Evanna Lynch

She got the role of Luna Lovegood by being the only one in the audition room who wasn't acting. At 14, she beat 15,000 other girls for the part in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, with no professional experience. Producer David Heyman put it plainly: "The others could play Luna; Evanna Lynch is Luna." What made her that way isn't just personality. She'd spent years in and out of hospital with anorexia, writing letters to J.K. Rowling and getting letters back. Harry Potter kept her around long enough to audition for it.

The Harry Potter franchise ended in 2011, and she didn't chase the next blockbuster. Small films, a third-place finish on Dancing with the Stars in 2018, a memoir about eating disorder recovery in 2021. These days she's more activist than actress. She's an ambassador for Veganuary and World Animal Protection, co-hosts a podcast with Dr. Melanie Joy, and takes roles that reinforce the message, like a 2024 vegan sci-fi comedy. The gap between her name recognition and her current career looks completely deliberate.

Rowling wrote back. That's the detail that explains everything. Lynch was 11 and hospitalized for anorexia when she first sent fan letters; Rowling's replies, Lynch has said, kept her going through years of treatment. She publicly defended Rowling during the 2023 trans rights controversy, which didn't play well with younger fans expecting a different side. She designed and made some of Luna's on-screen accessories herself, the same character whose books she read in a hospital ward.