SnitchSeeker had the opportunity to chat with Bonnie Wright at this year's A Celebration of Harry Potter in January about her thoughts on this year's festivities, her favorite parts of the convention - including the
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them VR experience, and what she's got coming up next. More on that can be read below.
SnitchSeeker: Hi Bonnie! How are you?
Bonnie Wright: I’m very good, thank you.
SnitchSeeker: So this is not your first time at the Celebration, so tell us what it’s been like compared to the last time – what new experiences you’ve discovered.
Bonnie: Sure, I feel like every time I come here I’m always just so blown away by the amount of people that continue to come and celebrate the world here and just to be part of that continuing journey that Harry Potter is and has been for so many people. I think it just builds every time. You meet people who have been here to the Celebration four times in a row. It’s super cool that they feel that there’s an event every year that enables them – a date to set and a diary to come, and also just to be around other fans, I’m sure. It’s a place where people probably see each other again.
SnitchSeeker: Have you ventured around the Expo – and what have been your favorite highlights there?
Bonnie: Yeah, I have. I love always seeing the MinaLima displays that they do. I’m just so happy that so much of their work was able to be seen that didn’t get to be seen because you can’t cut to loads of close ups when we’re filming. So that work really gets to be seen and experienced by people.
I like the fact that this year’s all around the Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes, which I think is great. And then I also saw my costume again that I wore in the wedding. That was cool. I did a VR experience for Fantastic Beasts. That was really cool. I just love VR. I think it’s such an interesting new world in terms of every day it feels like it’s moving along in its technical advancements. So that was really cool.
I loved the Thunderbird character – the amazing big bird – so that was amazing to have it fly almost above you and you could feed it and do different things. I also loved meeting the guys who did the concerts, who are touring the Harry Potter films around the world and, at each venue, working with the local orchestra doing a live orchestrated showing of the movies. I love going to things like that so I’m looking forward to trying to catch one of their concerts.
SnitchSeeker: We went to the one in New York. It was spectacular.
Bonnie: I was going to go to the one that was in the Hollywood Bowl recently but I was away. So I’m going try and go to the one that’s coming up.
SnitchSeeker: What’s been your favorite new fan experience this year?
Bonnie: I actually met a girl yesterday who was wearing a dress that had this letter that Harry gets – the Privet Drive letter – but the material that the dress was made on was actually all made from recycled plastic bottles. So it was cool to see that, obviously people have been wearing those Marauder’s Map dresses and Privet Drive dresses and all different incredible variations people design, but it was cool to see the element of something that I’m really interested in, which is that stable materials and innovative design and things that are coming up these days. So it was cool that that had mixed with Harry Potter.
SnitchSeeker: So they’re further expanding the theme parks here. What would you personally like to see added?
Bonnie: It’d be pretty cool to have Fantastic Beasts, just because of all the animals I think people would really enjoy. I loved that part of it. And it’s set in the 1920s, which was cool, and obviously how the movies are going to go through different cities – I think that would be really cool.
SnitchSeeker: And from Ginny’s perspective?
Bonnie: I think it would be cool to have more of a Quidditch element in the park. I think people love Quidditch and people really, really got into all of the multitude of all the different teams that Jo wrote about – and when she said there are all the other schools around the world – it would be cool to have some sort of Quidditch World Cup ride. Or even just something that was more interactive – not so much putting glasses on and feeling like a virtual world, but it’s more like a physical space that maybe people can try to play Quidditch in. I think people have, you know, people in the world have actually created their own Muggle version of Quidditch, so maybe that would be cool.
SnitchSeeker: So you saw the first Fantastic Beasts – what was your favorite part and what are you looking most forward to seeing in the future movies?
Bonnie: More animals, I guess – more different animals that they have. Also, just seeing what city they go to and that new world. It’ll be cool to see Jude Law playing the young Dumbledore. That will be cool.
SnitchSeeker: What’s coming up next for you?
Bonnie: I’m midway through writing a script – a future script. I’m working on that and really just continuing my directing. Last year, I directed my first two commercials – so probably continuing through that world, too. So commercials, music videos and then just continuing to work with both Greenpeace and Lumos this year – and just different projects that I have coming up with them.
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