First Interview with Lynch Family

HOST: Now, you might recall on the show, some months back, we mentioned an article in the newspaper that referred to the Harry Potter movies, and they were looking for a new character to play -- or at least a person to play the part of Luna Lovegood, one of the characters in Harry Potter. And they went all over Britain looking for her, and then they realized, there's not enough talent in Britain, they have to go somewhere proper to get her, so they came to Ireland. And not only did they come to Ireland, but Ireland came to them, to find maybe the right girl to play the part. And they found her! And her name is Evanna Lynch, and she got the role, and her mother's with us now. Her name's Marguerite - Marguerite, good morning!

Marguerite: Good morning, Ryan.

HOST: Let's give her a round of applause for Evanna! (Applause) From my understanding of it, first of all, where are you from? They couldn't find anyone in Britain, right... but that's a given. And then they come to Ireland, where the talent is, and that's also a given. But then let's go local again... where did they find, ultimately, the girl that they needed?

Marguerite: Well, we live in Termonfeckin, you know, Evanna does. (laughs)

HOST: Well they found her here, and uh, how are things in Termonfeckin? Which is great. Now, uh, she's a Harry Potter nut, isn't she?

Marguerite: She's a fanatic, yes. You know, obsessed with the books ever since she discovered them... she has read each of them at least six or seven times, and I think that was stood for her when she went and queued up with the 15,000 because probably nobody queued knew them quite as well as she did. And when she was taken into a room and asked to learn a script very quickly, it was no problem, she probably knew it already!

HOST: But you know, it's one thing, loving the material, and reading the books, but it's quite another isn't it, to go for an acting part and then to get it! And when she queued along with all those hundreds and hundreds of other girls, and she was eventually, it was whittled down, how did she find out ultimately that she was going to be picked?

Marguerite: Umm, well, when she went and queued, uhh, most of the girls who went in and, you first went in you were told to say your name and where you came from. And maybe the word Termonfeckin crossed somebody's ear (laughing), anyhow out of about 30 girls she was told, you go into the next room, and most of the others were told to go away, if they were from boring places like, I don't know where! (laughs)

HOST: Dublin?

Marguerite: (laughs) And, umm, then in the next room she was given a script to learn, you know, parts for Luna and she waited, and then went into a room and had to play the part of Luna, and there was a camera man and they must have liked how she did because they kept asking her to re-do it, and kept her. And then said, oh, this is great, you'll have to see Fiona. And Fiona Weir is the Goddess of the casting, and getting to see Fiona was a great step forward. And Fiona really liked her, and so, she told her she'd be contacting her, and she contacted her the following Monday.

HOST: So what's life been like since she got the part? Because Evanna now, I understand she has minders and people are looking after her, no one can get near her now, it would be easier to get an interview with Pope Benedict XVI...

Marguerite: (laughs) Yes, well, Emily will tell you about it...

HOST: What's the story? Emily, good morning! You're Evanna's sister... what's happening now? Is she like, some super model now, surrounded by these two burly minders?

Emily: Today at the school she had like, two bodyguards going around with her everywhere, and the gates were locked and televisions were looking in and she was being kept well under wraps.

HOST: And Luna Lovegood is kind of a mischiveous character, and nothing like Evanna, I presume!

Marguerite: (laughing) Exactly like Evanna... she IS Luna Lovegood, that's the thing, yeah. She's very quirky in every sense and yeah, that's Luna.

HOST: So you reckon that she's perfectly suited for the job. So what's next for her, Marguerite? Where does she go now?

Marguerite: Yes, um, on the weekend she's going over to London, the studios for Harry Potter are in a place called Leavesdon, that nobody's heard of, but it's near Watford...

HOST: It's the Termonfeckin of Watford.

Marguerite: (laughing) Yes! Actually, I must tell you something funny about Termonfeckin. When Evanna was younger, and, you know, obsessed with these books, she used to keep writing to JK Rowling and uh, she actually got an answer after a while. And in her letter she had said to JK Rowling how much she loved the books and how much she would love to act in a Harry Potter movie, but she had said, apparently, that she lived in this sleepy little place called Termonfeckin, where nothing ever happened! (Laughs) And that she was, despairing, you know. And then when JK Rowling wrote back, she said uh, "Dont be too hard on Termonfeckin!" She said, "It does have a brilliant name! And I come from a very sleepy place." And told her about it, and uh, you never know. And it's kind of, uhh...

HOST: It was written in the stars.

Marguerite: It must be, it must be. I think that the uh, the place name must have helped her.

HOST: This is a great achievement for your family, and particularly for Evanna. This is a great achievement for her, and Termonfeckin, and for JK Rowling to be acknowledging Termonfeckin and all it stands for is uh, pretty good. Well done folks. That's terrific. Well done. Congratulations.

(Applause)