Photo: Warner Bros. Studio Tour Hollywood
Fans of theHarry Potterfilm franchise are now able to reconnect with a fresh array of artifacts and tableaus from the Wizarding World at the newly revamped Warner Bros. Studios Tour Hollywood, but for actress Bonnie Wright, who played Ginny Weasley, a visit to the attraction was a literal walk down memory lane.
Wright, 30, tells PEOPLE that a pre-opening visit to the newly updated facility on the Burbank, CA, studio lot sparked memories of her earliest experiences on set at just nine years old when production on the film series began two decades ago.
Warner Bros. Studio Tour Hollywood
“I was in the set, it was all happening and it was a wonderful time,” she says. “And then you watch the movies and you’re like, ‘Wow, they really did portray magic.’ Especially in the early ones, when they’re setting the scene, and Harry’s finding out about the Wizarding World. It’s all just so exciting.”
She still marvels at the education in acting and filmmaking that she received while growing up on the sets of Hogwarts. “I got this amazing look into the film world,” she says. “I was so interested in not just the role as an actor, but also just all the other incredible things that made the films what they are. I was so exposed to just attention to detail, to craftsmanship, and just the quality of work was really what set me up.
“It made me just know that stuff can be made really well, to strive for that and work harder at your craft,” she adds. “When you look at all these things and designs, all the people who were making the props and the production design, were just so brilliant at what they did. And I had a lot of respect for them when I was younger.”
Wright says that while the global pandemic kept her apart from her castmates for a year and a half, like everyone else they managed to stay in touch via video chats and texts. “There were some birthdays during this time, so definitely some Zoom birthdays and some FaceTiming,” she says, admitting that she’s eager to reconnect with her old friends in person.
“Hopefully again soon, when we travel for things around Harry Potter and different things; it’s just so nice to all still be in contact and see how everyone’s woven their lives since finishing,” she says. “The best way to describe it, obviously, is like when you went to school with someone and you get together with them, but also it’s such a unique experience that sometimes it’s hard to explain to people. But when you’re with those who you experienced it with, you just get each other and there’s a thing you don’t have to explain.”
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But Wright says that she doesn’t expect a reunion to happen for a reboot of theHarry Potterfilms, even ten or twenty years in the future – and she’s fine with that. “I would hope that they keep it as it was,” she admits. “I think it’s like a time capsule, and [if] you open it and it changes and everything feels kind of different… For sure, I miss playing Ginny, but I always quite like the idea that it’s properly compacted into those seven years at Hogwarts.”
But she also knows to never say never, in Hollywood or Hogwarts. “At the same time, I love the experience so much. And I know that the production and all of us would do it so well that no matter what they imagined, it would be brilliant.”
source: people.com
