This Oscar-nominated actor lost out on Luna Lovegood role in Harry Potter, says how it ‘stayed with me over the years’ | Hollywood FilmyMeet

Getting cast in Harry Potter was a dream for this actor but she did not get the part even after auditioning. This Irish actor revealed that she missed that ride to Hogwarts and looks back at it as one of those roles she wishes she had gotten. She is none other acclaimed actor Saoirse Ronan, considered one of the best of her generation. (Also read: Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe grieves co-star Maggie Smith’s death: ‘I’ll always consider myself lucky…’)

‘I lost, again’

Saoirse was present in a recent episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live! to promote her upcoming film The Outrun, where she opened up about losing out on the Harry Potter role. She said, “There’s things that you’ll pass on and then they come out and you think, ‘Oh, God, that was a misstep on my part.’ But I think the one that stayed with me over the years was — I didn’t say no to it, I just didn’t get the part. I lost, again. It’s a running theme for me — I had gone up for Luna Lovegood in Harry Potter years ago.”

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She went on to add, “It was the Irish character, so they got everyone Irish. Like half of Ireland came and auditioned…because I was too young but I got to read out a scene that was gonna be in Harry Potter and it was the coolest thing ever.”

Luna Lovegood was eventually played by Evanna Lynch. She was cast at age 14, after auditioning against 15,000 other girls, and a subsequent screen test with lead actor Daniel Radcliffe. She won the part after writing to the author J.K. Rowling about her struggles with anorexia.

Her character was introduced in the fifth installment of the film franchise Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, which released in 2007. Interestingly, it was the same year when Saoirse’s debut in Atonement also released. The actor, who was 13 at that time, received rave reviews for her performance as the younger sister of lead star Keira Knightley. She ultimately received her first Academy Award nomination for the film.