Actress Helen McCrory has given a new interview where she discusses filming her role as Narcissa Malfoy in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Noting her appearance in the film is short, she also jokes about the fleeting appearance made by actor Timothy Spall as Wormtail in the Unbreakable vow scene at Spinner's End. Quotage:
"She appears in the two final films of the series, but warns: "Don't
reach down for your popcorn, because by the time you do, I could be off
the screen, in Half-Blood Prince I am literally like, whoa, there she
goes! But everyone was like that. In our first scene, Helena Bonham
Carter and I are rolling past this blue screen, and we knock on the
door and Tim Spall comes out.
"Tim pulls open the door and
looks. That took about a day and a half of filming, and then it was,
'Thank you very much ladies and gentlemen, that's a wrap on Mr Spall,'
and you go, that's it? You have people like Tim, that most producers
are killing themselves to work with, and that's the fun of doing (Harry
Potter]. Everyone is giving their all and they're all used to playing
the lead parts. They're going, 'How shall I open the door? Do you want
me to do it like this, or like this?' That sort of attention to detail,
because, you know, they probably last did Hamlet. So David is
surrounded by actors going, 'Right, I can give you this, or I can give
you that, or I can give you . . .' and he's like, 'Please, please, just
say your one line and f*** off.'" She laughs heartily. "He's
extraordinary, because it's a huge project: the pressure!"
As
the mother of two young children – with her husband, actor Damian
Lewis, she has a daughter Manon, two, and a son, Gulliver, one – I
wonder if she approached Narcissa in the spirit of Cruella de Ville, or
that of a ferocious mum defending her cub?
"In this film it's
about protecting her son. The fact that you have children probably
makes a bit of a difference, but not enormously, because you do spend a
lot of time as an actor trying to imagine what the other person's
feeling, anyway. As a woman you've played mothers before, and you don't
have to be a mother to understand what feeling protective is all
about."
shes nowhere near who i imagined as narcissa. i imagined more delicate, fragile, much more fleur like i suppose, but still with that malfoy edge about her – not quite as weak as she seems :D but i am eager to see Helen McCrory, i cant wait to see movie narcissa :D
I think mother cub really captures it (don’t know about in the movie yet…haven’t seen it… SOON) but it was her love of her son that led to her decision to help take Voldemort down. (warning: You are entering tangentland)
geez… If Draco took all the energy he spend on trying to look "bad and hardcore" and applied it to his studies and being a good person…it just blows my mind as to the time and energy he wasted…. he would be such a skilled wizard.
i am very much looking forward to the unbreakable vow… i hope we get to see them walking up to his house… or perhaps throught he playground (which would be PERFECT) so we can see where Lilly grew up
It really is so awesome that Harry Potter has this incredible wealth of talent. The films are full of British icons, I can’t wait to see what the legacy of the films will be in 20 years time. Well actually I can wait. I’m dreading when the last comes out. It’ll all be over. :( I really like Helen McCrory she always gives frank and enthusiastic interviews
David is surrounded by actors going, ‘Right, I can give you this, or I can give you that, or I can give you . . .’ and he’s like, ‘Please, please, just say your one line and f*** off.’
Ha ha that’s so funny.
This interview is really neat because, we all know the level of acting is to an incredibly high standard and the actors are all like the best of the best but, there’s just something about the way she says about the attention to detail because they’ve all just done Hamlet or something really brings home the fact that these are all huge actors doing HP movies. That’s just so cool :)
"A few people have heard of you, haven't they? All that business with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named!" He glanced at the lightning scar on Harry's forehead. "I know, I know -- it's not quite as good as winning [i]Witch Weekly[/i]'s Most-Charming-Smile Award fiv
"‘Please, please, just say your one line and f*** off." Bahahaha. Funny stuff :D She seems like a good person. Can’t wait for HBP! Three more days!