You first graced our screens as Ginny Weasley in the Harry Potter series. What compelled you to audition for the part?
My older brother told me to! He had read the first two or three Harry Potter books and he said I should audition for Ginny Weasley, I didn’t know who she was but I believed everything my older brother said so I agreed. I asked my mum to get me an audition and she called the publishers, they gave us the contact details of the casting director and I sent some photos in. I met with the Christopher Columbus, who directed the first two Harry Potter films, and that was it. I was very much a kid who loved to try anything and be involved in anything, I think it was that curiosity and enthusiasm that got me in the room and got me the role. None of us really knew what we were getting in to!

You were so young when it all began. What was it like growing up in front of an audience?
It’s pretty strange but I was lucky because we were kind of protected from it all. We were in a bit of a bubble making the film, in the nicest possible way because when we were making the films we were just making the films like any other production would be, it wasn’t really until finishing did it all begin to make sense. It was one of those things that upon finishing it you could begin to have more of a detached view of what it was. I do look at the first and second films and think oh my god I was just a baby.

After playing Ginny for a decade, how did you feel when the final film wrapped?
It was one of those things that you don’t actually think is ever going to happen. What was quite lovely though is that a lot of the last scenes from the final film were of the Hogwarts battle so there was this real feeling of finale. A lot of characters came back and it was quite emotional. The last scene I filmed was the epilogue at Nine and Three-Quarters at King’s Cross station, which is the set that I started on, so it was this amazing full circle.

You’re a lady of many talents as you’ve also dabbled in screenwriting and directing. What is your main area of interest?
I went to film school and studied directing and writing and since then I’ve been doing some short films and music videos so I guess both writing and directing at the minute. The last short film I did, which was the biggest production I’ve made so far, was actually an adaptation of a short story from a British author called A S Byatt. That was the first time I had directed something that wasn’t my original story so that was quite interesting. I’m exploring short films for the minute but I hopefully I will start thinking about making a feature film in the future.

You also run your own production company, what inspired you to establish BonBonLumière?
BonBonLumière is something that I started when I graduated film school and it’s basically the company that I put all of the films I write and direct under. I’d love to develop it more to become a full development and production company though. The thing I love about the film industry is that it is incredibly collaborative and it’s all about teamwork and working together so I’d love that company to be a space to bring people together to collaborate and produce.

If you could collaborate with anyone in the world, who would it be?
Oh that’s a hard one! I’d love to collaborate with the Aboriginal musician Geoffrey Gurrumul. I always thought he’d be cool to make a music video for.

You’re coming out to Australia for Supanova Pop Culture Expo, what are you most looking forward to doing while you’re in town?
I actually have family in Australia so I’m there quite a bit but I pretty much only get to see Sydney and Perth because that’s where my family is so it will be nice to travel a bit more and go to the Gold Coast and Melbourne. I’m bringing my best friend from London who has never been to Australia so I get to show her the sights.

Harry Potter fans can be somewhat passionate people, have you ever had any strange encounters with a fan?
Luckily I haven’t had that many bazaar ones! I always find the fan base of Harry Potter to be genuinely sweet, I think it stems from the fact that it is a family oriented story. It’s very much a warm-hearted good versus evil story and it ends up bringing out the best in people. You definitely do meet some very passionate fans but it’s always fun.

Do you have any advice for someone who is interested in pursuing acting or filmmaking as a career?
The best thing you can do is to read, watch films and really understand the language of film. Go back into theatrical films and melodrama and explore different genres, even is a particular sub-genre isn’t your thing, it’s important to understand them and understand each different element of filmmaking. I think now more and more with Hollywood and the red carpet you just see the face value of films being celebrities but there’s just so much more to it. Knowledge is power so watch as many films as you can and get involved in drama groups.