- Clue #1: She had a huge crush on Ron Weasley.
- Clue #2: Her best friend is Parvati Patil.
- Clue #3: Her name is a color.
If you guessed Lavender Brown, you're correct! Our own Marie Morreale traveled to London to the set of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I for cast interviews, and got the chance to speak with Jessie Cave who plays Lavender in the final three movies. (Lavender was played by different actresses in the earlier movies.)
Q: When you were reading the Harry Potter books, did you see yourself as the character? Jessie: Not at all, quite the opposite. I mean I read Half-Blood Prince actually weirdly maybe six months before I got the call to an audition. And when I first read the book I didn't like Lavender at all, and found her really annoying. So then to read it again with me in mind playing her, it was very different. I suddenly realized that actually she's just got this huge crush on a boy. And she does just get heartbroken as well. So I had a lot of empathy for her, as opposed to really disliking her.
[Ratha: I agree!]
Q: She probably is one of the characters fans really don't like. What is their reaction to you?
Jessie: I've gotten loads of really sweet letters really loving Lavender and thinking Ron and Lavender should be together and stuff like that. I don't know. I think she's a source of humor in the film. She's not a caricature but she's very nearly a caricature and I think the response to her is funny.
Q: Have you ever gone through a crush like that?
Jessie: Well, I tried to. I wasn't quite as successful as Lavender, but I remember just getting these huge crushes on boys at school. I remember finding a timetable [class schedule] of one of the boys I fancied, and me and my friends would just follow him around. We knew wherever he was in the school day. I used to walk past his class window, thinking that it would make a difference. That he would see me. I was just pathetic. I shouldn't be repeating it now! I was fourteen or fifteen. Just pathetic!
[Ratha: Don’t worry, we've all been there!]
Q: Was it strange coming into an established series where these people had grown up together? Did you have that sort of "new girl in town" vibe? Jessie: Yeah, it was incredibly strange given that I've watched them onscreen and read the books since I was young. But it was a relief to meet them and to realize they are actually really normal. They were all lovely and welcoming. It was a brilliant experience.
Q: Who do you think you bonded with most?
Jessie: On set? Definitely Emma [Watson who plays Hermione]. I really got on with Emma really well. I thought she was brilliant.
Q: How was it kissing "Ron Ron" (Won-Won) in Half-Blood Prince?”
Jessie: It was weird! It was just so strange, mainly because it was my first day of shooting. You were really plunged into the deep end. There were so many people in the room as well so it was quite scary. But, also because of that, because of the people and the sets, it's quite easy to pretend you're in that world for a minute.
Q: How many times did you have to take the shot?
Jessie: Quite a few times. Because there were different angles, it was a two day thing!
[Ratha: Hmm. . . I'll bet they went through lots of chapstick.]
Q: Was it easy or difficult for you to play the character?
Jessie: She was really quite liberating to play. It would be nice to be that free with your emotions and your feelings, and profess your love to people. She's quite energetic and so she's quite fun to play.
Q: What is the best memory that you're going to take away?
Jessie: I think the best memory will be my final day of shooting [Half-Blood Prince] and we were over there in the Weasley Wizard Sweet Shop, which I just love because I used to be an illustrator. I did art. And every single box of sweets was decorated and designed and was beautiful and I just remember thinking, "This is brilliant." But not only that, it was because I knew it was coming to an end the filming. It was such a beautiful day and I remember being so happy that I'd been in this film, and I just remember I loved everything about it.
[Ratha: That's awesome. I think it's those moments that we get flashes of every now and then, that put everything in perspective, and make us really appreciate our lives.]
Q: What book do you think Lavender would recommend to read?
Jessie: Probably something like the Twilight series (for ages 12 and up), because she's such a romantic and they've got great love stories going on in them. So I think she would have read them, and wanted to fall in love with a vampire.
Q: If you could play another character in the Harry Potter series, who would it be?
Jessie: I'd love to play Professor Trelawney or Professor Dolores Umbridge, because they're eccentric characters and I love the glasses Trelawney wears.
There you have it! Keep reading the Harry Potter books and look for more Harry Potter cast interviews, streamlined straight from Ink Splot 26 into your brain. . . as we approach that magical moment – the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I on November 19, 2010.
