'Harry Potter' Star Was Pen Pals With J.K. Rowling Before Being Cast in Movies

Evanna Lynch, who plays Luna Lovegood in the Harry Potter movies, stopped by British talk show Lorraine and discussed her friendship with J.K. Rowling, which predates her being cast in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Lynch was in the hospital with an eating disorder when she decided to reach out to Rowling.

Evanna Lynch (center), on the set of <em>Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix</em>, 2007. (Photo: Warner Bros./Courtesy Everett Collection)
Evanna Lynch (center), on the set of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, 2007. (Photo: Warner Bros./Courtesy Everett Collection)

“I was sick with an eating disorder at the time and I wrote her because I felt like Harry Potter was the only thing that took my mind off of it,” Lynch said.

Lynch says that Rowling wrote her back and the two became pen pals.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was Lynch’s first acting role, and she had to compete with thousands of other girls in an open casting for the role. But as a fan of the books, she particularly liked the Luna Lovegood character.

“Luna especially inspired me because I think a lot of my problems were because I felt odd. I felt weird. She made me want to — to see that that was OK, and that was actually empowering,” Lynch said.

Though the Harry Potter movies are done, Lynch still works with Rowling as an ambassador for Lumos, a nonprofit children’s charity that Rowling founded.

Flashback: J.K. Rowling talks Harry Potter after release of first book in 1997:

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