomes the true helpmate and champion that Harry deserves all while the duo teases us with a foreshadowing of the love-struck, bonded-for-life couple they’ll become.
Meeting with Bonnie inside the famous New York landmark hotel the Waldorf-Astoria, SheKnows was delighted to learn how happy playing Ginny has made the young actress, engendering in her a desire to
one day direct, write and produce films.
After wrapping the 6th and 7th movies based on the final Deathly Hallows book, Bonnie is off to study film in London. But, today, she’s sitting down with us to discuss developing her
intimate, romantic scenes with longtime buddy Daniel Radcliffe, her warnings to would-be suitors and the inspiration she got from her own older brother when, having read the first Potter novel, he
suggested that she reminded him of Ginny.
SheKnows: You have an older brother. Is that relationship anything like Ginny and Ron’s in the film?
Bonnie Wright: Yeah, I think it’s been definitely great having known that relationship in real life. I’ve been able to take a few brother relationship things (to the
role). I guess, with an older brother as well, there’s that sense of protection they do give to you. They’re supportive and they do let you do what you want but they have got a hidden
protection (motive). Obviously the relationship with Ginny and Ron is quite clearly that, He’s quite protective of her and, in this film, you really see that when he sees her with (her
boyfriend) Dean Thomas at the beginning of the film.
SheKnows: Did your brother think you would be good as Ginny and tell you to try out for the part?
Bonnie Wright: That’s true. He’d read the first few books and he’d really loved them and he was like ‘Oh, you really remind me of the character of
Ginny’ and I said ‘okay’ not knowing who that was, because we’d heard that they were doing the castings. That’s basically why I went for the casting really. I probably
should say thanks to him.
SheKnows: These movies have been such a huge chunk of your life, Do you feel like you’ve missed anything by doing them year after year?
Bonnie Wright: I think I’ve missed out on that classroom dynamic when you are all learning together . My education has been quite one-to-one which is great, You do get a lot
done in an hour compared to being in school and being interrupted.
SheKnows: Were you all schooled on set at the same time?
Bonnie Wright: Yes, when we were younger and everyone did similar subjects, there were more of us in the class. But as we became more specific in what we were doing, it was just
one-to-one. But, to be honest, I think looking back at it now, it’s definitely enriched my childhood way more than it’s taken anything away. I think from working with everyone on set,
everyone’s just so supportive and really driven in what they do so it’s been an inspiration. Their work ethic is something that rubbed off on all of us.
Ginny evolves into Mrs. Potter
SheKnows: How happy were you that Ginny has so much more to do in this film and the upcoming ones?
Bonnie Wright: I definitely was looking forward to it when I read the book. It’s difficult because you never know how they’re going to adapt it to screenplay so you
can’t get too excited. But I remember when I read the script I just got really excited. I think when the character appears sort of gradually throughout the movie and not just at the beginning
and the end, you can work towards a development of your character and that was something that was definitely the most exciting for me as an actress to really be able to dig my teeth into a part
that had more substance and it was great working with David Yates and Dan when we were looking at this relationship and how it was going to be built. Even if you weren’t able to explore all
these emotions when you were filming, at least you made this foundation and it seemed there was more backstory behind the characters.
SheKnows: When did you first find out that Harry and Ginny were going to be a couple?
Bonnie Wright: When I read the book. People kept going ‘Oh, have you got to page 400-something?’ ‘No! Don’t tell me!’
SheKnows: So tell us more about you and Dan meeting before shooting to talk about your scenes.
Bonnie Wright: A lot of it was both of us chatting with David Yates just on how to make it subtle relationship that grew. If it just happened all of a sudden, it doesn’t give
much longevity to the idea that, at the end, they end up being together . I guess Dan and I looked at how they got drawn toward one another and it becomes, not a shock to them, but they realize it
with each other.
SheKnows: She seemed to always fancy Harry but he didn’t seem to return the crush.
Bonnie: Harry’s character never had feelings for her and she had already had those feelings but sort of forgot about them and then Harry starts to realize something that he didn’t think
was in him. So, I think that was what we wanted to look at. How these moments of tension that grow between them are always separated by something that’s happening or by Ron interrupting.
SheKnows: Or by plopping himself down between you.
Bonnie Wright: (laughs) Yeah.
Up next…Bonnie talks about kissing Harry Potter (not so glamorous — more like kissing a brother).
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