Bonnie Wright chatted in great detail about her work as Ginny Weasley in the Harry Potter series this past weekend at the Dallas Comic Con, starting from her first scene at the age of 9 years old all the way to the final days of shooting the epilogue for Deathly Hallows. All that, as well as updates on her upcoming short films, Play Me Backwards and Medusa's Ankles, can be viewed and read below, courtesy of SnitchSeeker correspondent Cristal Wheeler who was in attendance.

Bonnie: Hello, everyone! How’s everyone doing?
Moderator: First thank you for coming to the Dallas Comic Con Fan days. The message boards exploded when we announced we had signed you on as one of our guests. So thanks for taking the time to talk to us.
Bonnie: Thank you for having me.

Moderator: It’s an odd thing to grow up in the public eye. It’s got to be just completely bizarre to have the world watch you grow up grow into adulthood with a role that you basically stamped and said “This is me, Ginny Weasley, no one else, none shall pass.” Talk a little about the audition process and how you came to be involved in Harry Potter.
Bonnie: 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 they 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! (laughter) It was like a big deal at the time.

Moderator: Talk a little about what J.K. Rowling has termed the “Big 7”. Every time we see photos of you now, and when you have the opportunity, everyone is amazingly busy … you’re embarking on your career as a producer, director, writer. So, tell me about the relationship you have with the remainder of the Big 7.
Bonnie: Yeah, obviously when we were reading the books, we were as much a big fan as everyone else. I got them the day they came out and read them avidly, but it was always in the back of your mind, “Oh, this is what we are now going to be performing.” I remember reading that book where Dumbledore’s Army was being formed and being so excited. I think it really elevated the story because it wasn’t just the tale of three people and their challenges of growing up. Now it was the seven of us and there was much more dark and light in there. In terms of having Draco’s character and then Luna’s character added a whole new magical element to it. So for all of us it was incredibly exciting because I think it was also the age when acting as a profession and acting in terms of the whole world looking at our future was becoming much more part of us in day to day life. We weren’t just kids playing kids anymore.

We were like teenagers who were thinking about our life and careers because the minute the "7" started happening challenges started coming up for us. We were like, “Well, what else do we want to play?” and yeah, I think it made it amazing for the rest of the series I think it was an incredible thing to be involved in. I think that was a kinda groove. I think Jo Rowling has always stressed about that groove. You know, she loves those characters so individually and they really worked in conjunction really well.

Moderator: I want to talk about a film you did called After the Fall - gorgeous production, global cast and really great thought experiment.
Bonnie: Yea, After the Dark, yeah, that was an incredible film. It’s one of those ... Basically we’re all in an international school in Jakarta, Egypt. It’s about this idea, philosophy students, and they’re learning about what a scenario and what would you do with it. In the film, we actually go and hold an experiment, what was really bizarre about that film, I mean, I guess I was still a teenager so I was going to be playing a teenager and it was interesting to be in an different school scenario similar to Hogwarts but still very different.

Still working with visual effects and an imaginary world, yet in a completely different way, so it was just really exciting to be playing a different character and all of us finishing the Harry Potter series. Most of us were excited about the next chapter of our lives. She sorta had elements of Ginny in that she was quite ballsy and she stood up for everything. That’s what I always loved about Ginny. I was such a tomboy as a kid so I loved those little bits.

Audience Question: If you could be a part of and fandom apart from Harry Potter, what would it be?
Bonnie: Uhhhh…… Maybe I need to be watching a bit more TV. (laughter) Maybe something to be completely, I mean I don’t know a lot about the anime series specifically but something that would be the farthest away from my life in the Harry Potter series, and I think that would be the farthest. If you guys have a suggest for a character that would be helpful. (laughter)

Audience Question: First, thank you for coming to Dallas. Second, you always say the Weasleys really became a family. The actors really became a family. As the youngest of nine, with seven brothers myself, did you get tormented by them on set as the little sister or were they more laid back?
Bonnie: Oh no! They definitely had their fun! (laughter) But the beauty of being the little sister - they were also quite protective so that was the best part. I mean, all the scenes in the Burrow, the Weasley house, were the most fun, for sure. There was never any drama. I mean, I think they allowed for as much filming time because they knew we would just be giggling throughout the scenes. Yeah, they ran circles around me and we, as a family, ran circles around the adults.

I really loved the first two films. I really loved especially the beginning of the second one and Harry comes and I come down and make that kinda scared face. (laughter) And I remember just having so much fun the first time we were all in the Weasley house together. Julie Walters and Mark Williams who played Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, were just the most bubbliest and upbeat people to be around and I really loved Julie Walters. I looked up to her when I was younger. They were protective and comedic at all times.

Audience Question: If you could be any other character in Harry Potter, who would you be and why?
Bonnie: For pure fun and ridiculousness, probably Hagrid, because (laughter) 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. (laughter) I loved that bit when she was a cat and turned back into herself. It was funny to watch.

Moderator: Probably not Hagrid. I mean Coltrane would be in make up for hours!

Audience Question: Which Harry Potter film would you say was the most difficult to film and why?
Bonnie: 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.

Moderator: Is there an easy way for you to describe the contrast between the different directors you worked with throughout the series from Chris Columbus to Alfonso Cuaron to David Yates at the end?
Bonnie: Oh yeah, I mean they are all incredibly different and I think it was so important that we have different directors. I think when you are younger you begin to understand. Obviously from my experience, my only in acting was the Harry Potter series, so you go on to other films and like you realize, “Oh, that’s not really how they do that”. There aren’t a thousand people on set and all these crazy things happening. And for me, if I go through each one, 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.

Alfonso Curan really stepped up the films in terms of ... He put the films in a way different perspective, I think. The audience was growing, our ages were growing. People could be freaked out a bit. The audience could be freaked out a bit. So I think brought that darkness into Harry’s world. He was a crazy guy to work with. His energy was sort of real passionate. It was the start of, I think, where I was able to fall in love with acting and he set that in motion. He was so passionate. He would be jumping on a person. I think he jumped on someone’s car as they drove. He was just a crazy person.

And then Mike Newell was, you know for me, you know, he’s incredibly famous British director. He was, again, I think he brought back warmth, a bit of family. He brought back that layers. Obviously in that film it suddenly gets global, all the schools coming to Hogwarts, and he has sorta that age and wisdom to his directing that kinda helped.

And then, obviously for me, David Yates was the moment when Ginny’s character really became something. And I was ... like I was saying, that’s really when it became like the seven of us and our performance had to really step up and I think his faith in all us, and his ... he’s a very quiet director, he would take you off individually and chat with you very quietly and he’d have like these big plans for every character and he was someone who really like believed in the detail of everyone to create like a mass thing. So I think for me, he is the closest to me because it was the closest to Ginny. We always just played on this one word of Ginny being a warrior through the films and that was something like we bonded on, like we would just chat about, every way we could step it up to that level.

Audience Question: Hey, I’ve been watching since first grade. How did it feel that out of all the girls at Hogwarts that you would end up with Harry Potter?
Bonnie: No please, not that one (jokingly) ... (laughter) ... Ummmm, well, how did I feel? It’s always so strange, I think it was always so weird when we were reading the books ... like we knew would eventually be doing then. Because I would be like a fan of the books, so I’m reading as a fan and I’m excited to see where everything goes. At the same time, Ginny would pop up, and I would have red lights flashing in my eyes. So it was bizarre, you know. We always knew Ginny, there was always clues along the way that would eventually happen., but I think it was still like a shock.

I remember some friends reading like probably quicker than me and be like “Oh my God, have you got to page whatever like five hundred something?” And I’m like “No, no, no, what happens at that point?” So I would have to force myself to slowly read. For me, as an actress playing Ginny, it was also an incredible experience. I was incredibly excited when that happened because I knew that, you know, my role would bring challenges that I wanted as an actress. Umm … I mean, it was bizarre, the two of us knowing each other since we were that age, you all become extended family, so the reality of filming the scenes was a very bizarre reality because it was just like, someone, you know, you're turning around having to do that with a best friend which is quite bizarre. Umm, but, you know, I can’t complain. (laughter)

Audience Questions: Ms. Wright, I happened to catch your documentary, Fade to Gold, which I thought was really good. I know it was a personal project for you so the question I have is ... Oh and I hope that someday we get to hear “Academy Award Winner, Bonnie Wright” for her documentary or direction because we need more women directors.
Bonnie: Oh, thank you.

The question I have is: If you were given carte blanche to make a documentary or narrative film, what would be some of the stories you would want to tell? Specifically, documentary, but if you have some narrative thoughts, too, I’d like to hear.
Bonnie: Yeah, documentary, I guess, I mean, for me that was my first documentary piece, and obviously it was basically about my parents’ practice as jewelers so it was something that I grew up knowing, so I felt there was a story within me that I wanted to tell for them. I think dabbling in other documentary subjects, there hasn’t been anything to mind yet that I managed to start working on. I’ve been much more concentrating recently on my narrative work.

I just shot another short film like a month ago called Play Me Backwards, and then I have another short film I’m going to do back in London in January. It’s called Medusa’s Ankles. It’s actually the first film I’m directing that the original story’s not mine. It’s an actually adaptation of a book called Medusa’s Ankles, by a British author. So, I don’t know, I’m still kinda figuring themes out. A recurring theme has kinda been ... I'm sorta obsessed with landscapes - obsessed with the physical space and how the physical space you’re in can often, like, take you out of yourself. Like, a shift in a new space enables you to like, see something inside yourself maybe you haven’t see before.

So that’s kinda a recurring theme in my work. I’m not sure in terms of documentary, other documentaries, I’ll have to see. I don’t know if you guys have seen Tom’s documentary recently, or his TV show that he did? We often chat about things like that. He definitely has a love of documentary, but you’ll have to wait and see, I’m afraid.

Questioner: We look forward to it!
Bonnie: Thanks!

Audience Question: Did you actually drink Pumpkin Juice?
Bonnie: (makes a horrible face) Pumpkin Juice. Did I drink Pumpkin Juice? We drank lots of (air quotes) “Butterbeer.” I’m afraid it hadn’t been fashioned to be real then. All of the props and all the fantastical things look great on screen ... but the reality of what they tasted like wasn’t often as good. We have all the feasts in the Great Hall. Like the first day looked amazing and by about the fifth day were unbearable. Like, if it was real food, a lot of it was obviously fake or it would smell, but they would paint gloss paint over the food to make it look shiny and steamy on the camera, and you’d often see like, obviously, by the however many film, we’d be like, “Don’t at the food. It’s probably got paint on it.” (laughter)

Which was a bizarre thing, but then you’d have different kids that would come in to play the other students and we’d be like, “No, no, no, no, don’t touch that!” And they’d be like, “Oh no.” 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 ..." (makes face), 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. (crowd moans) Which is horrible. When they opened 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 five sips and then it’s like sugar overload. I wish they had gotten quicker in inventing that. (laughter)

Mediator: You can get it at Starbucks. It’s like one of the secret menu items. So, now, it’s addictive. I'm actually serious. You can go into any Starbucks and say, “I want a Butterbeer” and they have a barista who will make you one.
Bonnie: I’ll have to try that! You know where I’ll be after this!

Audience Question: So huge fan, obviously, I’m here. This is a common question you probably get everywhere you go, but I have to ask. Is Daniel Radcliffe a good kisser?
Bonnie: Never kiss and tell. (lots of clapping). You can probably imagine. I don’t know. The thing is, like I said, the reality is very different than kissing, like your partner, whoever in your life. It’s like, the 80th take with like six cameras and lighting being fiddled around and like 50 people sitting around watching. It’s not as romantic as it looks on screen.

Audience Question: What are some souvenirs you have from the Harry Potter set?
Bonnie:Well, unfortunately, they were very ... We used to, literally, when we had wands on the set, we almost had to like check them in and out like we were getting like diamond necklaces or something. And also if you broke them, I did break some, I think, they were very ... Now the fact that you get to go the tour, Wizarding World, those things, due to the fact that we weren’t allowed to take one home, because they archived everything. So, every costume we wore, even though there’s 20 costumes of each one, for all different scenes, they would archive everything and keep everything. So, if I did take anything, I probably took it by mistake. (laughter). In which case, I probably shouldn’t say. (more laughter) I don’t know, I guess.

For me, I still have loads of friends who were part of the crew, or work in the archives at Warner Bros, so there’s been a few times I’ve gone back to Leavesden. I remember going back there and riding on, I don’t know which Batman it was, maybe the recent one. So we were fiddling through all the different Harry Potter props they had in the Exhibition, like excited to see them again, like having memories. Like here’s the Bane costume, and like not the Batmobile. But it wasn’t the Batmobile, it was the motorbike version. That was pretty fun. I was more excited about that. So, if I wanted my wand, I’d just have to buy my wand like everyone else. (laughter)

Moderator imitating Bonnie: But it’s my picture on the box!!!
Bonnie: Please???!!!

Audience Question: What was your favorite behind the scenes moment?
Bonnie: Ooh, there were many, many moments. Hmmm. Gosh ... Ummm … like I said, all the Weasley house scenes were definitely, like the most fun, in terms of all of us just causing havoc. I remember there were hours of us catching up still on school work, so as we were filming there was all the school work to catch up on so often that would be quite fun. We’d be on set and then we’d be having math together in a classroom, all different ages.

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. 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 comeradery between us made it so enjoyable. So I think for me, in that moment, behind the scenes, it just strengthened and made me realize what a family I’d become a part of. It made me grateful to be a part of it.

Moderator: Was there one specific effects shot that you had to do, because they are so loaded with CG, blue screen, green screen, ping pong balls on sticks ... was there one effects shot that where you were looking at it they are telling you, “OK, this is how it’s going to look,” and you’re going, “This is bonkers! I can’t wrap my head around this.”
Bonnie: There was one scene. I mean, most of the time we were incredibly lucky that the sets, they really made the sets, you know. A lot of films they make a tiny portion, or like they will have a table and the rest they are like,' There’s going to be this huge thing behind you.” Whereas, we were very lucky that the sets felt very real. Like, you could shake something and it wouldn’t fall apart. Or like, for instance, the Great Hall, that was real stone floor. I don’t what - it’s a specific type of stone somewhere in England. Most sets would be like fake floors or like fiberglass, and they were like real stone floors. When you walked in to the Great Hall it was like you were walking into something amazing.

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 because I’ve seen one as a Horcrux, and they are all falling, and obviously they couldn’t have thousands of glass balls falling on top of us. And 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.

Another scene that was ... Quidditch was also fun but quite painful to shoot. You’d be like sat on a broomstick with basically a bicycle seat on the end and be like strapped in. There was one I had to do - I had to spin 360’ around. But, obviously, if you didn’t like kinda tense and hold yourself when you’re on that bottom fall, you’d be just kinda like hanging off. So it was quite a test of core strength, and you’d do it again and again and you’d be dizzy and trying follow tennis balls flying around. So Quidditch was quite hard. 'Cause obviously you want to feel like you were in the middle of a match, you’re out of breath, like sports. You were connecting with the other players, yet you were probably filming on your own and looking around at people like, “Here!” (fakes throwing a Quaffle) and like spinning around and throwing one of those balls. Even though I think of myself as a sporty person ...

Moderator: The Quidditch workout routine!
Bonnie: Yeah. (laughs)

Audience Question: The Harry Potter world explores a lot of places. What would you say is your favorite onsite location? Where was your favorite place to shoot?
Bonnie: Well in the first few films we did a lot more on location, I think they still hadn’t established like, “If we build this set, will it be a waste of money and we never get to see it again?” or like, “Will this be a set that stays forever?” So the first films, we did a lot more traveling around England. We went to Gloucester Cathedral. We went to Lacock Abbey, and all these different places in England. They were quite fun because we were all still quite young then, so it was almost like we were at a school camp, so you’d all be like staying in a hotel be like, “Ooh.” Like we were on vacation. Again, probably like running havoc for everyone else apart from ourselves. But I loved Gloucester Cathedral. I think it was amazing being in like ... something like history. We were like in a film set that managed to lock down like an entire city almost and film.

And then in terms of like the actual real sets that we built, it was funny because they rebuilt the court yard. Toward the end of the films they realized like … I think it was the bit where Dumbledore dies and he falls from the tower. There was obviously no way they shoot such an important scene off in a real location because you would get loads of people photographing it and obviously you’d wanted to be a secret. So they rebuilt the entire Gloucester Cathedral like in this huge space in the back lot of the studios, and it was at that point of the films you realize just how big these movies were. I was like, “Whoa, they just rebuilt like an entire city in the field.” I always loved the Burrow. It just literally didn’t make sense as a building. Like, how is it standing up? It’s obviously meant to be all like crooked and different little add-ons and everything. It really felt like that on set. Like you’d be walking up stairs and be like, “Oh, I’m falling!” There’d be different elements.

All of those things like the knitting and the washing up – they were really there. There was like, you know, a brush washing a dish in the background and like that clock that said where we were. Obviously it didn’t really say where we were when we walked in the house, that would be magic. (laughter) Those like attention to detail, people always assume now that everything is done in post-production and computers make these things happen. You’d be amazed at how many props we actually had on set that like did actually perform what they did in real life. And then going back to my love for Hagrid - I always loved Hagrid’s Hut.

Audience Question: I wanted to know what is your funniest and/or most embarrassing moment on set?
Bonnie: That’s like asking someone, “What’s the funniest moment of the last 10 years of your life?” Umm ... (mumbles the question again) Umm ... Gosh. Uhhh, I remember once - Diagon Alley was always fun to hide in. So we would be like, the moment you were needed on set, you thought, “what shop should I run into and hide?” I remember doing that on the second one when we had all those scenes in Flourish and Blotts when there’s like GIlderoy Lockhart. I remember Edward (Randall) and I hid in the shop next door and they took like 20 minutes, half an hour, to find us. (laughter) That was pretty fun, much to everyone else’s annoyance. It was hilarious. Yeah, sets were, in terms of the freedom we had as kids, that was always pretty fun. They were never overbearing. They trusted us. I don’t know why they trusted us! (laughter). Yeah, Diagon Alley was always fun where we hid.

Audience Question: What was it like to be possessed by Tom Riddle in the second movie?
Bonnie: Very scary. (laughter) I really, really loved making that film, the Chamber of Secrets. I still remember it really, really, well. I must have been 11, I think. It was great because all the moments where they had ... A lot of the scenes they didn’t obviously ... unfortunately, lots of scenes get cut when you get to the real edit of the movie. I remember doing days and days of like, “How can we show her possessed today?” (laughter)

Hmmmm, they’d be like, “What weird and strange thing can she do today?” So I would just be like running around every set that we had, filming all of these. So, on a film you usually have the main unit and second unit. Second unit usually picks up different things the main unit didn’t get to, or just like cut away stuff. So I remember having like a week with Ginny and the diary and the second unit. We just filmed all these crazy things. There’s a scene when there’s all that blood written on the wall. We had this thing where it was like a pen strapped to my finger.

Audience Question: What was it like to direct?
Bonnie: I was able to draw on when I was the actor child and I had seen how they had handled us. So, I kinda knew what I had to do. But it was also quite strange the moment when I started, which never happened for me the other way around be an actor, directing people much older than me with a lot more experience. David Thewlis was in my first film as well - he plays Lupin in the Harry Potter films - and I remember being really nervous to direct him. But I don’t think ... you know, all of it is formed my directing so, so much.

Audience Question: What was it like to grow up with the cast?
Bonnie: It was amazing. It was like giant family; extended family. It’s kinda one of those things, because that was my only reality, was growing up in that way, 10 years. It’s something I think, for all of us, we only managed to make sense after we finished the films. We were in such a bubble when we were making them, you never looked past ... It seemed so far away - the ending of everything. So it wasn’t until afterwards did I realize the impact that made on my life - and really realized how grateful I was to be given that experience when I was that young. I couldn’t ask for a better support network now.

It’s so exciting to see what each of us is going on to do … how different people evolve. It’s like, really beautiful to see people becoming “them” when we were almost “one” thing when we were filming, yet everyone going off on their own paths. So, yeah, it was one big extended family. And all of the crew, you know, the camera team, the lighting, the catering, the drivers, all these people, they often they worked their way up in their industry, in their field. It was amazing to see someone that was a camera trainee on the first film suddenly be camera operating by the end. So, not only was there all of the actors, if you can imagine thousands of other people behind all of the sets, they were as much of our family as everyone else.

Audience Question: What was your favorite spell?
Bonnie: My favorite spell of Ginny’s was Reducto because it destroyed everything! (laughter) It was like a really explosive spell, which I quite liked. Just one word, "Poof!" Everything!

Moderator: As a fan of the books before you even landed the part, and reading them as they got published, was there a plot point or a twist where you were looking at it thinking, “I can’t wait to film this!” and you have like a three year lag time between. It’s almost like getting an advanced advance copy of the script.
Bonnie: Ummm ... I mean, when I when I found out that Ginny started playing Quidditch, even though I didn’t know what it was going to be like, I was really excited for that. I think there were also a lot of moments when we were reading the book not only was I really hyped about performing, I was also so excited to see how they were going to make that. And it was also the same as when we were filming. Like a lot of the days, obviously, I wasn’t going to be there, these things I wasn’t in, so when the films came out I was so excited to see those bits I wasn’t in.

One of the main things I really loved was when the Order of the Phoenix started coming into play, you know, and Sirius Black, James and Lily, and all these ... As a reader, I really loved what that was, what that kind of close knit sense of, like, trust that they all had between each other, and how different people infiltrated it and pulled it apart. For anyone loving Harry and sort of gunning for him that is like ... suddenly he realizes his family is bigger than he ever thought, bigger than himself. So, I was always really excited to see how they would do those scenes, or just that side of it. I also remember being quite excited by the Triwizard Tournament just because it was a moment to get out of Hogwarts. It was a moment to see the magical world beyond that. Imagine going to a game you would go to anyway, like a ball game, imagine that, but in a magical sense. It was like you could have so much fun with it, and we did.

Audience Question: What was it like when the script writer told you Bellatrix was going to try to kill you?
Bonnie:Scary! (laughter) Although the following proceeding line by Mrs. Weasley, I was like, “Yes!” (laughter) That scene was really fun to do because when the two of them knew it, too. Julie like, all the time, every time she saw Helena down corridor she would be like, get it out there and say it. So they were like toying with each other for months before we shot it. (laughter) So each of them were, like, as excited, and I kinda liked it. Imagine your mom stepping up to that challenge and be like a little bit of evil coming out. That was a really fun scene. It was weird though.

There were lots of these huge moments we were all looking forward to, towards the end, the last few weeks of filming. And there was a real sense by the end, while we were filming ... not only because like, half of Hogwarts was literally in rubble, so there was a feeling of we literally almost destroyed everything anyway. We’d go out and film there was a real sense of end coming. So there was like all these great moments leading to this great climax that Jo had written. So it was those moments when we filmed them and that it was like we wrapped that scene, it would be a really sad moment because it was like all these last little bits of pure gold that we were getting to film. So however much I was excited to film that scene, I was like I never wanted to film it because it was meaning an end was coming.

Moderator: You have the final question. Make it a good one.

Audience Question: What do you think was the most upsetting death in Harry Potter?
Bonnie:Ooooh, that’s a good question. (laughter) Oh, that’s really difficult. There’s like the three deaths that I think (makes a grimace face). Can I say three?

Moderator: It’s your show!
Bonnie:OK, fine! Dobby (crowd moans), Dumbledore (small moan), with how much he … whatever capacity he comes back in, and, of course, Sirius Black. (long pause) Should we stick with Dobby then? That seemed to get the most reaction. (laughter)

Moderator: The House Elf gets a bigger thing than Dumbledore! (lots of laughter)
Bonnie: In that scene where Michael Gambon falls from the tower he couldn’t ... He tells the best jokes. His imagination is pretty funny. There was a scene when we all run up to him and I’m next to Dan, this really intense moment, and he just couldn’t help but tear everything apart. He couldn’t keep a straight face and he would just sit there ... he was off camera just doing all these stupid faces and different things. And we’re like “Stop!” He managed to make what should have been an incredibly sad scene, humorous.

Audience Member shouts: What about Fred??? (laughter)
Bonnie: (pauses for a moment, smiles) Nah ... he teased me too much! (laughter and clapping)

Moderator: If you had the opportunity to go back in time to yourself at 9 ¾ years old and give yourself a piece of advice on what to do to get through the filming of the eight films, what would you tell yourself?
Bonnie: You know, I don’t think I would say anything because the mystery of the unknown of it all was what made it so exciting. You’re really young. You have that innocence about you. That fearlessness is really special. Every year that you go, you begin to overthink everything.

You begin to see the bigger world beyond. So I think the unknown was the best part of it all, and I think unknown, in the sense that I had no idea where my character was going to go, no idea where the scene was going to go, no idea who on that set would end up being a huge part of my life. So, I think, nothing.