Evanna Lynch was a big "Harry Potter" fan before stepping onto the set, with Luna Lovegood making a big impression on the actress. She told Audible UK, "I loved how she made me feel because she's totally nonjudgemental, you know? ... I think it comes from her self-acceptance. She fully accepts who she is, and that extends beyond her so that she can accept every person, every animal, every situation as it is." Luna's acceptance and reassuring nature are depicted during her introduction in "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" when she meets Harry, hoping he will calm down after telling him that the Thestrals he sees are real.
Lynch told Playbill that she started reading the "Harry Potter" books when she was 8 years old, noting that Luna was written into the series by the time she was 11. "I felt very protective of her. I felt like I understood her energy and her spirit. And I was like, 'I just don't want some actress coming in and doing her job,'" she said, noting that she nabbed the part of Luna after responding to an open casting call when she was 14 years old.
Lynch has since shared her love for the written word with Wizarding World fans by offering a creative writing lesson during Harry Potter Book Day 2023. She has also connected her vegan lifestyle to "Harry Potter" by writing the introduction for "The Unofficial Harry Potter Vegan Cookbook: Extraordinary Plant-Based Meals Inspired by the Realm of Wizards and Witches," written by Imana Grashuis and Tylor Starr.
