Emma Thompson Makes New Comments on Decision Not to Return as Trelawney
Thompson
Posted by: Sue
January 02, 2009, 07:56 PM
In an interview before the release of her latest film, Last Chance Harvey, actress Emma Thompson has made some new comments regarding her decision not to return to the part of Professor Trelawney for the final Harry Potter films. Speaking with the San Francisco Chronicle, Emma Thompson addresses the outcry over her decision, and her upcoming work on the sequel to Nanny McPhee. Quotage:
Thompson does have a creative outlet other than acting, which is her
writing. She's been working on a drama about British art critic John
Ruskin, and this year filming will start on the sequel to "Nanny
McPhee" (2005), which she adapted from a children's book series.
While this project might seem innocent enough, "Harry Potter" fans
have been all over Thompson because of reports suggesting that she
chose Nanny over Sybil (in the forthcoming "Harry Potter and the
Deathly Hallows") when both were scheduled to be shot at the same time.
"I wasn't being rude at all," says Thompson, who adds that she loves
Sybil. "It's so typical, where they take something very, very small and
turn it into a big deal. I was never going to be in the next 'Harry
Potter.' I sort of put that to bed."
Emma Thompson is one of my favorite actresses in the Harry Potter series. I will certainly miss her, however, as long as I get to watch her in Nanny McFee I guess I will be happy because I loved that move. If some of you think she is being a little bit arrogent, perhaps she deserves to be. She did some amazing movies before Harry Potter and she will do some more amazing movies afterward and such a small role when compared to her whole body of work really is not a big deal. The Harry Potter producers are lucky she agreed to grace it with her presence for the little roll of Trelawny at all. Don’t get me wrong, I love Harry Potter as much as you all do, but I equally love Harry Potter, Emma Thompson, and Julie Andrews and all three of those entities are equally as "big" in my eyes, and I will love Emma Thompson in or out of Harry Potter.
I won’t give up hope, since the filming for part two of the Deathly Hallows is so far away, that she might still show up to throw some crystal balls! For the people saying that Thompson overacted as Trelawney, I don’t think they understood the character of Trelawney. That’s what she did—she was melodramatic through and through.
I was just discussing with a friend of mine about the inevitable differences between the book HBP and movie version of HBP. We both agreed that Rowling’s world is so rich, and book 6 is so full of content, that even if HBP were 3 hours long it couldn’t include everything we’d deem important. Reading the comments here, I’ve discovered that Trelawney’s role is something that didn’t make the cut. (I realize I’m digressing here, and my apologies!) From the moviemakers’ perspective, I understand this, but how unfortunate!
Just because a segment is only a few minutes long doesn’t mean there isn’t a lot of work involved. There is pre production and post production. Setting up the scene. Makeup. etc. To say an actor is only on the screen for a few minutes is not taking into account all of the work involved. What appears to be a few minutes to the audience could actually have taken hours to the people involved.