“I was friends with Stuart [Brennan, producer and costar of Houdini], and he’s one of these people who’s always working on 10 things [at the same time] and he’d always be sending me script readings, and I’d say, ‘Great, OK, let me know when it’s going...’”

“I didn’t think it would ever come to anything, because he’d sent me a couple of film scripts and I got really excited about them and then it was like…”

“Then he sent me this, and I really liked the script. It was so sharp and funny and really interesting and so I went on tape and he sent it to Peter and, yeah, they liked it and they… cast me.”

“I guess I’m apprehensive about the casting of Harry (Jamie Nichols has since been cast in the role) because they [he and Bess] have such a unique relationship. They were inseparable,” says Evanna.

“They were two vagabonds just travelling around and they went to England and they went to Germany and it was just them and so to have that bond was so…”

“I think it’s important like, obviously, not that I fall in love with this person, but just to feel [something]. Yeah. So I hope that goes well and I guess I’m nervous of going on tour,”

On opening night jitters:
“Oh my gosh, yeah. I don’t know,” says Evanna. “I am nervous about that, but hopefully all the rehearsal will help ease those nerves because yesterday, for the auditions, I was watching auditions all day and then I had to get up and I WAS SO NERVOUS. I was freaking out. So I hope I can overcome that and it won’t get in the way.”

“[My parents] see [theatre] as the pinnacle of acting. Where you’re just one person on the stage and you have to captivate the audience.

“I don’t even know if they have that much respect for film.”

“That’s what attracted me to the script so much,” she says. “It’s the elements they combine, there’s amazing story, the drama, the tension between the brothers and Houdini’s wife. Plus, they’re doing all of the illusions, you know, they have some vanishing acts so it’s gonna be so visual but also a story.”

The transition from screen to stage:
“Well, first of all, you’ve so much preparation time, which I enjoy. For film, you have a few weeks to prepare and you also don’t get any rehearsal time. Whereas this gives us a chance, especially with acting real people who had existed before, who had who lived 20 years before this will be experienced.

“It would almost be an injustice to them not to explore, not to give a lot of time and a few intense weeks of thought and exploration to discover their characters."

"Actually I’m doing a few short courses at UCLA I did a screenwriting course, which was fun. I feel that goes hand-in-hand with writing, you know, having to explore characters and invent backstory because that’s what we have to do. When you get an audition and the character might be crap, they might be so flat, and you have to go and do all that work — and it’s the same with writing.”