Last night I was one of the fan sites invited to cover the Grand Opening of Harry Potter: The Exhibit and the release of the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 DVD. We were able to stand on the red carpet and take photos of the actors in attendence. Sadly my photos didn’t come out too great, but there are some pretty great gems. So head over to the gallery to check out all 120+ images! There are also some better quality photos at the end courtesy of zimbio.
The stars in attendance were Evanna Lynch, Natalia Tena, David Thewlis, James Phelps, Oliver Phelps, Freddie Stroma, Bonnie Wright, Clemence Poesy, Domhnall Gleeson, Warwick Davis, Helen McCrory, Mark Williams, Michael Gambon and Robbie Coltrane! David Barron and David Heyman were also at the event. You can pre-order Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows on DVD or BluRay, to be released on April 11th in the UK and April 15th in the USA, at the following links:
Today the Apple store in SoHo had a cast Q&A session with members of the Harry Potter cast. David Barron, David Heyman, Michael Gambon, Warwick Davis, Robbie Coltrane, Helen McCrory, David Thewlis, Natalia Tena, Bonnie Wright, Evanna Lynch, Freddie Stroma and the Phelps twins were in attendance. I was at the event on behalf of the website but no flash photography or recording of the event were permitted so to hear all of the answers you will have to wait for Apple to release the vide, which should be later tonight. I did try to take some photos but they didn’t come out. Here is a small preview though.
The cast were asked what their favorite scene was, whether they filmed it or they just enjoyed it. Their answers are as follows (is is not exact wording, I was feverishly writing so I would remember what they said)
Michael Gambon – his scenes in the Great Hall making speeches David Heyman – Less actiony scenes such as Harry flying Buckbeak, Harry and Hermione dancing in DH, and when the Gryffindor boys ate the animal candies David Barron – the “no post on Sundays” scene from SS Robbie Coltrane – Norbert hatching and subsequently catching his beard on fire Warwick Davis – the Tale of the Three Brothers animation as well as his stage dive in GoF Helen McCrory – Harry confronting Voldemort in Part 2 David Thewlis – Aunt Marge being blown up and turning into a werewolf Natalia Tena – the Tale of the Three Brothers animation and flying on broomsticks Bonnie Wright – filming in the Chamber of Secrets because it was a turning point for Ginny and the Epilogue Oliver Phelps – Giving Harry the Mauraders Map and the twins fight in GoF James Phelps – the joke shop scenes in HBP Evanna Lynch – the Weasley wedding because it showed that wizards are normal, the people dancing in the background specifically Freddie Stroma – Quidditch scenes; they just threw balls at him and he had to hit them away which made for some interesting moments; smashing a light, hitting a fan, and hitting a person
I will post the link to the video when it is available for download
Warner Bros has announced that there will be a red carpet premiere at New York City’s Discovery Time Square at 7pm on Monday, April 4, 2011 for the opening of Harry Potter: the Exhibition as well as the DVD/Blu-ray release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I.
WB has emailed to let us know that fans will be able to sit in a special area with risers to watch the stars come down the carpet. So far we know that Daniel Radcliffe and Bonnie Wright as well as some other stars will be in attendance!
I will be in attendance at the event as well as a few others scheduled and will report back with photos/video/whatever else I’m able to do at the event, haha.
The Financial Times have released a behind the scenes video on their photoshoot featuring Bonnie Wright entitled ‘How to Spend it”, Bonnie’s spread is called “Genius in Beauty”. Photos from the shoot may be seen over at So-Bonnie.
As many of you know, the BAFTA Awards were held today and the Harry Potter series received the award for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema, it was presented by Stephen Fry and there was a montage accompanying them accepting the award. Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, JK Rowling, David Yates, David Heyman, Helena Bonham Carter, Bonnie Wright, Jamie Campbell Bower, Miranda Richardson and director Mike Newell were at the awards ceremony. Hopefully there will be a video of the cast and crew accepting the award online soon. Emma Watson also presented the Rising Star Award. A lot of videos are beginning to appear online so here is the first roundup. You can also watch a video of Rupert here that has embedding disabled.
Scans from a feature on Bonnie Wright in Total Film Indonesia are now online as well as a translation which can be read here. Some segments from the interview are below as well as the scans
You’ve shot the Epilogue. Have you gone through an aging process?
Yes, it was a very bizarre thing to go through, really, to be able to have that chance to be suddenly made up to look mid-thirties. It’s was an exciting day but bizarre. Obviously, for me, it almost felt like a real cycle, because I started on that same platform, at the same age that Lily Potter, the youngest daughter of Ginny and Harry was, so it’s almost literally like looking back at myself.
How does it feel to have three kids?
The three kids who played the children were just… they just epitomised all of us, when we were that age, so it was lovely to look back. They were so excited on the day, it was a massive dream come true, and they’d been through such a massive process of auditioning. I think it was probably the most auditions any person has been through to get a part in a film. In the auditioning process Dan and I sat down with different children and talked to them, because obviously the dynamic is incredibly important… to try and portray the idea that they are this family unit, that they’ve spent every living moment together, since they were babies in their hands to how they are now. It was challenging to get that warmth with someone you’ve barely met and some children don’t want to get close to someone they don’t know. But they understood it was incredibly important to make the scene work, so they were very giving to the situation.
Through your relationship with Jamie, you’ve seen the Twilight phenomenon. Do you think Harry Potter is better?
I think they’re two completely different sort of stories, really. I think the way that Jo Rowling has written it is incredible and personally, for me, it’s much richer than the stories of Twilight, because it’s from a much more mythological, historical element that’s just a bit deeper and I think they’ve got different elements.
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