New Interview with Jessie Cave on Love, Lavender and Snogging Ron Weasley

The HeroComplex Blog in the LA Times featuring new daily reports on Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince has been updated today with a new interview of actress Jessie Cave. The young actress discusses her role as Lavender Brown, and the relationship her character has with Ron Weasley, as played by actor Rupert Grint. In the interview we learn she read the books before landing a part in the series (“I read ˜Half-Blood Prince’ before I knew anything about the auditions. So to have already read the character was so great.”) working with Rupert (“He was very easygoing and very laid-back. He didn’t at all have any kind of ego, he was just a nice guy and very normal.”) and the relationship between Ron and Lavender which involves a bit of…snogging.

Do you remember what your first day on set was like?
It’s
funny, I was filming for six months, but I remember my third day was
the big kissing scene. I remember thinking, ˜Why are they doing this so
early?’ It helped actually because the nerves kind of added to the
scene. There were so many extras, like 70 other people in the room, it
could have gone so wrong. The first day was kind of building up to the
kissing scene, so it was immediately going into the deep end.

If I remember correctly, Lavender’s the aggressor in the relationship, right?
Ha!
Yes, she is incredibly dominating of Ron. She just wants to be around
him all the time and she’s the one who initiates everything. She’s one
of those girls that’s very pretty and very obvious, she’s just not
really aware of how she’s being perceived by anyone else. And I think
that’s really sweet in a way because she doesn’t perceive barriers very
well [laughs]. She treads all over them. It’s why she ruffles
Hermione’s feathers so much.

She does put up a good fight.
She’s almost the
catalyst in setting up Hermione and Ron in the final chapter of the
saga really. Without Lavender, they wouldn’t have been forced together,
to acknowledge their feelings so abruptly because she definitely caused
that.

How did it feel playing someone who everyone will know doesn’t stand a chance?
Well,
she does really! She does quite well. She does go out with him and does
get her claws into him for awhile. Not claws — she’s lovely. She does
get her way for a tiny bit, but unfortunately, it doesn’t end up her
way.

How is Lavender introduced?
She’s in the
Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes shop and she’s kind of ogling Ron. She’s been
going to school with them for years, but it’s not that she’s making her
interests known.

Thanks to everyone who emailed!